Recommending a Low-Cost Customer Service Essay

Executive Summary tip De Mexicos manager has bespeak assistance in developing a negligible follow daily assignment schedule for the node service employees in their new built store. Specifically, he wants to know the minimum nub personify per day, which is the finish variable. He in like manner wants to know the exact amount of ramify duration and full conviction employees which pull up stakes experience the conglomeration damage. The objective survive is to minimize costs. acme specified a minimum outlet of employees indispensable for each shift, a maximum number of employees per shift, specific shifts for full snip and straggle sequence workers, and a maximum percentage of 50% of the issue forth hours for fate time employees. These constraints were input into Microsoft solver, which determined $47,800 to be the minimum employee cost per day, employing 23 fulltime workers and 45 part time workers per day. Specific assumptions were made which ordain be discu ssed in detail, along with the impact of non- emblematic days. A sensitivity digest will then be performed to determine how the percentage of part time employees constraint affects the append cost per day.IntroductionNow the Acme De Mexico has established the building process, it is now time to properly staff the store. The store manager, Mr. Rodriguez, has requested a minimum cost daily assignment schedule for the customer service employees at the new store. In order to have Acme De Mexico become a profitable business, it must make the best subroutine of its resources (Jacobs & Chase, 2013). In this case the resources be time, money, and employees. In order to provide Mr. Rodriguez with the development he requested, profligatear programming will be utilized. Linear programming is the several related mathematical techniques used to allocate limited resources among competing demands in an optimal way (Jacobs & Chase, 2013, appendix A).In this case, we atomic number 18 tendi ng(p) the following(a) information. This report will provide an employee assignment schedule for a typical day, developed with a analogue programming model(Attachment 1). This model and its kiosks will be referenced throughout the report. An explanation will be provided to pardon the model to include the assumptions made. The report will also briefly encounter on how non-typical days may affect the schedule. Employee Assignment ScheduleAcme De Mexico is open daily, from 700am to 1100pm. Employee shifts are broken out everywhere those 16 hours. For every hour of the day, a minimum amount of employees are required to be on the floor, which is depicted in the table below.The minimum number of employees (limit) needed on the floor at a given hour is one of the constraints. This constraint is displayed in cells G22 though V22. Additionally, only 30 employees are allowed on the floor at any given time for safety reasons. This constraint can be seen in cells G26 though V26This is also a constraint, or limit. See cells A5-21 through cells C5-21. Part time employees are paid $500 (Pesos) per day, and full time employees are paid $1100 per day. some other constraint is the hours worked by part time employees cannot exceed 50% of the total hours worked per day (total hours = part time+full time). This is displayed in cell F36. stick out solver was used to solve the decision variable (E33), which is set as the objective. Cells D5 though D21 are the number and type of employees per hour, and are variable.The goal is to determine the minimum total cost per day. This is our decision variable, and is found in cell E33 of Attachment 1. The constraints mentioned above are input into solver. The first line shows the total number of part time employees must be less than or equal to 50% to the total labor hours each day. The second line ensures that the changing values are integers. We do not want half(a) an employee to show up for his or her shift. The third line constrai nt ensures that the number of employees per shift does not exceed 30. Lastly, the fourth line constraint took into work out the minimum employees per shift as specified by Acme.Our objective serve well is to minimize Acmes the total employee cost per day. The total employee cost per day was calculated by multiplying the number of fulltime workers per day (E8) by the compensation per day (C31). This total is reflected in cell C33. The same was done for part time workers (E21)*(D31)=(D33). These two numbers were then added together, (C33)+(D33)=(E33). Solver determined $47,800 (E33) to be the minimum employee cost per day, employing 23 fulltime workers and 45 part time workers per day.Assumptions agree to Knode, a few pick out assumptions are made when using linear programming The assumption of a linear relationship (between the objectives, the constraints, etc.), the assumption of invariable relationships, and the assumption of non-negative relationships (2011). Additionally, th e assumption was made that the solution and variables wouldbe integers, that is, not a fraction of an employee. It is also assumed that variables and solutions will be non-negative numbers. It can be assumed that there are enough employees to masking piece for employees who call in throw up.Non-Typical DaysNon-typical days may affect the schedule. For example, employees may call in sick. Employees who are off may have to come in to cover these shifts, or employees may have to work overtime to cover for the sick employee. This could increase the daily cost if the overtime rate is more than than the hourly rate. Overtime may also come into play during holidays or bustling times of the year. Acme may decide to open earlier and/or stay open later during these times. Acme would need to hire more employees to cover the extra shifts, or employees would have to work overtime.Sensitivity epitomeSensitivity Analysis allows us to look at variations in strike aspects of the hassle that c ould change the baseline answer (Knode, 2011). One such key aspect is the constraint that hours worked by part time employees cannot exceed 50% of the total hours worked per day. The percentage of part time employees was varied to explore the accomplishable outcomes. The results are displayed in the table below. It is interesting to note that with 0% part time employees, the total cost is the lowest.ConclusionLinear programming is a very useful tool which can help mangers solve many an(prenominal) problems, including the problem of employee staffing. In the Acme De Mexico case, the decision variable was the minimum total cost per day for employee staffing. This also required determining the number of part time and full time employees per shift. Constraints were given and were input into solver, which resulted in a minimum daily cost of $47,800, with 23 full time employees and 45 part time employees.ReferencesKnode, C.S. (2011). Linear programming Part 1 Formulating the problem. Retrieved from http//vimeo.com/duffer44/linear-programming-part-1 Jacobs, F.R & Chase, R.B. (2013). Operations and supply management Thecore, 3e. Chapter 1 and Appendix A