Project Process Sequencing Based on Dependency Structure Matrix (DSM)

This paper points out that the selection of the optimization objective function for Dependency Structure Matrix (DSM) sequencing optimization should not only consider the number and distance of the feedbacks, but also should take into consideration activity´s rework probabilities, costs and time. Furthermore, this paper proposes the activity´s ratio of cost to time and Rework Factor matrix as the optimization parameters, and proposes Total Coordination Cost (TCC) as the optimization objective function. An improved Genetic Algorithms (GAs) is used to help optimize the project. The simulation result indicates that the feedbacks and the total project costs can be significantly reduced using TCC as optimization objective function comparing to traditional optimization methods.