Workforce cross-training decisions in field service systems with two job types

Abstract

When job types are heterogeneous in a multi-server service system, pooling servers to reduce system delay requires cross-training. Managers should balance a reduction in customer waiting time with high service costs and possibly reduced server efficiency due to cross-training. In a field service system with two job types and a fixed number of servers, the determination of the mix of dedicated and cross-trained servers is a critical managerial decision. We were motivated by a real field service situation to study a model where the objective is to minimize the sum of the average service costs and the customer delay costs per unit time. We use simulation to investigate the impact of various system parameters such as the number of servers, server utilization, and server efficiency on the optimal workforce mix.

Keywords:

• cross-training
• flexibility
• field service
• simulation
• service system design
• queueing models