Resource-constrained multi-project scheduling problem: A survey

Project Management is becoming increasingly crucial in competitive environments such as manufacturing and the service industries. The Resource-Constrained Multi-Project Scheduling Problem (RCMPSP) consists of assigning start times to jobs corresponding to two or more projects that must be executed simulta-neously while respecting the precedence between jobs and limited resources. The existing rise in the study of the RCMPSP resulted in numerous works on the topic while proposing different problem fea-tures. This research analyzes different variants of the problem based on aspects related to jobs, projects, relationships, resources, and time management. Moreover, based on the problem variants considered in the collected works, a taxonomy allowing (i) the identification and positioning of each RCMPSP variant and (ii) the analysis of the current state-of-the-art of the problem is proposed. In addition, the solution methods proposed to solve RCMPSPs are classified and analyzed, together with the benchmarks used to validate such approaches. Finally, this review paper discusses the RCMPSP connection to practice and provides future research opportunities in light of recent advances.(c) 2022 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ )

Automated summary

Project Management is crucial in competitive industries. The RCMPSP is about assigning start times to jobs in multiple projects with limited resources. This research analyzes different variants of the problem and proposes a taxonomy for identification and analysis. It also classifies and analyzes solution methods and benchmarks for RCMPSP, and discusses its connection to practice and future research opportunities.