Devising extended-duration schedules of enhanced resource leveling

The use of resource management techniques is crucial to resolve conflicts and achieve the efficient utilization of resources. Particularly, resource-leveling techniques schedule activities in unconstrained-resource conditions to minimize fluctuations in resource profiles. According to the literature, resource leveling has typically been performed by considering that the original project duration remains fixed. Virtually, some extension in the project duration might be acceptable should a considerable enhancement in resource leveling be achieved. This paper enhances resource leveling through devising schedules of extended duration that exhibit resource profiles of lower fluctuation. Critical path method (CPM) networks of extended total floats are utilized to provide expanded yet definite spaces to search for schedules of lower resource fluctuation. The modified CPM networks accommodate for employing optimization models and searching optimal or near-optimal solutions. For demonstration, a genetic algorithm model was formulated to solve two case-study networks of 30 and 120 activities. The results indicate that schedules of lower fluctuation in resource profiles were obtained beyond the original networks’ duration.