Staff Task-Based Shift Scheduling Solution with an ANP and Goal Programming Method in a Natural Gas Combined Cycle Power Plant

Abstract

Shift scheduling problems (SSPs) are advanced NP-hard problems which are generally evaluated with integer programming. This study presents an applicable shift schedule of workers in a large-scale natural gas combined cycle power plant (NGCCPP), which realize 35.17% of the total electricity generation in Turkey alone, as at of the end of 2018. This study included 80 workers who worked three shifts in the selected NGCCPP for 30 days. The proposed scheduling model was solved according to the skills of the workers, and there were nine criteria by which the workers were evaluated for their abilities. Analytic network process (ANP) is a method used for obtaining the weights of workers’ abilities in a particular skill. These weights are used in the proposed scheduling model as concepts in goal programming (GP). The SSP–ANP–GP model sees employees’ everyday preferences as their main feature, bringing high-performance to the highest level, and bringing an objective functionality, and lowering the lowest success of daily choice. At the same time, the model introduced large-scale and soft constraints that reflect the nature of the shift requirements of this program by specifying the most appropriate program. The required data were obtained from the selected NGCCPP and the model solutions were approved by the plant experts. The SSP–ANP–GP model was resolved at a reasonable time. Monthly acquisition time was significantly reduced, and the satisfaction of the employees was significantly increased by using the obtained program. When past studies were examined, it was determined that a shift scheduling problem of this size in the energy sector had not previously been studied.