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Optimizing time, cost and quality in multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling

Marimuthu Kannimuthu (Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India) (Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australia)
Benny Raphael (Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India)
Ekambaram Palaneeswaran (Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australia)
Ananthanarayanan Kuppuswamy (Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India)

Built Environment Project and Asset Management

ISSN: 2044-124X

Article publication date: 2 January 2019

Issue publication date: 5 March 2019

1088

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to optimize time, cost and quality in a multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling environment.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study approach identified the activity execution modes in building construction projects in India to support multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling. The data required to compute time, cost and quality of each activity are compiled from real construction projects. A binary integer-programming model has been developed to perform multi-objective optimization and identify Pareto optimal solutions. The RR-PARETO3 algorithm was used to identify the best compromise trade-off solutions. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is demonstrated through sample case study projects.

Findings

Results show that good compromise solutions are obtained through multi-objective optimization of time, cost and quality.

Research limitations/implications

Case study data sets were collected only from eight building construction projects in India.

Practical implications

It is feasible to adopt multi-objective optimization in practical construction projects using time, cost and quality as the objectives; Pareto surfaces help to quantify relationships among time, cost and quality. It is shown that cost can be reduced by increasing the duration, and quality can be improved only by increasing the cost.

Originality/value

The use of different activity execution modes compiled from multiple projects in optimization is illustrated, and good compromise solutions for the multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling problems using multi-objective optimization are identified.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The doctoral research study of the first author was supported by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), India, and scholarship from Swinburne University Postgraduate Research Award (SUPRA), Australia. The authors would like to thank reviewers for their invaluable comments.

Citation

Kannimuthu, M., Raphael, B., Palaneeswaran, E. and Kuppuswamy, A. (2019), "Optimizing time, cost and quality in multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling", Built Environment Project and Asset Management, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 44-63. https://doi.org/10.1108/BEPAM-04-2018-0075

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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