Tourism Holdings Limited (THL) operates a fleet of around 4000 recreational rental vehicles of many types, based at a dozen locations in Australia and New Zealand. The allocation of vehicles to bookings is performed centrally. If demand for a particular vehicle type at a location exceeds supply, THL may substitute vehicles of similar types or relocate vehicles where they are needed. The static problem, faced each day, is to find a schedule for vehicles which minimises the tangible and intangible costs of such substitutions and relocations. The dynamic problem is to decide -even as the customer waits on the phone -whether a vehicle will be available to cover a potential booking, and then incorporate that booking into the schedule. CSIRO have researched, developed and supplied software modules called VASS and D-VASS, to solve both the static and dynamic aspects of schedule creation and maintenance at THL. The system is embedded in THL's operations. This paper describes the situation at THL, and the systems implemented by CSIRO.
A real-world use case of such problems is shown in REF in which a fleet of around 4000 vehicles of a company located in Australia and New Zealand is scheduled.
Static and Dynamic Order Scheduling for Recreational Rental Vehicles at Tourism Holdings Limited
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Engineering Computer Science