A heuristic solution framework for the resource constrained (multi-)project scheduling problem with sequence-dependent transfer times

We consider the problem of scheduling multiple projects subject to joint resource constraints. All approaches proposed in the literature so far are based on the assumption that resources can be transferred from one project to the other without any expense in time or cost. In many realworld settings this assumption is not realistic. For example, cranes have to be transported to another location and reinstalled there. In order to consider this additional aspect, we generalise the multi-project scheduling problem by additionally including transfer times which represent transportation, installation, adjustment, (re-) learning and other setup activities necessary when a resource is removed from one project and reassigned to another (or from one job to another within the same project). In this paper, we define the modified multi-project scheduling problem with transfer times (called RCMPSPTT), formulate it as an integer linear programme, propose heuristic solution procedures and present results of comprehensive computational experiments.