Multilevel capacitated lot-sizing and resource-constrained project scheduling: an integrating perspective

Abstract

Some well-known decision problems can be regarded as special cases of the resource-constrained project-scheduling problem (RCPSP) with respect to the structure of their mathematical models. These decision models include assembly line balancing, job shop scheduling and some packing problems. Here, the differences and similarities of mathematical models of the multilevel capacitated lot-sizing problem (MLCLSP) and the RCPSP are shown, and it is concluded that the RCPSP is a special case of the MLCLSP. This theoretical result is complemented by an integrated, general model formulation that allows one to coordinate customer-specific orders and make-to-stock (lot size) production at the master (production) planning level.

Keywords:

• Multilevel lot-sizing
• Resource-constrained project scheduling

Acknowledgements

The author is indebted to Michael Kraemer and Christopher Suerie for implementing the model formulations presented and for conducting computational tests, as well as three anonymous referees for constructive recommendations.