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A Decomposition-Based Genetic Algorithm for the Resource-Constrained Project-Scheduling Problem

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  • Dieter Debels

    (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium)

  • Mario Vanhoucke

    (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Tweekerkenstraat 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

Abstract

In the last few decades, the resource-constrained project-scheduling problem has become a popular problem type in operations research. However, due to its strongly NP-hard status, the effectiveness of exact optimisation procedures is restricted to relatively small instances. In this paper, we present a new genetic algorithm (GA) for this problem that is able to provide near-optimal heuristic solutions. This GA procedure has been extended by a so-called decomposition-based genetic algorithm (DBGA) that iteratively solves subparts of the project. We present computational experiments on two data sets. The first benchmark set is used to illustrate the performance of both the GA and the DBGA. The second set is used to compare the results with current state-of-the-art heuristics and to show that the procedure is capable of producing consistently good results for challenging problem instances. We illustrate that the GA outperforms all state-of-the-art heuristics and that the DBGA further improves the performance of the GA.

Suggested Citation

  • Dieter Debels & Mario Vanhoucke, 2007. "A Decomposition-Based Genetic Algorithm for the Resource-Constrained Project-Scheduling Problem," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 55(3), pages 457-469, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:55:y:2007:i:3:p:457-469
    DOI: 10.1287/opre.1060.0358
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    17. Horbach, Andrei, 2009. "A boolean satisfiability approach to the resource-constrained project scheduling problem," Manuskripte aus den Instituten für Betriebswirtschaftslehre der Universität Kiel 644, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre.
    18. Deblaere, Filip & Demeulemeester, Erik & Herroelen, Willy, 2011. "Proactive policies for the stochastic resource-constrained project scheduling problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 214(2), pages 308-316, October.
    19. Jürgen Kuster & Dietmar Jannach & Gerhard Friedrich, 2010. "Applying Local Rescheduling in response to schedule disruptions," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 265-282, November.
    20. Wu, Kan & Huang, Edward & Wang, Mengchang & Zheng, Meimei, 2022. "Job scheduling of diffusion furnaces in semiconductor fabrication facilities," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 301(1), pages 141-152.
    21. Hongbo Li & Erik Demeulemeester, 2016. "A genetic algorithm for the robust resource leveling problem," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 43-60, February.
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    25. Nadia Chaudry & Ingunn Vermedal & Kjetil Fagerholt & Maria Fleischer Fauske & Magnus Stålhane, 2020. "A decomposition solution approach to the troops-to-tasks assignment in military peacekeeping operations," The Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation, , vol. 17(4), pages 357-371, October.

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