MPS - Decision Support System for Multiobjective Project Scheduling

Slowinski, R., Soniewicki, B., & Weglarz, J. (1991). MPS - Decision Support System for Multiobjective Project Scheduling. IIASA Collaborative Paper. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: CP-91-007

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Abstract

The report presents a decision support system (DSS) for multiobjective project scheduling under multiple-category resource constraints. It handles quite a general class of nonpreemptive scheduling problems with renewable, nonrenewable and doubly-constrained resources, multiple performing modes of activities, precedence constraints in the form of an activity network and multiple project performance criteria of time and cost type. The DSS has been implemented on a microcomputer compatible with IBM PC, and called MPS. It is based on three kinds of heuristics: parallel priority rules, simulated annealing and branch-and-bound. The last algorithm can even yield exact solutions when sufficient processing time is available. Some parts of the MPS are interactive, in particular, the search for a best compromise schedule. Graphical facilities enable a thorough evaluation of feasible schedules. The report starts with a methodological guide presenting the problem formulation and the three heuristics. Then, the general scheme of the MPS is given together with an executive guide. An expanding menu and all its options are described and illustrated with a simple example. The last part presents a real problem solving consisting in scheduling 40 farm activities.

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