Abstract :
Multimode project scheduling problem has significant application in project-based organizations. It is an NP-hard
(Non-Polynomial) problem and, therefore, several heuristic and meta heuristic techniques are employed in literature to
solve these problems. In this paper, we propose a novel heuristic approach for multimode resource constrained project
scheduling (MMRCPS). The proposed heuristic introduces an efficient technique to simultaneously optimize the
resource utilization and activity mode selection. The heuristic is designed for makespan minimization. Furthermore,
it incorporates certain activity shifting techniques to reduce makespan of the project. The proposed heuristic is tested
on benchmark instances taken from PSPLIB (Project scheduling problem library) and a comparison is performed
against optimal results. The proposed heuristic delivers better results in comparison with those reported in the
existing literature.
Keyword :
project scheduling, multi-mode problem, NP-hard, heuristic, makespan minimization