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Instructor spreadsheet to accompany product 8B18D022.

Student spreadsheet to accompany product 9B18D022.

In March 2017, a pharmacy in Berlin encountered a personnel scheduling problem. The pharmacy’s key activity was serving customers in-store with ready-made medication. These services had to be offered during regular opening hours, on occasional Sundays, and during pre-assigned emergency-service shifts. In addition, customer-specific formulations had to be prepared, and certain office duties had to be performed. A particular aspect of the problem was that, in addition to differences in the employment contracts, the employees’ preferred attendance times had to be considered. Although the issue was presented as an operational problem, long-term considerations of determining the cornerstones of the employment contracts could be addressed.

In March 2017, a pharmacy in Berlin encountered a personnel scheduling problem. The pharmacy's key activity was serving customers in-store with ready-made medication. These services had to be offered during regular opening hours, on occasional Sundays, and during pre-assigned emergency-service shifts. In addition, customer-specific formulations had to be prepared, and certain office duties had to be performed. A particular aspect of the problem was that, in addition to differences in the employment contracts, the employees' preferred attendance times had to be considered. Although the issue was presented as an operational problem, long-term considerations of determining the cornerstones of the employment contracts could be addressed.

Student spreadsheet for case W18744

Developed as a companion to the Red Brand Canners (RBC) case, the starting point in this case is the improvement in performance resulting from the optimization approach in the original case. However, RBC’s vice president of operations is concerned about the quality and quantity mix of the most recent tomato crop received from Greenfield Farms (GF). RBC’s preferred quality and quantity mixes differ significantly from the current harvest. To RBC, the issue is how to motivate the supplier to produce a crop more in line with RBC’s needs. Initially, both firms in the B2B section of the supply chain try to find a combination that would be mutually beneficial — an attempt that fails because of conflicts of interest. RBC’s objective might be accomplished by taking a supply chain approach and modifying the delivery contract by an appropriate pricing scheme. The task is to identify and calibrate a pricing scheme that will realize the supply chain’s maximum performance and lead to a stable win-win solution. The derivation of the supply chain optimal prices is carried out by developing and solving a linear optimization model.

Developed as a companion to the Red Brand Canners (RBC) case, the starting point in this case is the improvement in performance resulting from the optimization approach in the original case. However, RBC's vice-president of operations is concerned about the quality and quantity mix of the most recent tomato crop received from Greenfield Farms (GF). RBC's preferred quality and quantity mixes differ significantly from the current harvest. From RBC's perspective, the issue is how to motivate the supplier to produce a crop more in line with RBC's needs. Initially, both firms in the B-to-B section of the supply chain try to find a combination that would be mutually beneficial, an attempt that fails because of existing conflicts of interest. RBC's objective might be accomplished by taking a supply chain approach and modifying the delivery contract by an appropriate pricing scheme. The task is to identify and calibrate a pricing scheme that will realize the supply chain's maximum performance and lead to a stable win-win solution. The derivation of the supply chain optimal prices is carried out by developing and solving a linear optimization model.

The director of the internal medicine department has to decide whether to recommend that St. Swithin's Hospital acquire equipment to aid in the diagnosis of Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). St. Swithin's already has Doppler testing and Venography available to try to diagnose DVT, but these tests are not 100% accurate. New data on the performance of the equipment suggests that this may be a useful alternative. Treating patients on the basis of clinical evidence only, that is, without using any diagnostic test, is also an option but the treatment, and some of the tests, place patients at a risk.