An Uncertainty Tolerant Approach For Stochastic Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problems

This paper proposes an uncertainty-tolerant approach (UTA) for the stochastic resource constrained project scheduling problem (SRCPSP) with the aim of generating schedules while considering both makespan and stability performance. For SRCPSPs, all uncertain activity durations are usually represented by random probability distribution functions, while the resource constraints are most often considered to be deterministic. To provide an uncertainty-tolerant solution for SRCPSPs, we have proposed a variable neighbourhood search-based heuristic (VNSH), which incorporates different priority-rules. Three different duration variances are considered to play role in the stochasticity of all activity durations. The potential merit for alternative priority rules has also been explored and reported after executing an exhaustive computational experiment. The impact of durational uncertainty levels on the project completion probabilities is also discussed in detail.