Optimizing resource allocation in service systems via simulation: A Bayesian formulation

Chen, Weiwei1; Gao, Siyang2; Chen, Wenjie3,4; Du, Jianzhong5

2022-09-01

10.1111/poms.13825

PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT   Impact Factor & Quartile

1059-1478

1937-5956

The service sector has become increasingly important in today's economy. To meet the rising expectation of high-quality services, efficiently allocating resources is vital for service systems to balance service qualities with costs. In particular, this paper focuses on a class of resource allocation problems where the service-level objective and constraints are in the form of probabilistic measures. Further, process complexity and system dynamics in service systems often render their performance evaluation and optimization challenging and relying on simulation models. To this end, we propose a generalized resource allocation model with probabilistic measures, and subsequently, develop an optimal computing budget allocation (OCBA) formulation to select the optimal solution subject to random noises in simulation. The OCBA formulation minimizes the expected opportunity cost that penalizes based on the quality of the selected solution. Further, the formulation takes a Bayesian approach to consider the prior knowledge and potential performance correlations on candidate solutions. Then, the asymptotic optimality conditions of the formulation are derived, and an iterative algorithm is developed accordingly. Numerical experiments and a case study inspired by a real-world problem in a hospital emergency department demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm for solving the resource allocation problem via simulation.

Bayesian model optimal computing budget allocation ranking and selection resource allocation service systems

SCI

English

Others

National Natural Science Foundation of China[72091211] ; City University of Hong Kong["7005269","7005568"]

Engineering ; Operations Research & Management Science

Engineering, Manufacturing ; Operations Research & Management Science

WOS:000849848600001

WILEY

ENGINEERING

Web of Science

1.Rutgers State Univ, Dept Supply Chain Management, Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA
2.City Univ Hong Kong, Dept Adv Design & Syst Engn, Kowloon, Hong Kong, Peoples R China
3.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Acad Adv Interdisciplinary Studies, Shenzhen, Peoples R China
4.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Dept Comp Sci & Engn, Shenzhen, Peoples R China
5.Fudan Univ, Sch Management, Shanghai, Peoples R China

Chen, Weiwei,Gao, Siyang,Chen, Wenjie,et al. Optimizing resource allocation in service systems via simulation: A Bayesian formulation[J]. PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT,2022.

Chen, Weiwei,Gao, Siyang,Chen, Wenjie,&Du, Jianzhong.(2022).Optimizing resource allocation in service systems via simulation: A Bayesian formulation.PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT.

Chen, Weiwei,et al."Optimizing resource allocation in service systems via simulation: A Bayesian formulation".PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT (2022).