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Large food-service companies typically support a wide range of operations (catering, vending machines, repairs), each with different operational characteristics (manpower, vehicles, tools, timing constraints, etc.). While the advances in Internet-based technologies facilitate the adoption of automated scheduling systems, the complexity and heterogeneity of the different operations hinders the design of comprehensive optimization solutions. Indeed, our collaboration with Compass Group, one of the largest food-service companies in the world, reveals that many of its workforce assignments are done manually due to the lack of scheduling solutions that can accommodate the complexity of operational constraints. Further, the diversity in the nature of operations prevents collaboration and sharing of resources among various services such as catering and beverage distribution, leading to an inflated fleet size.

To address …