Simulation-based approach for Multiproject Scheduling based on composite priority rules

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simulation-based method that sequentially applies multiple priority rules to improve multi-project scheduling efficiency, validated using the MPSPLib library.

Contribution

It proposes a novel structured approach combining multiple priority criteria via simulation to enhance schedule quality in multi-project environments.

Findings

Improved schedule durations using the proposed method.

Validated effectiveness with MPSPLib benchmark.

Enhanced resource utilization in multi-project scheduling.

Abstract

This paper presents a simulation approach to enhance the performance of heuristics for multi-project scheduling. Unlike other heuristics available in the literature that use only one priority criterion for resource allocation, this paper proposes a structured way to sequentially apply more than one priority criterion for this purpose. By means of simulation, different feasible schedules are obtained to, therefore, increase the probability of finding the schedule with the shortest duration. The performance of this simulation approach was validated with the MPSPLib library, one of the most prominent libraries for resource-constrained multi-project scheduling. These results highlight the proposed method as a useful option for addressing limited time and resources in portfolio management.