The trade-off between stability and makespan in resource-constrained project scheduling

During the last decade, considerable research efforts in the project scheduling literature have concentrated on resource-constrained project scheduling under uncertainty. Most of this research focuses on protecting the project due date against disruptions during execution. Few efforts have been made...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of production research 2006-01, Vol.44 (2), p.215-236
Main Authors: Van De Vonder, S., Demeulemeester, E., Herroelen, W., Leus, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Computer simulation
Exact sciences and technology
Heuristic
Operational research and scientific management
Operational research. Management science
Operations research
Project management
Scheduling algorithms
Scheduling, sequencing
Simulation methods
Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:During the last decade, considerable research efforts in the project scheduling literature have concentrated on resource-constrained project scheduling under uncertainty. Most of this research focuses on protecting the project due date against disruptions during execution. Few efforts have been made to protect the starting times of intermediate activities. In this paper, we develop a heuristic algorithm for minimizing a stability cost function (weighted sum of deviations between planned and realized activity starting times). The algorithm basically proposes a clever way to scatter time buffers throughout the baseline schedule. We provide an extensive simulation experiment to investigate the trade-off between quality robustness (measured in terms of project duration) and solution robustness (stability). We address the issue whether to concentrate safety time in so-called project and feeding buffers in order to protect the planned project completion time or to scatter safety time throughout the baseline schedule in order to enhance stability.
ISSN:0020-7543
1366-588X
DOI:10.1080/00207540500140914