| The book is devoted to structural issues, algorithms, and applications of resource allocation problems in project management. Special emphasis is given to a unifying framework within which a large variety of project scheduling problems can be treated. Those problems involve general temporal constraints among project activities, different types of scarce resources, and a broad class of regular and nonregular objective functions ranging from time-based and financial to resource levelling functions. The diversity of the models proposed allows for covering many features arising in scheduling applications beyond the field of project management such as short-term production planning in the manufacturing or process industries.
This monograph grew out of my research in the ficld of resourcc-constraincd project scheduling conducted from 1995 to 2004 during my work as teaching assistant and assistant professor at the Institute for Economic Theory and Operations Research of thc Univcrsity of Karlsruhe. The aim of the book is to givc an introduction to quantitative concepts and methods for resource allocation in project managcmcnt with an cmphasis on an ordcr-theoretic framework allowing for a unifying treatment of various problem types. In order to make the work accessible for general readers, the basic concepts nccded arc rcviewed in introductory scctions of the book.
Many pcople have contributed to the outcome of this research. First and foremost, I would like to express my deep appreciation to my supervisor Professor Klaus Ncumann, who introduced me to the field and the community of project schcduling. I have greatly benefited from his comprehensive scientific knowlcdgc and expertise, his continuous encouragement, and his support. During all these years, his departmcnt has bcen a stimulating and attractive place for doing research and teaching in Operations Rcsearch.
Moreover, I would like to thank my formcr collcagucs for many fruitful discussions on various research topics and their continuing interest in my work. A major part of my rcsearch has been done in collaboration with the colleagues of the Karlsruhe project scheduling group, Birger Franck, Cord-Ulrich Fundeling, Karsten Gentner, Steffen Hagmaycr, Dr. Thomas Hartung, Dr. Roland Heilmann, Christoph Mellentien, Dr. Hartwig Nubel, Dr. Thomas Selle, PD Dr. Norbert Trautmann, and Professor Jiirgcn Zimmcrmann. Our work has been greatly influenccd by the activities of a research unit on project scheduling funded by the Deutsclle Forschungsgemcinschaft and involving colleagucs from the universities of Bcrlin (Profcssor Rolf Mijhring), Bonn (Professor Erwin Pcsch), Karlsruhe (Professor Klaus Ncumann), Kicl (Professor Andreas Drexl), and Osnabriick (Professor Peter Brucker). Numerous joint workshops on project scheduling and the "cooperative-competitive" spirit in this group havc been a great incentive to work even harder. |