Using a simulated annealing algorithm to schedule activities of resource-constrained projects

This paper demonstrates the application of a simple algorithm that can be easily applied to various kinds of resource constrained, randomized activity duration project scheduling problems, and will in most cases perform better than existing heuristics. The Simulated Annealing (SA) procedure proposed in this paper proves to be an efficient way to find good solutions to both deterministic and stochastic problems. Improved solutions to those provided by existing heuristics are provided in minimum computational time. In addition, SA finds the optimal solution to most of the test problems investigated.