A Constraint-Based Declarative Programming Framework for Scheduling and Resource Allocation Problems

Abstract

Scheduling and resource allocation problems are widespread in many areas of today’s technology and management. Their different forms and structures appear in production, logistics, software engineering, computer networks, project and human resources management, services, etc. The literature (problem classification, scheduling and resource allocation models, solutions) is vast and exhaustive. In practice, however, classical scheduling problems with fixed structures and standard constraints (precedence, disjoint, etc.) are rare. Practical scheduling problems include also logical and nonlinear constraints, and they use nonstandard criteria of schedule evaluations. Indeed, in many cases, decision makers are interested in the feasibility and/or optimality of a given schedule for specified conditions formulated as general and/or specific questions. Thus, there is a need to develop a programming framework that will facilitate the modeling and solving of a variety of diverse scheduling problems. The framework should be able to (a) model any types of constraints, (b) ask questions/criteria relating to the schedule execution mode and (c) be highly effective in finding solutions (schedule development). This paper proposes such a constraint-based declarative programming framework for modeling and solving scheduling problems which satisfies the assumptions above. It was built with the Constraint Logic Programming (CLP) environment and supported with Mathematical Programming (MP). The functionality and effectiveness of this framework are presented with the use of an illustrative example for the resource-constrained scheduling problem with additional resources.

Sistem Pendukung Keputusan Penyeleksian Jadwal Kegiatan ORMAWA FKI UMS Dengan Metode Weighted Product Berbasis Web

“…Penjadwalan dan alokasi sumber daya merupakan contoh bagian unsur terpenting dalam organisasi. Penjadwalan dapat diterapkan dalam bidang produksi, manufaktur, distribusi dan transportasi, manajemen rantai pasokan, rekayasa perangkat lunak, jaringan komputer, manajemen inventaris, manajemen proyek [2]. Maka dari itu, penjadwalan sangatlah penting untuk diterapkan pada organisasi, karena penjadwalan memiliki manfaat yang signifikan salah satunya meningkatkan efisiensi produksi dan keuntungan [3].…”