SPRINT: Optimization of Staff Management for Desk Customer Relations Services at Hera

In this paper, we discuss a decision support system for optimizing staff management of desk customer relations services at Hera, a large Italian multiutility company. The system, SPRINT, which is based on state-of-the-art demand forecasting, implements a novel two-phase optimization procedure based on adaptive staffing. The processes developed proved to be superior to other state-of-the-art approaches. After using the system for two years, Hera has considerably improved its planning and management processes, achieved a significant level-of-service improvement of its desk customer services, and substantially increased staff productivity.