A double-decomposition based parallel exact algorithm for the feedback length minimization problem

Zhen Shang; Jin-Kao Hao; Fei Ma

doi:10.7717/peerj-cs.1597

A double-decomposition based parallel exact algorithm for the feedback length minimization problem

PeerJ Comput Sci. 2023 Sep 15:9:e1597. doi: 10.7717/peerj-cs.1597. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Zhen Shang¹, Jin-Kao Hao², Fei Ma¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Economics and Management, Chang'an University, Xi'an, China.
² LERIA, Université d'Angers, Angers, France.

Abstract

Product development projects usually contain many interrelated activities with complex information dependences, which induce activity rework, project delay and cost overrun. To reduce negative impacts, scheduling interrelated activities in an appropriate sequence is an important issue for project managers. This study develops a double-decomposition based parallel branch-and-prune algorithm, to determine the optimal activity sequence that minimizes the total feedback length (FLMP). This algorithm decomposes FLMP from two perspectives, which enables the use of all available computing resources to solve subproblems concurrently. In addition, we propose a result-compression strategy and a hash-address strategy to enhance this algorithm. Experimental results indicate that our algorithm can find the optimal sequence for FLMP up to 27 activities within 1 h, and outperforms state of the art exact algorithms.

Keywords: Branch-and-prune algorithm; Design structure matrix; Parallel exact algorithm; Product development.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi (No. 2023-JC-QN-0793, 2022JM-423), the Special Foundation for Philosophy and Social Science Research of Shaanxi (No. 2023QN0036), Scientific Research Plan Project of Shaanxi Provincial Department of Education (21JP007), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 300102231656, No. 300102233612). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.