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Exact methods for the resource levelling problem

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Abstract

We present a project scheduling problem subject to general temporal constraints where the utilization of a set of renewable resources has to be smoothed over time. For solving the NP-hard optimization problem, we point out some important structural properties and introduce a new enumeration scheme. Combining this enumeration scheme with some branch-and-bound techniques, we propose an appropriate solution procedure for the project scheduling problem at hand. To outline the practical importance of resource levelling, we sketch exemplary the optimization of mid-term planning schedules with regard to the resource requirements of IT projects. Finally, we present results from a comprehensive computational study on problem instances of the well-known rlp_j10 and rlp_j20 test sets devised by Kolisch et al. (Benchmark Instances for Project Scheduling Problems, Kluwer, Boston, 1999).

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Correspondence to Thorsten Gather.

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Gather, T., Zimmermann, J. & Bartels, JH. Exact methods for the resource levelling problem. J Sched 14, 557–569 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10951-010-0207-8

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