Systems, methods and computer program products for compact scheduling

• US 20060143063A1
• Filed: 12/29/2005
• Published: 06/29/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Braun, Heinrich K., Hentschel, Martin D., Engelmann, Thomas H.
• Granted Patent: US 8,533,023 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations

Abstract

Methods, systems and computer program products are provided for allocating resources in a plannable process, wherein a number of resources is used for executing an order comprising a chain of related activities to be executed on the number of resources. In one implementation, a method comprises, for each order, identifying a first activity execution due date for executing a predetermined first activity in the order, scheduling an execution date for each activity according to a just-in-time criterion in correspondence with an activity execution due date of a related activity, identifying a second activity execution date for executing a predetermined second activity in the order that is scheduled according to the scheduling routine, and reversely scheduling an execution date for each activity according to a just-in-time criterion in correspondence with an activity execution due date of a reverse related activity, wherein the second activity execution date is kept fixed as a second activity execution due date.

Claims

1. A method of allocating resources in a plannable process, a predetermined number of resources being used for executing an order comprising a chain of related activities to be executed on the predetermined number of resources, the method comprising:

scheduling an execution date for each activity according to a just-in-time criterion in correspondence with an activity execution due date of a related activity;

identifying a first activity execution due date for executing a predetermined first activity in the order;

identifying a second activity execution date for executing a predetermined second activity in the order that is scheduled according to a scheduling routine; and

reversely scheduling an execution date for each activity according to a just-in-time criterion in correspondence with an activity execution due date of a reverse related activity, wherein the second activity execution date is kept fixed as a second activity execution due date.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the just-in-time criterion is evaluated in accordance with scheduling an activity execution date so that a time span between the scheduled activity execution date and a related activity execution due date is less than a predetermined minimum value.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the just-in-time criterion is evaluated in accordance with scheduling an activity execution date so that a time span between the scheduled activity execution date and a related activity execution due date is minimal.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein scheduling is performed forward in time for related activities in succeeding order, and wherein reverse scheduling is performed backwards in time for related activities in preceding order.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein scheduling is performed backwards in time for related activities in preceding order, and wherein reverse scheduling is performed forwards in time for related activities in succeeding order.

6. A method according to claim 4, wherein for a succeeding activity, a succeeding activity execution date is scheduled according to a succeeding activity earliest start date in correspondence with a preceding activity start due date and for a preceding activity, a preceding activity execution date is scheduled according to a preceding activity latest finish date in correspondence with a succeeding activity finish due date.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first activity execution due date is an order start due date.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the second activity execution date is an earliest order finish date.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first activity execution due date is an order finish due date.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the second activity execution date is a latest order start date.

22. A computer program product comprising a computer program stored on a computer readable medium, the computer program comprising instructions operable to cause a computer to perform a method of allocating resources in a plannable process according to claim 1.

11. A method of allocating resources in a plannable process, a predetermined number of resources being used for executing an order comprising a chain of related activities to be executed on the predetermined number of resources, the method comprising:

identifying an order execution start date for executing a first activity in the order and inputting the order execution start date as a preceding activity execution start due date in a scheduling routine;

running the scheduling routine for succeeding activities in the order, comprising;

scheduling an activity execution date according to a just-in-time criterion in correspondence with the preceding activity execution start due date; and

inputting the scheduled activity execution date as an activity execution start due date for scheduling a succeeding activity in the scheduling routine;

identifying an earliest order execution finish date for executing a last activity in the order that is scheduled according to the scheduling routine;

setting the last activity execution finish due date to the earliest order execution finish date; and

reversely running the scheduling routine for preceding activities in the order, comprising;

scheduling an activity execution date according to a just-in-time criterion in correspondence with the succeeding activity execution finish due date; and

inputting the scheduled activity execution date as an activity execution finish due date for scheduling a preceding activity in the scheduling routine.

