Random Number Generation

[jlstorlie]

I have a question. I am trying to randomly assign operators to job functions. I have a list of their names in one column, in the second I have randomly assigned job functions 1 - 8. The problem is somedays I only need four operators in job function 6, three in job function 4, etc. Currenlty I just get a random amount of each integer regardless of the demand of each job function. Is there a way to assign the numbers to be random, but have a set count of each number (four 6s, three 4s, etc.)? Please advise.

Thanks!!

 

[Richard Schollar]

How do you determine how many employees are required for each task each day? Or is this provided to you?

Best regards

Richard

 

[jlstorlie]

The number of employees is determined by volume of work we have each day, which varies by customer demand. If we have to produce 4,500 of Product A we need x many employees in function 2, y employees in function 5 and so on.

 

[Greg Truby]

I took a look at your problem. But I think that what you need is a random sample without replacement. The solution below is based on random with replacement and therefore can result in the same person getting assigned the same task in the same day -- which probably is not ok. You might do a search here and see if you can pull up a thread on random sampling without replacement. Or maybe another member can think of a quick way to do it. But, if not for the replacement issue, is this what you're trying to describe?

sampling with replacement problem (scheduling).xls
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
1			Amy	Amy,	Bob,	Fred,	Cathy,	Dan
2				Amy,	Gina,	Cathy,	Dan
3				Hal	Fred,	Emily,
4					Fred	Gina,
5						Amy
6
7
8
9	Amy	Task	A	B	C	D	E	F
10	Bob	Demand	1	3	4	5	2	1
11	Cathy		Amy
12	Dan			Amy,Amy,Hal
13	Emily				Bob,Gina,Fred,Fred
14	Fred					Fred,Cathy,Emily,Gina,Amy
15	Gina						Cathy,Dan
16	Hal							Dan
Sheet1