Can-build | Solving the Can-build Problem Using Constraint Logic Programming

Solving the can-build problem | a subtask of Materials Requirements Planning | means establishing an executable production plan when constraints on the availability of resources occur. This paper investigates how Constraint Logic Programming can be used to solve this real-world problem. An algorithm is presented that returns the most general solution according to those constraints which are known explicitly. Since this solution cannot be used directly in a planning tool, we investigate how the user can be supported to understand, analyse and reene the constraint answer set maintaining his domain and technical terms. An interactive decision support mechanism has been provided that allows to add management information and intuitive knowledge by specifying constraints implicitly via a command interpreter. This paper is a collected and revised version of Nitsche 94a] and Nitsche 94b].