FOS: An Advanced Planning and Scheduling Suite for Service Operations

Abstract

Advanced PlanEing and Scheduling (APS) has been a well-known term in manufacturing being used to refer to Supply Chain Management suites and, more specifically, the forecasting, planEing and scheduling applications within them. However, the applicability of that part of ERP/SCM systems has been so far limited to product-driven industries. Despite the increased importance of services, integrated APS systems for service operations are yet to emerge from the main enterprise software vendors. In this paper, we present Field Optimisation Suite or FOS for short. FOS is an integrated APS platform for service operations. The platform is underpinned by Operations Research techniques for tackling complex decision making problems.

An application of EDA and GA to dynamic pricing

“…This work was motivated by an automated resource management system, [13] [21], which manages access services and provides telecommunication service to its customers. Resource management can be loosely defined as the effective workforce utilization for a given calendarised work demand profile, while minimizing and/or maximizing a set of constraints such as quality of service targets, conflict resolution schemes, such as overtime and borrowing additional workforce [12].…”

On Optimising Resource Planning in BT plc with FOS

“…Clearly, an accurate and proactive field force planning is vital to ensure (a) customers' commitments are met, (b) quality of service is improved, and (c) operational costs are reduced. To achieve these objectives, we have developed an automated resource planning system as part of the Field Optimisation Suite, FOS [3]. FOS creates a single-truth, standardised and flexible system that sits at the core of BT's business; facilitating accurate demand forecasting, optimised resource planning and effective collaboration in order to deliver efficient service to customers.…”