| The central thesis of this dissertation is that insight from queueing analysis can effectively guide standard (combinatorial) scheduling algorithms in dynamic environments. Scheduling is generally concerned with complex combinatorial decisions for static problems, whereas queueing theory simplifies the combinatorics and focuses on dynamic systems. We examine a queueing network with flexible servers under queueing and scheduling techniques. Based on the strengths of queueing analysis and scheduling, we develop a hybrid model that guides scheduling with results from the queueing model.;In order to include setup times, we create a logic-based Benders decomposition model for a static representation of the queueing network. Our model is able to find optimal schedules up to 5 orders of magnitude faster than the only other model in the literature. A hybrid model is then developed for the dynamic problem and shown to achieve the best mean flow time while also guaranteeing maximal capacity. |
