Quantitative solution methods to the management of human resources in a multi-project environment

Abstract

For the problem of simultaneous scheduling projects and assigning multi-skilled resources two practical inspired model extensions, pre-emptive work packages and the integration of shift models are presented. The objective of the mixed-integer linear program is to minimize external and internal labor costs. For the generated test instances the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) solvability, solution time and solution gap of the MIP-solver are investigated for the developed models. Due to the fact that the exact solver fails to find feasible solutions for complex instances, a solution method is provided which decomposes the problem into a scheduling and a staffing problem. The solution approach is a combination of a metaheuristic and an exact method. The conducted studies show that developed solution method performs favourably for small and medium size test instances and additionally finds good solutions for instances where the exact solver fails.