SISCOG optimally schedules dynamic work of Dutch Railways’ Service and Security Staff

SISCOG, the software company specialising in software solutions for optimised planning and management of resources in transportation companies, concluded TUTIS, a research project that produced a prototype which optimises the daily work assignments of NS’s Service & Security (S&S) personnel.

The people considered in the study, belonging to a group of 700 people spread across 13 regions of The Netherlands, are responsible for patrolling stations and trains, guaranteeing passenger and other NS personnel’s safety, and control fare evasion.

Some challenges of the problem included the fact that teams constantly change during the day to adapt dynamically to activity requirements, the need to combine workload-based scheduling with task-based scheduling, and the need to assure a presence within range of any place in the network should an emergency occur.
NS’s Head of Intelligence, Hans Munk, pointed out that “the S&S personnel are still evolving internally at NS, making it even harder, at this time, to specify and develop a good supporting tool”, adding that “through years of cooperation, SISCOG built a good knowledge about NS’s processes and has proven to be a reliable partner, which resulted in a very good prototype”. Seconding this statement, Ernesto Morgado, SISCOG’s Chairman added that “achieving the goal of optimising these very specific types of duties is quite rewarding, as is working with NS, a long-time professional and result-driven partner”

TUTIS, a Latin term meaning “secure, safe and protected”, was based on SISCOG’s CREWS Duty Scheduler.