Resource-constrained project scheduling with flexible resource profiles in continuous time

Abstract

This paper addresses the resource-constrained project scheduling problem with flexible resource profiles (FRCPSP) in continuous time. In contrast to the discrete-time system, each task may start, end, or change its resource allocation at any point in time. The additional decisions for the continuous times of these events greatly amplify the problem complexity. We propose a mixed-integer linear programming model together with problem-specific inequalities and heuristic time limits, both of which are applied in the branch-and-cut procedure. In addition, the fractional period-width preprocessing and heuristic as well as the event estimation method are proposed to estimate the time and event parameters. Through the computational results, we investigate the pros and cons of the continuous-time model against the discrete-time counterpart both in terms of solution quality and runtimes, as well as the effectiveness of the preprocessing and different solution procedures.