An efficient hybrid genetic algorithm for scheduling projects with resource constraints and multiple execution modes

Abstract

Multi-mode Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (MRCPSP) aims at finding the start times and execution modes for the activities of a project that optimize a given objective function while verifying a set of precedence and resource constraints. In this paper, we focus on this problem and develop a hybrid Genetic Algorithm (MM-HGA) to solve it. Its main contributions are the mode assignment procedure, the fitness function and the use of a very efficient improving method. Its performance is demonstrated by extensive computational results obtained on a set of standard instances and against the best currently available algorithms.