RESCON: Educational project scheduling software.

In this article we discuss a freely downloadable educational software tool for illustrating project scheduling and project management concepts. The tool features exact and heuristic scheduling procedures and visualizes project networks, project schedules, resource profiles, activity slacks, and project duration distributions.Project scheduling; Project management; Educational software; Visualization; Scheduling algorithms;

A classification of predictive-reactive project scheduling procedures.

The vast majority of the project scheduling research efforts over the past several years have concentrated on the development of workable predictive baseline schedules, assuming complete information and a static and deterministic environment. During execution, however, a project may be subject to numerous schedule disruptions. Proactive-reactive project scheduling procedures try to cope with these disruptions through the combination of a proactive scheduling procedure for generating predictive baseline schedules that are hopefully robust in that they incorporate safety time to absorb anticipated disruptions with a reactive procedure that is invoked when a schedule breakage occurs during project execution.proactive-reactive project scheduling; time uncertainty; stability; timely project completion; preselective strategies; resource constraints; trade-off; complexity; stability; management; makespan; networks; subject; job;

A survey of variants and extensions of the resource-constrained project scheduling problem

The resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) consists of activities that must be scheduled subject to precedence and resource constraints such that the makespan is minimized. It has become a well-known standard problem in the context of project scheduling which has attracted numerous researchers who developed both exact and heuristic scheduling procedures. However, it is a rather basic model with assumptions that are too restrictive for many practical applications. Consequently, various extensions of the basic RCPSP have been developed. This paper gives an overview over these extensions. The extensions are classified according to the structure of the RCPSP. We summarize generalizations of the activity concept, of the precedence relations and of the resource constraints. Alternative objectives and approaches for scheduling multiple projects are discussed as well. In addition to popular variants and extensions such as multiple modes, minimal and maximal time lags, and net present value-based objectives, the paper also provides a survey of many less known concepts. --project scheduling,modeling,resource constraints,temporal constraints,networks

An agent-based simulation model using decoupled learning rules to (re)schedule multiple projects

Competitive pressures and business globalization have led many organizations, mainly technology-based and innovation-oriented companies, to adopt project-based organizational structures. In a multi-project context within enterprise networks, reaching feasible solutions to the multi-project (re)scheduling problem represents a major challenge, where autonomy and decentralization of the environment favor agent-based simulation This work presents and validates a simulation-based multi-agent model using the fractal company concept to solve the complex multi-project (re)scheduling problem in enterprise networks. The proposed agent-based model is tested trough a set of project instances that vary in project structure, project parameters, number of resources shared, unplanned events that affect them, etc. Results obtained are assessed through different scheduling goals, such project total duration, project total cost, leveling resource usage, among others to show that decoupled learning rules allows finding a solution which can be understood as a Nash equilibrium for the interacting agents and it is far better compared to the ones obtained with existing approaches.Eje: XVIII Workshop de Agentes y Sistemas Inteligentes (WASI).Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

An agent-based simulation model using decoupled learning rules to (re)schedule multiple projects

Competitive pressures and business globalization have led many organizations, mainly technology-based and innovation-oriented companies, to adopt project-based organizational structures. In a multi-project context within enterprise networks, reaching feasible solutions to the multi-project (re)scheduling problem represents a major challenge, where autonomy and decentralization of the environment favor agent-based simulation This work presents and validates a simulation-based multi-agent model using the fractal company concept to solve the complex multi-project (re)scheduling problem in enterprise networks. The proposed agent-based model is tested trough a set of project instances that vary in project structure, project parameters, number of resources shared, unplanned events that affect them, etc. Results obtained are assessed through different scheduling goals, such project total duration, project total cost, leveling resource usage, among others to show that decoupled learning rules allows finding a solution which can be understood as a Nash equilibrium for the interacting agents and it is far better compared to the ones obtained with existing approaches.Eje: XVIII Workshop de Agentes y Sistemas Inteligentes (WASI).Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Local search methods for the discrete time/resource trade-off problem in project networks.

Abstract: In this paper we consider the discrete time/resource trade-off problem in project networks. Given a project network consisting of nodes (activities) and arcs (technological precedence relations specifying that an activity can only start when al of its predecessors have been completed), in which the duration of the activities is a discrete, on-increasing function of the amount of a single renewable resource committed to it, the discrete time/resource trade-off problem minimizes the project makespan subject to precedence constraints and a single renewable resource constraint. For each activity a work content is specified such that all execution modes (duration-resource pairs) for performing the activity are allowed as long as the product of the duration and the resource requirement is at least as large as the specified work content. We present a tabu search procedure which is based on subdividing the problem into a mode assignment phase and a resource-constrained project scheduling phase with fixed mode assignments. Extensive computational experience, including a comparison with other local search methods, is reported.Scheduling; Methods; Networks; Product; Assignment;

A computer program for the generation of logic networks from task chart data

The Network Generation Program (NETGEN), which creates logic networks from task chart data is presented. NETGEN is written in CDC FORTRAN IV (Extended) and runs in a batch mode on the CDC 6000 and CYBER 170 series computers. Data is input via a two-card format and contains information regarding the specific tasks in a project. From this data, NETGEN constructs a logic network of related activities with each activity having unique predecessor and successor nodes, activity duration, descriptions, etc. NETGEN then prepares this data on two files that can be used in the Project Planning Analysis and Reporting System Batch Network Scheduling program and the EZPERT graphics program