Estimation of Distribution Algorithm for solving the Multi-mode Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problem

The Multi-mode Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problem is characterized by a set of tasks, resources and an objective function. All tasks of a project must be organized carefully taking into account precedence relations, the mode in which they are performed and availability of resources at all times. At present, around 71% of the projects related to the software industry are renegotiated or canceled causing negative impacts on both, social and economic areas. Among the root causes of these failures, deficiencies in planning processes and a lack of tools to help generate quasi-optimal project schedules are found. This kind of problem can be presented as an optimization problem subjected to two groups of restrictions: precedence relations and resource constraints. This paper aims at proposing a new Estimation of Distribution Algorithm applied for the resolution of the Multi-mode Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problem. In particular, this algorithm is based on Factorized Distribution Algorithm in which the precedence relations of the problem are represented by the factorization. A comprehensive computational experiment is described, performed on a set of benchmark instances of the well-known Project Scheduling Problem Library (PSPLIB) in its Multi-mode variant. The results show that the proposed algorithm can find similar or sometimes even shorter makespans than others reported in bibliography.