A Heuristic Model for Scheduling Large Projects with Limited Resources

Abstract

Present PERT-type scheduling models implicitly assume unlimited availability of resources. As most project schedulers are aware, however, activities may be constrained in their start dates by availability of resources as well as by technological orderings. Analytic solutions to the limited-resource, project scheduling problem are infeasible at present for all but small projects; heuristic approaches seem most promising of useful results. One such approach, described here, is a computer model capable of scheduling single or multiple projects within resource limits and other constraints commonly encountered by the project scheduler. The basic formulation of the model is discussed along with its scheduling heuristics which determine the period-by-period allocation of resources to activities in a project. By changing certain parameters and heuristics in the model, one can simulate project scheduling under varying constraints and scheduling rules. Applications of the model to a number of fictitious and real projects are described.

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