0000000000192092
AUTHOR
Francisco Ballestín
Justification technique generalizations
The justification technique was introduced various decades ago for the resource-constrained project scheduling problem, although it has rarely been used with the problem. Justification is a simple and quick technique which when applied to schedules produces a new schedule that is, at most, as long as the original schedule — and often shorter. A recent article (Valls et al, 2005), showed that incorporating justification in heuristic algorithms can produce a substancial improvement in the results obtained. These results have motivated us to generalise this technique in order to study it in greater depth. This paper proposes distinct forms and generalisations for the justification technique an…
Integer Preemption Problems
A fundamental assumption in the basic RCPSP is that activities in progress are non-preemptable. Some papers reveal the potential benefits of allowing activity interruptions in the schedule when the objective is the makespan minimization. In this chapter we consider the Maxnint_PRCPSP in which it is assumed that activities can be interrupted at any integer time instant with no cost incurred, that each activity can be split into a maximum number of parts, and that each part has a minimum duration established. We show how some procedures developed for the RCPSP can be adapted to work with the Maxnint_PRCPSP and we introduce some procedures specifically designed for this problem. Furthermore, p…
Heuristic algorithms for a storage location assignment problem in a chaotic warehouse
The extensive application of emerging technologies is revolutionizing warehouse management. These technologies facilitate working with complex and powerful warehouse management models in which products do not have assigned fixed locations (random storage). Random storage allows the utilization of the available space to be optimized. In this context, and motivated by a real problem, this article presents a model that looks for the optimal allocation of goods in order to maximize the storage space availability within the restrictions of the warehouse. For the proposed model a construction method, a local search algorithm and different metaheuristics have been developed. The introduced algorit…
Pre-emption in resource-constrained project scheduling
Abstract The Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Project (RCPSP), together with some of its extensions, has been widely studied. A fundamental assumption in this basic problem is that activities in progress are non-preemptable. Very little effort has been made to uncover the potential benefits of discrete activity pre-emption, and the papers dealing with this issue have reached the conclusion that it has little effect on project length when constant resource availability levels are defined. In this paper we show how three basic elements of many heuristics for the RCPSP – codification, serial SGS and double justification – can be adapted to deal with interruption. The paper is mainly foc…
Looking for the best modes helps solving the MRCPSP/max
The multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling problem with minimum and maximum time lags MRCPSP/max is a very general project scheduling problem with multiple execution modes per activity, renewable and non-renewable resources and minimum and maximum time lags between activities. In this paper, we describe SA-EVA, an algorithm for the problem. SA-EVA first searches for the best mode for each activity, without considering renewable resources. In this phase a simulated annealing is applied. Once a mode vector has been chosen, the problem reduces to the RCPSP/max, which SA-EVA solves with EVA, an algorithm designed in Ballestin et al. [2009. An evolutionary algorithm for the resource-…
A multistage heuristic for storage and retrieval problems in a warehouse with random storage
The warehouse is one of the essential components of logistics and supply chains. The efficiency of the whole chain is affected by the performance of warehouse operations and, more particularly, the storage and retrieval of goods. This paper considers a storage and retrieval problem in a real warehouse with random storage and different types of forklifts, depending on the locations they can access. The problem deals with selecting locations to store/retrieve a predefined set of pallets, assigning an adequately skilled forklift to each operation and determining the order in which each forklift will perform its operations so that the total employed time is minimized. The problem is solved heur…
A double genetic algorithm for the MRCPSP/max
This paper presents a heuristic solution procedure for a very general resource-constrained project scheduling problem. Here, multiple execution modes are available for the individual activities of the project. In addition, minimum as well as maximum time lags between different activities may be given. The objective is to determine a mode and a start time for each activity such that the temporal and resource constraints are met and the project duration is minimised. Project scheduling problems of this type occur e.g. in process industries. The heuristic is a two-phased genetic algorithm with different representation, fitness, crossover operator, etc., in each of them. One of the contribution…
Scheduling projects with limited number of preemptions
