A group of students of Erasmus School of Economics have been involved in a business case with KLM. Besides the project being a research into rostering problems, the project is also a blueprint for future proof working for KLM as an organisation. Furthermore, the students brought some interesting insights in how to collaborate with students in an innovative way.
Future proof working
The COVID-19 pandemic made the world, especially the airline industry which has always been a dynamic environment, an unpredictable place. For KLM these developments, combined with their current way of working, gave room to start looking for ways to make their way of working more future proof. In November 2020, seven students of Erasmus School of Economics joined KLM to contribute to this goal. The students came up with ideas to incorporate personal preferences of the KLM employees into their rosters. Flexibility in the personal life of the employees increases by incorporating personal preferences. As such employee satisfaction should improve. Due to the pandemic, the collaboration between KLM and the students was innovative as well.
All the research had to be performed from home, so all elements such as the code were created from home as well. To succeed in constructing all elements, multiple digital solutions such as GitHub and SharePoint were used to work effectively between the students and KLM. Furthermore, all aspects had to be secured to create an environment just like a project that would be executed completely in-house at KLM.
The optimal roster
During the project, the students built an algorithm and a website. Using the website, employees could indicate their personal preferences for their schedule, e.g. “I prefer not to work on Wednesday afternoon”. The algorithm, which is based on column generation, creates a personal roster for every employee, taking into account their personal preferences, CLA rules and intended occupation. The next time the employees log in to the website, the employees could see their schedule and customise it as the students also tested with an innovative ‘marketplace’, where employees could exchange shifts.
In a real-world experiment, dozens of KLM employees tested the website by indicating their preferences for a trial period. After the employees received their schedule, customised and optimised by the algorithm, they could try out the marketplace. Afterwards, a survey was used to research the experiences of the employees and look for potential improvements. The experiment has resulted in a working algorithm and website, but also in valuable feedback of the KLM employees who participated in the experiment. The feedback will be used in future developments within the company.
A valuable experience
Next to these concrete results, the collaboration between KLM and the students of Erasmus School of Economics was highly esteemed by both parties. For KLM, the students brought some interesting insights in how to collaborate with students in an innovative way. The project really took off, despite the challenging conditions of the pandemic, which meant everyone had to work from home. Multiple Microsoft Teams meetings per week resulted in a close team and good cooperation. For the students, the experiment was extraordinarily educational and the practical experience of taking part in such a real-world business project will be an experience that they can apply during the rest of their careers. On top of that, the project could be the starting point of many more interesting projects between KLM and Erasmus School of Economics in the future
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In the picture (from left to right) are project participants: Vyvian van der Linden (KLM project lead), Fleur van den Berg (MSc Econometrics) , Kevin Korevaar (MSc Financial Economics & LLM Tax Law), Sven Hepkema (BSc Economics & LLB Law student), Philip van Moll (Erasmus School of Economics project lead and MSc Financial Economics & LLM Tax Law), Tim van der Vegt (BSc Econometrics & Economics), Vincent de Bont (MSc Econometrics) , Joëlle der Kinderen (BSc Econometrics & Economics).
Besides, the following KLM employees have contributed to the project: Marcus Dijkstra (Air France-KLM), Laurien Hofstra (KLM), Ralph Mul (KLM), Jeroen Mulder (Air France-KLM), Heidi De Ridder (KLM), and Mete Sevinç (KLM).