Dynamic Programming Approach to Scheduling of Nonserial Linear Project

Abstract

This paper presents a nonserial dynamic programming formulation for the scheduling of linear projects with nonsequential activities. One of the major advantages of the approach presented is its ability to handle both serial and nonserial linear projects with activities performed with variable crew formations. The presented formulation determines the optimum crew size for production activities that lead to the minimum project total cost. An example project is provided in order to illustrate the computational steps, validate the calculation algorithm, and show the capabilities of the proposed method.