Financial Optimization of the Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem with Milestones Payments.

Featured Application: The proposed model of stage settlements with milestones payments may be useful in practical projects and be beneficial both for the client and for the contractor. Its application may reduce delays in the completion of project stages, which is a significant problem in information technology (IT) or industry projects. This article presents the resource-constrained project scheduling problem with the discounted cash flow maximization criterion from the perspective of a contractor. Cash flows are considered as the contractor's expenses related to the execution of activities and client's payments (revenue to the contractor) after the completion of contractual stages. To solve the problem, dedicated techniques to generate solutions and a simulated annealing algorithm are proposed. Finally, the proposed procedures are examined using the test library, Project Scheduling Library (PSPLIB). An experimental analysis identified the efficient moves and techniques for creating solutions, that is backward scheduling with optimization of completion times of project stages and triple justification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]