A recent paper (Ballestin F, Valls V, Quintanilla S. Preemption in resource-constrained project scheduling. European Journal of Operational Research 2008;189:1136-152) revealed the potential benefits of allowing one interruption when scheduling activities in a resource-constrained project. This paper further investigates the effect of interruption on project length in more general cases. To achieve this, a new model that covers most practical applications of discrete activity preemption is proposed and a metaheuristic algorithm for the problem is developed. Computational experiments on the standard j120 and j30 sets generated using ProGen study the difference in makespan between allowing m …
A hybrid genetic algorithm for the resource-constrained project scheduling problem
Abstract In this paper we propose a Hybrid Genetic Algorithm (HGA) for the Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (RCPSP). HGA introduces several changes in the GA paradigm: a crossover operator specific for the RCPSP; a local improvement operator that is applied to all generated schedules; a new way to select the parents to be combined; and a two-phase strategy by which the second phase re-starts the evolution from a neighbour’s population of the best schedule found in the first phase. The computational results show that HGA is a fast and high quality algorithm that outperforms all state-of-the-art algorithms for the RCPSP known by the authors of this paper for the instance sets j…
A Population-Based Approach to the Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem
We present a population-based approach to the RCPSP. The procedure has two phases. The first phase handles the initial construction of a population of schedules and these are then evolved until high quality solutions are obtained. The evolution of the population is driven by the alternative application of an efficient improving procedure for locally improving the use of resources, and a mechanism for combining schedules that blends scatter search and path relinking characteristics. The objective of the second phase is to explore in depth those vicinities near the high quality schedules. Computational experiments on the standard j120 set, generated using ProGen, show that our algorithm produ…
Due Dates and RCPSP
Due dates are an essential feature of real projects, but little effort has been made in studying the RCPSP with due dates in the activities. This paper tries to bridge this gap by studying two problems: the TardinessRCPSP, in which the objective is total tardiness minimization and the DeadlineRCPSP, in which the due dates are strict (deadlines) and the objective is makespan minimization. The first problem is NP-hard and the second is much harder, since finding a feasible solution is already NP-hard. This paper has three objectives: Firstly to compare the performance on both problems of well-known RCPSP heuristics - priority rules, sampling procedures and metaheuristics - with new versions w…
Static and dynamic policies with RFID for the scheduling of retrieval and storage warehouse operations
Warehouses are essential components of logistics and supply chains. The performance of warehouse operations significantly affects the efficiency of the whole chain it belongs to. Radio frequency identification (RFID) is an emerging technology capable of providing real-time information about the location and properties of tagged object(s), such as people, equipment or products. The objective of this article is threefold, to propose and compare different offline and online policies for the scheduling of warehouse operations, to design a tool that allows the decision maker to compare policies and environments without putting them into practice, and to study the benefits that can be obtained if…
Theoretical and Practical Fundamentals
Project managers carry out a project with several objectives in mind. They want to finish the project as soon as possible, with the minimum cost, the maximum quality, etc. This chapter studies project scheduling problems when several goals are sought, that is, multi-objective project scheduling problems (MOPSPs) and multi-objective resource-constrained project scheduling problems (MORCPSPs). We will discuss some of the most important issues that have to be taken into account when dealing with these problems. We will also prove some useful results that can help researchers create algorithms for some of these problems.
Resource-constrained project scheduling: A critical activity reordering heuristic
Abstract In this paper, we present a new metaheuristic algorithm for the resource-constrained project-scheduling problem. The procedure is a non-standard implementation of fundamental concepts of tabu search without explicitly using memory structures embedded in a population-based framework. The procedure makes use of a fan search strategy to intensify the search, whereas a strategic oscillation mechanism loosely related to the forward/backward technique provides the necessary diversification. Our implementation employs the topological order (TO) representation of schedules. To explore the TO vector space we introduce three types of moves, two of them based on the concept of relative critic…
Justification and RCPSP: A technique that pays
Abstract The objective of this paper is to show that justification is a simple technique that can be easily incorporated in diverse algorithms for the resource-constrained project scheduling problem––improving the quality of the schedules generated without generally requiring more computing time. The results of incorporating this technique in 22 different algorithms are shown. Fifteen of the new algorithms that use double justification outperform seven of the best heuristic algorithms that do not use justification. The tests have been performed on the standard test set j120 for the RCPSP generated using ProGen.