Shift Scheduling Problem in Same-Day Courier Industry

This paper deals with the problem of minimizing the sta±ng cost of a same-day courier company subject to service-level requirements. The problem has been modeled as an integer program with non linear probabilistic constraints. We have devised a heuristic procedure able to explore the search space e±ciently through an approximated neighborhood evaluation (ANE) model, relying on the estimation (via simulation) of a reduced number of parameters. Computational results show that, compared to traditional neighborhood search procedures, the ANE approach provides signi¯cant cost reductions in a typical same-day courier setting.