Allocation and Scheduling of Resources

Abstract

Resource loading problems are broadly of two types: those that can be formulated to produce a single optimal decision and those that involve multi-decisions as a result of a step-by-step approach to solution. The first category covers optimisation problems that can be solved completely by simultaneously considering the interaction of all the variables, including single-stage transportation or simple product blending problems. The second category relates to problems that can be solved only by sub-dividing them into stages and using the optimal solution at one stage to optimise the next stage. These may include long-term investment decisions or batch ordering strategies where there are known probabilities of producing scrap components.