12. A method of allocating resources in a plannable process, a predetermined number of resources being used for executing an order comprising a chain of related activities to be executed on the predetermined number of resources, the method comprising, for each order:

identifying a first order execution start date for executing a first activity in the order and inputting the first order execution start date as a preceding activity execution start due date in a first scheduling routine;

running the scheduling routine for succeeding activities in the order;

identifying a scheduled order execution finish date for executing a last activity in the order from a scheduling routine;

setting, when the scheduled order execution finish date is earlier than an order execution finish due date, the order execution finish date to the order execution finish due date;

inputting the order execution finish date as a succeeding activity execution finish due date in a second scheduling routine;

backwards running the second scheduling routine for preceding activities in the order comprising;

scheduling an activity execution date according to a just-in-time criterion in correspondence with the succeeding activity execution finish due date; and

inputting the scheduled activity execution date as an activity execution finish due date for scheduling a preceding activity in the scheduling routine;

identifying a latest order execution start date for executing a first activity in the order that is scheduled according to the scheduling routine;

setting the first activity execution start due date to the latest order execution start date; and

forwards running the scheduling routine for succeeding activities in the order, comprising;

scheduling an activity execution date according to a just-in-time criterion in correspondence with the preceding activity execution start due date; and

inputting the scheduled activity execution date as an activity execution start due date for scheduling a succeeding activity in the scheduling routine.

13. A method of allocating resources in a plannable process, a predetermined number of resources being used for executing an order, the method comprising:

identifying a pair of activities of the order having a non-subsequent relation;

providing a predecessor/successor relation between the pair of activities and providing a predefined scheduling constraint to the predecessor/successor relation; and

running a scheduling program for scheduling the activities in the order, the scheduling program comprising a genetic scheduling algorithm that is evaluated in accordance with the predefined scheduling constraint to schedule the the pair of activities in accordance with the scheduling constraint to the predecessor/successor relation.

14. A method according to claim 13, further comprising providing the scheduling constraint so that a time span between the first and second activity execution date is less than a predetermined maximum lead time value.

15. A method according to claim 13, further comprising:

adding at least one dummy activity to the order to be identified as the first or second activity.

16. A method according to claim 15, further comprising:

relating the at least one dummy activity to each activity in the order without a succeeding and/or preceding activity.

17. A method according to claim 15, wherein a first dummy activity is related to each activity in the order without a preceding activity, and wherein a second dummy activity is related to each activity in the order without a succeeding activity.

18. A method according to claim 13, wherein the predefined scheduling constraint is selected in accordance with a minimum lead time value of the order.

19. A method according to claim 18, wherein the minimum lead time value of the order is calculated in accordance with a sum of maximum execution times of subsequent activities in the order and a sum of maximum interval times between subsequent activities.

20. A method according to claim 19, wherein the calculation is performed according to the formula:

predetermined maximum lead time=X*(minimum lead time value)+Y days,

wherein X and Y are a predetermined number.

21. A method according to claim 20, wherein X and Y are set to 2.

23. A system for allocating resources in a plannable process, the system comprising a module for representing a predetermined number of resources to be used for executing an order comprising a chain of related activities to be executed on the predetermined number of resources, the system further comprising:

an input module for identifying a first activity execution due date for executing a predetermined first activity in the order;

a scheduling module for scheduling an execution date for each activity according to a just-in-time criterion in correspondence with an activity execution due date of a related activity;

an identification module for identifying a second activity execution date from the scheduling module for executing a predetermined second activity in the order, the identification module being adapted to submit the identified second activity execution date to the scheduling module, and the scheduling module being adapted to schedule in reverse an execution date for each activity according to a just-in-time criterion in correspondence with an activity execution due date of a reverse related activity, wherein the second activity execution date is kept fixed as identified by the identification module; and

an output module for outputting a scheduled order to a user interface.

24. A system for allocating resources in a plannable process, the system comprising a module for representing a predetermined number of resources to be used for executing an order comprising a chain of related activities to be executed on the predetermined number of resources, the system further comprising:

a scheduling module for scheduling the activities in the order, the scheduling module comprising a genetic scheduling algorithm that is evaluated in accordance with a number of scheduling constraints provided to the scheduling module to schedule activities in accordance with the scheduling constraints;

a module for identifying a pair of activities of the order having a non-subsequent relation; and

providing a predecessor/successor relation between the pair of activities and providing a predefined scheduling constraint to the predecessor/successor relation to be scheduled by the scheduling module.