Pert Hormiga

Expert Systems with Applications 36 (2009) 10004–10015

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Expert Systems with Applications
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/eswa

Using Ant Colony Optimization algorithm for solving project management problems
Hazem Abdallah *, Hassan M. Emara, Hassan T. Dorrah, Ahmed Bahgat
Cairo University, Automatic Control, 29 Eshreeny Street, Facultyof Engineering, P.O. Box 12613, Cairo, Makour Faysl, Giza 12111, Egypt

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Network analysis provides an effective practical system for planning and controlling large projects in construction and many other fields. Ant Colony System is a recent approach used for solving path minimization problems. This paper presents the use of Ant Colony Optimization(ACO) system for solving and calculating both deterministic and probabilistic CPM/PERT networks. The proposed method is investigated for a selected case study in construction management. The results demonstrate that – compared to conventional methods – ACO can produce good optimal and suboptimal solutions. Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Ant Colony Optimization PERT Projectmanagement CPM

1. Introduction Effective project management techniques are important to ensure successful project performance; a poor strategy can easily turn expected profit into loss. With the availability of computer facilities the design, calculation, modeling, managing and checking processes and projects can be done in a more efficient and effective manner. The management of constructionproject involves planning of tasks from large numbers of disciplines which require different pieces of information at various times. This results in the production of a huge quantity of complex information, which must be managed efficiently. Network analysis provides a comprehensive practical system for planning and controlling large projects in construction and many other fields. One of the most neededtasks is to accomplish a forecast of optimal and suboptimal paths of the network for construction management due to the complexity of the project and the possibility of crash or delay occurrence which is not so easy with conventional methods. The integration of optimization algorithms based on metaheuristic opens new perspectives of applications in real life. Ant Colony System has been introducedin the early 1990s. It mimics the performance of natural ants while searching food and finding the shortest path between the nest and the food source thanks to local message exchange (Bonabeau, Dorigo, & Theraulaz, 1999). This paper proposes the use of Ant Colony System to analyze PERT network problems to solve decision making problem in project management.

2. Network analysis Network is agraphical representation of a project. Network analysis provides a practical way to monitor the progress of the project till its accomplishment in the minimum time; it can also be used to assist in allocating resources and to minimize total cost. The solution of network models is accomplished through a variety of network optimization algorithms. 2.1. Critical Path Method (CPM) CPM (Critical Path Method)models are extremely useful for the purpose of planning, analyzing, controlling the progress and the completion of large and complex projects (Paul Loomba, 1978). We must use some definition to complete the computation: A typical network is shown in Fig. 1 to show its components. The purpose of the Critical Path Method (CPM) is to identify critical activities on the critical path so that resourcesmay be concentrated on these activities in order to reduce project length time. Besides, CPM has proved very valuable in evaluating project performance and identifying bottlenecks. Thus, CPM is a vital tool for the planning and control of complex projects (Yao & Lin, 2000). To identify the critical path, three parameters for each of its activities are determined: (1) earliest event time, (2)...