Multi-objective time-cost trade-off in dynamic PERT networks using an interactive approach [An article from: European Journal of Operational Research]

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Description:
We develop a multi-objective model for the time-cost trade-off problem in a dynamic PERT network using an interactive approach. The activity durations are exponentially distributed random variables and the new projects are generated according to a renewal process and share the same facilities. Thus, these projects cannot be analyzed independently. This dynamic PERT network is represented as a network of queues, where the service times represent the durations of the corresponding activities and the arrival stream to each node follows a renewal process. At the first stage, we transform the dynamic PERT network into a proper stochastic network and then compute the project completion time distribution by constructing a continuous-time Markov chain. At the second stage, the time-cost trade-off problem is formulated as a multi-objective optimal control problem that involves four conflicting objective functions. Then, the STEM method is used to solve a discrete-time approximation of the original problem. Finally, the proposed methodology is extended to the generalized Erlang activity durations.