Classification of Single-Mode Heuristics

Abstract

The computational results reported in the previous chapter demonstrated that exact solution algorithms are of no use when scheduling projects of real-world size. From a theoretical point of view, this outcome is no surprise due to the NP-hardness of the RCPSP and its extensions. But, considering the data uncertainty often occuring in practice such as unpredictable delays, perfectly accurate planning would not be needed anyway. For that reason, schedules which are close to the optimum are sufficient in most cases. Such good but not necessarily optimal schedules are constructed by heuristics. Since 1963 when Kelley [111] introduced a schedule generation scheme, a large number of different heuristic algorithms have been suggested in the project scheduling literature.