Identifying Project Alternatives with the Use of Constraint Programming

The paper is concerned with using a constraint programming paradigm for identifying alternative variants of completing a new product development project. The model of project prototyping includes variables and constraints in the fields of product, organisation and its environment. The project prototyping problem is formulated as a constraint satisfaction problem and implemented with the use of constraint programming that enables declarative description and effective solving of large combinatorial problems. Consequently, constraint programming can be considered as an appropriate framework for developing decision-making software to support identification of alternatives for project completion. An example illustrates the applicability of the proposed approach in the context of new product development projects.