Reinhard Bürgy (Dr. rer. pol.)

Solution Architect Decision Support and Operations Research at
Polypoint AG, Gümligen, Switzerland and

Part-time Lecturer at Lucerne School of Computer Science and Information Technology, Hochschule Lucerne

Main fields of work:
- Employee staffing and scheduling
- Production planning and scheduling
- Logistics: location and routing

Contact information
E-mail: reinhard[dot]buergy[at]hslu[dot]ch

Scientific Projects and Publications

Here is a list of my scientific projects and publications.

Journal Articles

  • A capacitated multi-vehicle covering tour problem on a road network and its application to waste collection (2023)
    final version • working paper version
    Vera Fischer, Meritxell Pacheco Paneque, Antoine Legrain, Reinhard Bürgy, Accepted for publication in European Journal of Operational Research, 2023
  • An exact dynamic programming algorithm for the precedence-constrained class sequencing problem (2020)
    final version • final version • working paper version
    Reinhard Bürgy, Pierre Baptiste and Alain Hertz, Computers & Operations Research, Dec 2020, vol 124, article no 105063
  • A decomposition-based heuristic for large employee scheduling problems with inter-department transfers (2019)
    final version • full-text, view-only version • working paper version
    Dalia Attia, Reinhard Bürgy, Guy Desaulniers and François Soumis, EURO Journal on Computational Optimization, Dec 2019, vol 7(4), pp 325–357
    Industrial partner: Kronos; Funding: Kronos and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada
  • Employee scheduling with short demand perturbations and extensible shifts (2019)
    final version • working paper version
    Reinhard Bürgy, Hélène Michon-Lacaze and Guy Desaulniers, Omega: The International Journal of Management Science , Dec 2019, vol 89, pp 177-192
    Industrial partner: Kronos; Funding: Kronos and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada
  • A stochastic online algorithm for unloading boxes from a conveyor line (2018)
    final version • full-text, view-only version • author's version
    Reinhard Bürgy, Pierre Baptiste, Alain Hertz, Djamal Rebaine and André Linhares. Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Dec 2018, vol. 30(4), pp 764–784
  • The job shop scheduling problem with convex costs (2018)
    final version • working paper version
    Reinhard Bürgy and Kerem Bülbül. European Journal of Operational Research, July 2018, vol. 268(1), pp 82-100
  • A neighborhood for complex job shop scheduling problems with regular objectives (2017)
    final version • full-text, view-only version • author's version
    Reinhard Bürgy. Journal of Scheduling, Aug 2017, vol. 20(4), pp 391–422
  • The no-wait job shop with regular objective: a method based on optimal job insertion (2017)
    final version • full-text, view-only version • author's version
    Reinhard Bürgy and Heinz Gröflin. Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Apr 2017, vol. 33(3), pp 977-1010
  • Online heuristics for unloading boxes off a gravity conveyor (2017)
    final version • author's version
    Pierre Baptiste, Reinhard Bürgy, Alain Hertz and Djamal Rebaine. International Journal of Production Research, vol. 55(11), pp 3046-3057
  • The blocking job shop with rail-bound transportation (2016)
    final version • full-text, view-only version • author's version
    Reinhard Bürgy and Heinz Gröflin. Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Jan 2016, vol. 31(1), pp 152-181
    Visit ALPHABOT: A physical model for this research project.
  • Optimal job insertion in the no-wait job shop (2013)
    final version • full-text, view-only version • author's version
    Reinhard Bürgy and Heinz Gröflin. Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Aug 2013, vol. 26(2), pp 345-371
  • The flexible blocking job shop with transfer and set-up times (2011)
    final version • full-text, view-only version • author's version
    Heinz Gröflin, Dinh Nguyen Pham and Reinhard Bürgy. Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Aug 2011, vol. 22(2), pp 121-144

Book chapters

  • Networks of Critical Infrastructures: Cost Estimation and Defense of Attacks (2020)
    final version
    Reinhard Bürgy, In: Keupp M. (eds) The Security of Critical Infrastructures, International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, Springer, vol 288, pp 17-31

Monographs

  • Complex Job Shop Scheduling: A General Model and Method (2014)
    final version
    Reinhard Bürgy. PhD thesis, Department of Informatics, University of Fribourg

Grants, Prizes, Awards and Fellowships

  • Industrial project: Short-term make-and-fill scheduling in the pharmaceutical industry (June 2020 to Mar 2021)
    Funded by our industrial partner
  • Research project: Decision support for an efficient and sustainable waste collection (Sept 2019 to Aug 2022)
    Funding institution: Innosuisse - project no 36157.1 IP-EE; Amount: 490'000 CHF; Implementation partner: Schwendimann AG
  • Industrial project: Optimized task assignment and scheduling in the pharmaceutical industry (Feb 2019 to Oct 2019)
    Funded by our industrial partner
  • Early Postdoc.Mobility fellowship (Nov 2015 to Apr 2017)
    Funding institution: The Swiss National Science Foundation; Amount: 65'000 CHF, Host: Polytechnique Montreal
  • Prix d’Informatique for the best PhD thesis (Feb 2015)
    Department of Informatics, University of Fribourg
  • Prix Vigener for the best PhD thesis (Nov 2014)
    Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Fribourg
  • Prix d’Informatique for the best master's thesis (Oct 2009)
    Department of Informatics, University of Fribourg
  • Award for the best master's degree (Oct 2009)
    Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Fribourg
  • Award for the best maturity diploma degree with major in physics and applied mathematics (Jun 2004)
    Collège St-Michel, Fribourg

