Network/ Project Scheduling with Limited Resources

1. SCHEDULING WITH LIMITED RESOURCES (Workload Smoothing/ Resource Leveling) An Example:

Consider the following scheduling model displaying the precedence relationships:
II 2 IV 1 Begin I 3 1 IX III 1 2 V 2 VII VI 4 End VIII 2

Precedence relationships indicate which activities must be completed before others can begin.

This table shows the duration of each activity (in weeks) and the resources required (number of people) to complete each activity.
ACTIVITY TIME REQUIRED TO COMPLETE (WKS) NO. PEOPLE (PER WK) REQUIRED TO COMPLETE

I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

3 2 1 1 2 4 1 2 2

6 3 3 3 6 5 3 4 3

The proposed activity schedule which will achieve the overall completion time of 9 weeks is given below.
IV I II IX V VII VI VIII

III

Weeks

Note that this diagram respects precedence relationships and at the same time shows when each activity should start and how long it will take.

Now consider the number of people per week required to implement the proposed schedule as displayed in the personnel loading chart shown below. The proposed Total people schedule makes scheduled an erratic utilization of personnel. Heuristic programs can be applied to employ resources more smoothly.
Weeks

WORKLOAD SMOOTHING HEURISTIC

Slack is the maximum amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying overall project completion.

If the completion time of activity V were delayed, then activity VI would also be delayed and the project could not be completed by the end of the ninth week.
IV I II IX V VII VI VIII

III

Activity V has no slack (0 weeks).

1 2 3 4

Weeks

In contrast, the completion of activity VIII could be delayed by 3 weeks without delaying the completion of the project. Activity VIII has a slack of 3 weeks.

The following heuristic is given to provide a smoother workload across time: 1. Determine the maximum required resources in the proposed schedule, say m workers/week. 2. In each week, impose a new upper limit of m-1 for resource utilization, and, if possible, revise the proposed schedule to satisfy this constraint. a. Beginning with the earliest week violating the constraint, consider the activities contributing to the overload and move forward the one with most slack as little as possible until it contributes to no overloading, but without delaying the completion of the entire project.

Note, do not move any activities with zero slack. If there are ties, move forward the activity that contributes least to the overload (i.e., requires the fewest people). b. The heuristic terminates when the current overload cannot be decreased.

Consider the following proposed plan. The activity label appears below each arrow while the number of people required each week appears above the arrow.
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Add together the activities intersecting a particular week to get the total personal.

6 I 3 II 3 III

6 V

5 VI

The distance from the end of the arrow to 9 weeks is the slack time.
3 IV 3 VII 9 14 6 14 15 14 4 VIII

3 IX 13 14

Slack = 3 wks
9 14 5 14 5 14 5 14

Total personnel 12 New limit 14

The maximum required resource is 15 in period 4, so impose a new upper limit of 14 in each week.

Applying the Heuristic Now, move forward only those activities with positive slack. The movable activities contributing to the overload are IV, VIII, and IX. IV has the most slack.
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

6 I 3 II 3 III

6 V

5 VI

3 IV 3 VII 9 14 6 14 15 14

3 IX 13 14

4 VIII 9 14 5 14 5 14 5 14

Total personnel 12 New limit 14

Applying the Heuristic Now, move forward only those activities with positive slack. The movable activities contributing to the overload are IV, VIII, and IX. IV has the most slack.
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

6 I 3 II 3 Moving IV forward by 1 period III

6 V

5 VI

reduces the utilization in week 4 by 3 units but increases week 5 to 16 units.

Total personnel 12 New limit 9 6

3 VII 12 15

3 IV 3 IX 16 13

4 VIII 9 5 5 5

Applying the Heuristic Now, move forward only those activities with positive slack. The movable activities contributing to the overload are IV, VIII, and IX. IV has the most slack.
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

The best choice is to move IV forward by 2 periods so that no upper limit will be violated.

6 I 3 II 3 III

6 V

5 VI

3 VII Total personnel 12 New limit 9 6 15

3 IV 3 IX 13

4 VIII 9 5 5 5

Applying the Heuristic Now, move forward only those activities with positive slack. The movable activities contributing to the overload are IV, VIII, and IX. IV has the most slack.
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

6 I 3 II 3 III

6 V

5 VI

3 VII Total personnel 12 New limit 12 9 12 6 12 12 12

3 IX 13 12

3 IV 4 VIII 12 12 5 12 5 12 5 12

The new upper limit is now 12 in each week.

Now the only overload based on a limit of 12 is caused by activities VIII and IX in week 5.

Week

6 I 3 II 3 III

6 V

5 VI

3 VII Total personnel 12 New limit 9 6 12 13

3 IV 4 VIII 3 IX 12 5 5 5

Activity IX has the most slack, and it must be advanced 3 weeks to begin in week 7.

Week

6 I 3 II 3 III

6 V

5 VI

3 VII Total personnel 12 New limit 11 9 11 6 11 9 11 10 11

3 IV 4 VIII 12 11 8 11

3 IX 8 11 5 11

The new upper limit is now 11 in each week.

Now there are violations in weeks 1 and 6. According to the algorithm, first move activity III forward 2 weeks and then activity IV forward 1 week.
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

6 I 3 II 3 III

6 V

5 VI

3 VII Total personnel 12 New limit 11 9 11 6 11 9 11 10 11

3 IV 4 VIII 12 11 8 11

3 IX 8 11 5 11

Now there are violations in weeks 1 and 6. According to the algorithm, first move activity III forward 2 weeks and then activity IV forward 1 week.
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

6 I 3 II 3 III

6 V

5 VI

3 VII Total personnel New limit 9 10 9 10 9 10 9 10 10 10

4 VIII 9 10

3 IV 3 IX 11 10 8 10 5 10

The new upper limit is now 10 in each week.

Now the only violation is in week 7. So, move activity IV forward 2 weeks.

Week

6 I 3 II 3 III

6 V

5 VI

3 VII Total personnel New limit 9 10 9 10 9 10 9 10 10 10

4 VIII 9 10

3 IV 3 IX 11 10 8 10 5 10

Heuristic Terminates The algorithm is unable to improve beyond the fifth proposal. Hence, this schedule is the heuristic solution. The maximum utilization is now 10 weeks and the minimum is 8.
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

6 I 3 II 3 III

6 V

5 VI

3 VII Total personnel New limit 9 9 9 9 10

4 VIII 9 8

3 IV 3 IX 8 8

For this model, an optimal solution is one that minimizes the maximum utilization of personnel. The optimal schedule according to this minimax criteria is shown below.
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

6 I 3 II 3 III

6 V

5 VI

3 IV 3 VII 4 VIII 3 IX 8 8

Total personnel

End of Session