Due to the inherent complexity of resource constrained scheduling, the project durations of resource constrained project plans can be two times or more longer than needed. This paper shows that the scheduling engine used effects the project duration even for relatively small projects consisting of a few dozen tasks, and the effect can become enormous as the number of tasks grows into the thousands and a number of types and quantity of resources expands. Unfortunately, the type of algorithm used by most commercial project planning software for handling resources, is a relatively inefficient methodology for scheduling resource constrained projects. Project schedules can be either resource constrained or non-resource constrained. When a project plan is developed (e.g., in Microsoft Project) first the tasks and the durations are entered with the technical/temporal dependencies between the tasks. At this point the project plan can be used as is, or the actual resources that are needed to perform the tasks, i.e., people, machinery, floor space, etc. can be entered to give a more realistic depiction of the project. The resource constrained scheduling that will be discussed, is resource constrained Critical Path Project Management. Mathematically the resource constrained scheduling problem can be shown to be very complex, and for projects of any realistic size the globally optimum solution can not be guaranteed to be found in less than geological time even on the fastest computers.
Advanced Scheduling Technology for More Efficient (Shorter) Resource Constrained Schedules
2008-03-01
3875461 byte
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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