Abstract
We identify a block structure, typically found in resource-constrained project schedules, that yields a natural decomposition of the original problem into a series of smaller subproblems. Reducing the makespan of any subproblem has the effect of reducing the total makespan by an equivalent amount. Since these subproblems can be independently reoptimized, this block structure provides a way of improving schedules generated by heuristic methods. We report computational results of applying this technique to problems containing up to five resources and on the order of 200 activities, and speculate as to its applicability to more powerful local search based heuristics.
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© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Mausser, H.E., Lawrence, S.R. (1996). Exploiting Block Structure to Improve Resource-Constrained Project Schedules. In: Osman, I.H., Kelly, J.P. (eds) Meta-Heuristics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1361-8_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1361-8_13
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