Process Systems Engineering

Scheduling process Activities

Course Instructor: Teklay G. [Msc]

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 Contents
• Introduction
• Problem description
• Mathematical programming model
• Push scheduling mode
• Pull scheduling mode
• Summary

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 Introduction
• A design process can be represented as a
network of design activities. A number of design
projects may be undertaken simultaneously to
reduce the product development cycle.
• Since the total number of resources are limited,
resource conflicts may occur among design
activities of the same design projects or different
projects and it may not be possible to undertake
all the design activities simultaneously. Then, the
decision has to be made about which activities
are to be scheduled.

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 Problem description
• Deals with the problem of scheduling design
activities of multiple design projects competing
for the limited available resources.
• The problem of determining a schedule subject to
precedence and resource constraints is difficult to
solve . It becomes even more complex when
unexpected changes are considered. For example
in the level of resources. Therefore, the
scheduling problem is decomposed into a series
of multidimensional problems.
• Due to high computational complexity of the
multidimensional problems, two solution
procedures are considered.
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Solution Approach I

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Example:
• suppose that there are two activities to be scheduled
at time t=5 with weights 20 and 10, respectively. The
values of K and M are 50 and 10 respectively. Suppose
that the first activity has a duration of 3 units and it is
due at t=10. then the reward index of the first activity
is 100. if the second activity has duration of 7 units and
it is due at t=9, the reward index for the second activity
is (10*150)=1500
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 Solution Approach II
Heuristic Algorithm
Push scheduling model

E set of all eligible design activities

U set of eligible design activities to be scheduled 14
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Example
Case Study: Electronic products

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Given:
• Process models and time-based information
• Vector of available resources R = [8, 9, 7]
• Set of schedulable activities E = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
• Determine a “good quality” schedule

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Solving the IP model (solution approach I)

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Solution Approach II

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summary

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The Solution
2. Prepare test specifications
4. Finalize test plans
5. Prepare customer required test data
The Delayed Activities
1. Building critical circuits and testing
3. Prepare allocation of costs

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