It is well-known that for many project scheduling problems the Space AS of active schedules contains at least one optimal solution for each feasible instance, so restricting heuristic construction methods to AS will improve algorithmic efficiency without foresaking the chance to eventually find...

Gegenstand der vorliegenden Arbeit sind zwei praktisch und theoretisch bedeutsame Probleme, die bei just-in-time orientierter Variantenfließfertigung auftreten. Ein Problem besteht darin, den Teilebedarf in der Endmontage so konstant wie möglich zu halten ("Level Scheduling Problem"). Das...

Resource-constrained project scheduling under a net present value objective attracts growing interest. Because this is an NP-hard problem, it is unlikely that optimum solutions can be computed for large instances. Thus, heuristics have become a popular research field. Up to now, however, tight...

Numerous exact algorithms have been developed for solving the resource-constrained project scheduling problem. Experimental studies have shown that currently even projects with only 60 activities cannot be optimally solved within a reasonable amount of time. Therefore heuristics employing...

This paper introduces a new general framework for genetic algorithms to solve a broad range of optimization problems. When designing a genetic algorithm, there may be several alternatives for a component such as crossover, mutation or decoding procedure, and it may be difficult to determine the...

The sales force deployment problem is considered which arises in many selling organizations. As a solution a novel mixed-integer formulation is introduced which is specifically characterized by an infinite number of variables. A column generation approach is proposed to obtain upper and lower...

This paper considers two problem classes that are important to researchers as well as practitioners, namely packing and project scheduling problems. First, the two problem categories are described. This includes a classification of packing problems as well as of project scheduling concepts....

The staff scheduling problem in the retail business is considered for which a new mathematical model and new solution methods are introduced. The problem is formalized as a set covering type problem. Columns represent feasible weekly working time patterns of one sales clerk. Rows correspond to...