Effective project scheduling under workspace congestion and workflow disturbance factors

Effective project management implies the use of advanced planning and scheduling methods that allow to determine feasible sequences of activities and to complete a project on time and on budget. Traditional scheduling tools like fundamental Critical Path Method (CPM) and various methods for Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (RCPSP) and Time Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (TCPSP) have many shortcomings for construction projects where spatial factor plays a critically important role. Previous attempts to interpret space as a specific resource were successful for particular problems of line-of-balance scheduling, space scheduling, dynamic layout planning, horizontal and vertical logic scheduling, workspace congestion mitigating, scheduling multiple projects with movable resources, spatial scheduling of repeated and grouped activities and motion planning. However, none of these methods considers the spatio-temporal requirements in a holistic framework of generic RCPSP problem and provides feasible results accounting for workspace and workflow factors. In this paper we start with the classical RCPSP statement and then present mathematically strong formalisation of the extended generalised problem, taking into account workspace congestion and workflow disturbance constraints specified in practically meaningful and computationally constructive ways. For the generalised RCPSP problem an effective scheduling method is proposed. The method tends to minimise the project makespan while satisfying timing constraints and precedence relations, not exceeding resource utilisation limits, avoiding workspace congestions and keeping workflows continuous. The method reuses so-called serial scheduling scheme and provides for additional computational routines and heuristic priority rules to generate feasible schedules satisfying all the imposed requirements. Advantages of the method and prospects for its application to industrial needs are outlined in the paper too.

[1]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  Dynamic layout planning using a hybrid incremental solution method , 1999 .

[2]  H. N. Ahuja.  Construction performance control by networks , 1976 .

[3]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  Space Scheduling Using Flow Analysis , 1999 .

[4]  Edward W. Davis,et al.  A Comparison of Heuristic and Optimum Solutions in Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling , 1975 .

[5]  Ellips Masehian,et al.  Classic and Heuristic Approaches in Robot Motion Planning A Chronological Review , 2007 .

[6]  Tarek Hegazy,et al.  Optimization of Resource Allocation and Leveling Using Genetic Algorithms , 1999 .

[7]  Rainer Kolisch,et al.  Characterization and generation of a general class of resource-constrained project scheduling problems , 1995 .

[8]  Yvan J. Beliveau,et al.  Modeling Work Space to Schedule Repetitive Floors in Multistory Buildings , 1994 .

[9]  Steven M. LaValle,et al.  Planning algorithms , 2006 .

[10]  David K. H. Chua,et al.  Quantification of Spatial Temporal Congestion in Four-Dimensional Computer-Aided Design , 2010 .

[11]  Nashwan Dawood,et al.  Construction workspace management: the development and application of a novel nD planning approach and tool , 2012, J. Inf. Technol. Constr..

[12]  H ChuaDavidK,et al.  Mitigating Workspace Congestion: A Genetic Algorithm Approach , 2012 .

[13]  Yvan J. Beliveau,et al.  HVLS: Horizontal and Vertical Logic Scheduling for Multistory Projects , 1994 .

[14]  Rainer Kolisch.  Serial and parallel resource-constrained project scheduling methods revisited: Theory and computation , 1994 .

[15]  Rainer Kolisch,et al.  Efficient priority rules for the resource-constrained project scheduling problem , 1996 .

[16]  John Bowers,et al.  Criticality in Resource Constrained Networks , 1995 .

[17]  F. F. Boctor,et al.  Some efficient multi-heuristic procedures for resource-constrained project scheduling , 1990 .