Selected Practice-Related Projects

ALPHABOT: a flexible manufacturing system
ALPHABOT is a physical model of a flexible manufacturing system. It was developed to illustrate the impact of optimization in complex manufacturing systems. Together with H. Gröflin, I initiated and led the project. For more information, see my ALPHABOT website.
DDSS-ESSA / Dicodess: Distributed decision support systems
I was a developer of a distributed decision support system (named DDSS-ESSA and DICODESS) used for food security by the Swiss government, see also the article Wie sicher ist die Ernährungssicherung? - Agrarforschung Schweiz (in German).
A course scheduling tool
I developed a tool that automatically schedules the 60 courses of the Swiss Joint Master of Science in Computer Science study program (jointly offered by the Universities of Bern, Fribourg and Neuchâtel)
A tournament scheduling tool
I developed a tool that automatically schedules a floorball tournament with nearly 300 matches.

Scientific Talks

Below a selection of some scientific talks I have held:

  • An exact dynamic programming algorithm for the precedence-constrained class sequencing problem (2019), 30th European Conference on Operational Research, Dublin, Ireland
  • Employee scheduling with short demand perturbations and extensible shifts (2018), Optimisation Days, Montreal, Canada
  • On job shop scheduling with convex costs and its application to just-in-time scheduling (2017), The International Federation of Operational Research Societies (IFORS) Conference, Quebec City, Canada
  • A stochastic online algorithm for unloading boxes from a conveyor line (2017), Optimisation Days, Montreal, Canada
  • Job shop scheduling with convex costs (2016), INFORMS Annual Meeting, Nashville (Tennessee), USA
  • Modeling and solving job shop scheduling problems with complex process features and complicated objectives (2016), Seminar of the Montreal Operations Research Student Chapter and GERAD, Montreal, Canada
  • Complex job shop scheduling in manufacturing and services: Narrowing the gap between theory and practice (2016), POMS 27th Annual Conference, Orlando (Florida), USA
  • Complex job shop with regular objective: Narrowing the gap between theory and practice in job shop scheduling (2015), Seminar at GERAD, Montreal, Canada
  • The no-wait job shop with regular objective: A method based on optimal job insertion (2015), Optimal Decisions and Big Data: International Conference on Operations Research, Vienna, Austria
  • Complex job shop scheduling with regular objective (2014), Business Analytics and Optimization: International Conference on Operations Research, Aachen, Germany
  • Complex job shop scheduling: The blocking job shop with rail-bound transportation (2013), DIUF Symposium, Fribourg, Switzerland
  • The job shop with blocking and a rail-bound transfer system (2012), 25th European Conference on Operational Research, Vilnius, Lithuania
  • Optimal job insertion in the no-wait job shop (2011), 5th Multidisciplinary International Scheduling Conference: Theory and Applications, Phoenix, USA

Work Experience

  • Solution Architect Decision Support and Operations Research
    Since Sept 2021
    Polypoint AG, Gümligen (BE), Switzerland
  • Lecturer (part-time)
    Since January 2021
    Algorithmic Business Research Team (ABIZ), Lucerne School of Computer Science and Information Technology, Hochschule Luzern, Switzerland
  • Senior researcher and lecturer (Oberassistent - maître assistant)
    July 2018 to Aug 2021
    Decision Support and Operations Research group, Department of Informatics, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Postdoctoral researcher
    June 2017 to June 2018
    Research group of Prof. Guy Desaulniers, Department of Mathematical and Industrial Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Canada
  • Postdoctoral researcher
    Nov 2015 to Aug 2017
    Research groups of Prof. Alain Hertz and Prof. Pierre Baptiste, Department of Mathematical and Industrial Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Canada
  • Senior researcher and lecturer
    Apr 2014 - Oct 2015
    Decision Support and Operations Research group, Department of Informatics, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Research and teaching assistant
    Apr 2009 - Mar 2014
    Decision Support and Operations Research group of Prof. Heinz Gröflin, Department of Informatics, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Undergraduate assistant
    Feb 2006 - Jan 2009
    Decision Support Systems group of Prof. Pius Hättenschwiler, Department of Informatics, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

Education

  • Doctor of Economics and Social Sciences (Feb 2014), University of Fribourg,
    Graded summa cum laude
    Thesis title: Complex Job Shop Scheduling: A General Model and Method
    Thesis committee:
      Prof. Heinz Gröflin (supervisor), University of Fribourg
      Prof. Marino Widmer, University of Fribourg
      Prof. Dominique de Werra, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
  • Master of Arts in Information Management (Mar 2009), University of Fribourg
    Average grade points: 5.92 (out of 6.0), summa cum laude
    Thesis title: On Job Shop Problems with Blocking and Flexible Machines
  • Bachelor of Arts in Information Systems (Dec 2007), University of Fribourg
    Average grade points: 5.85 (out of 6.0), summa cum laude
    Thesis title: On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP): Integration von OLAP Funktionalität in DDSS-ESSA