The Operations Research / Management Science Blog

When tourists are having good times, they rarely wonder if there is a unique group of people who do scientific research day after day just to ensure that their trips go smoothly and are as hassle-free as possible. These people, known as Operations Research (OR) specialists, make hidden contributions to the world by making everyday operations more efficient and cost-effective. I think that the next time the rental cars we reserved are ready for us the moment we get off our flights, we shouldn’t take everything for granted and should appreciate the work done by the OR people who work behind the scenes to improve everyone’s daily life.

According to a recent article titled “Maths makes happy campers” which is published on Science Alert, the OR specialists at the Mathematical & Information Sciences division of Australia’s CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) have developed a scheduling system for campervan rental companies that schedules bookings in real-time, reduces costs and helps ensure better customer service. The system helps make customers happier by getting them the campervan they want, when and where they need it.

Dr. Andreas Ernst, a research scientist working at CSIRO said that there are similarities between family holidays and military exercises, considering all the time and effort spent on getting booked, packed and away.

“Conveniently, operations researchers like us can use mathematics that was developed in World War II to help. It was used then to schedule the deployment of limited military people and vehicles in the most effective way,” he said, “That maths, coupled with advanced computing, provides a very effective solution for a complex problem – how to help thousands of holidaymakers get where they want to go at a peak time of year.”

This is essentially a resource-allocation problem where a limited number of vehicles of different types need to be optimally assigned to customers taking into consideration their preferences on models, time and location. Furthermore, the frequency of vehicle substitutions and relocations need to be minimized to reduce rental companies’ costs.

The scheduling system works by producing a large number of possible options as soon as a booking request is made and then comparing the options to select the one that induces the least costs while meeting the customer’s needs. The advantages of the system are that it works real-time and optimizes on a continuous basis by dynamically assessing the feasibility of accepting a new booking, re-scheduling the fleet and matching customers with vehicles.

CSIRO is Australia’s national science agency that benefits the Australian economy through research and development. CSIRO employs over 6600 staff and maintains more than 50 sites across Australia. The Mathematical and Information Sciences division provides expertise in the applications of mathematics, statistics and computational science to answer important questions in areas such as biotechnology, environmental monitoring, business service and industrial processing.

References
“Maths makes happy campers“, ScienceAlert, Jan 2008
“Holiday maths makes for happy campers“, CSIRO Media, Jan 2008
“Holiday maths makes for happy campers“, CSIRO Media Release, Jan 2008
“Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation“, Wikipedia
“CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences“, CSIRO