10.57647/ijm2c.2027.1702.11

Sales Force Schedule and Recovery Model: A Benders Decomposition Approach

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  • Shervin Zeini1,
  • Alireza Rashidi Komijan*2,
  • Vahid Baradaran1,
  1. Department of Industrial Engineering, NT.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
  2. Department of Industrial Engineering, SR.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Received: 18-05-2026

Revised: 26-06-2026

Accepted: 26-06-2026

Published in Issue 09-07-2026

Copyright (c) 2025 Shervin Zeini, Alireza Rashidi Komijan, Vahid Baradaran (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Zeini, S., Rashidi Komijan, A., & Baradaran, V. (2026). Sales Force Schedule and Recovery Model: A Benders Decomposition Approach. International Journal of Mathematical Modelling & Computations. https://doi.org/10.57647/ijm2c.2027.1702.11
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Abstract

Sales Force Scheduling Problem (SFSP) is one of the challenging problems in Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry. In SFSP, the daily schedule of each salesperson is determined. An efficient schedule that includes timely customer visits can lead to purchase increase, competitive advantage increase, and market share gain. However, initial schedules may need some modifications due to disruptions. In this paper, two mathematical models are presented. In the first model, the optimal daily schedule for a salesperson is determined. In other words, it is determined which customers should be visited on each day to ensure all customers are visited with the required frequency and at the right time. The second model is the recovery model which is used to update the original schedule under disruption. The main advantage of the proposed recovery model is that it can be used both before and after disruption. The pre-disruption application of the recovery model can provide sales managers with a high degree of analytical capability and serve as a suitable alternative to conservative robust optimization approach. An accelerated Benders decomposition algorithm has been used as the solution approach. The proposed models has been successfully implemented in one of the biggest FMCGs in Iran.

Keywords

  • Sales Force Scheduling Problem,
  • Salesperson Scheduling,
  • Recovery Model,
  • Benders Decomposition Algorithm
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