MIP Optimization setup

[Ashish]

Hi,

I want to set up a optimization workflow to optimize crew dispatch problem and I don't know how to begin with. I am trying to work with a small hypothetical case to begin with and will expand it later.

Following are the details

1. We have a limited crew (let's say 2 technicians) and who are to be sent to multiple job sites. 
2. different travel time to each site (let's assume we already know the travel time at this point)
3. Each job will take certain number of hours
4. Total time allocated to any crew member should not be more than 12 hours
5. its not necessary that all jobs get done in a day (12 hours)

Travel time matrix
	Depot	Site 1	Site 2	Site 3
Depot	0	1	1	1
Site 1	1	0	2	2
Site 2	1	2	0	1
Site 3	1	2	1	0

Joborder	Site	Hours to complete the Job
Job 1	Enon	2
Job 2	Site 1	3
Job 3	Site 2	2
Job 4	Site 3	1
Job 5	Site 1	4
Job 6	Site 2	2

@SydneyF thanks for helping me in past for setting up linear optimization in alteryx. I was wondering if you can help me here with this too.

Thanks,

[SydneyF]

Hi @Ashish,

This is a really interesting use case. It appears to be, at least in part, related to the Traveling Salesmen Problem. This is a very famous and heavily researched topic in mathematics and computer science. The most straightforward method for an exact solution to the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) involves a brute force search. This involves creating permutations (ordered combinations) for each set of jobs that would combine to under 8 hours with travel, and then optimizing by completing the maximum number of unique jobs for your two technicians. I believe this might be the route you need to take in order to solve this problem using the Optimization Tool in Alteryx. 

What have you developed for this workflow so far? In order to get assistance from the Community, you should post a workflow showing your thinking on the matter, where you have gotten stuck, and some sample data. As a Customer Support Engineer, developing a solution for you from scratch is outside of my scope. If you provide additional details on this case, hopefully a member of our Community will respond.

Thanks!