Multi-project planning and optimisation for shipyard operations

Shipyards are managed by projects. Effective project planning is critical for shipyards to compete for business in a complex and time-constrained environment. This paper addresses some pain points in planning and optimisation work at shipyards and presents a solution developed based on Microsoft Project Server for managing and optimising the deployment of critical resources so as to maximize the project profits. It discusses the methods for identifying the critical chain for multiple projects, and optimising their makespans with constrained resources using overtime and outsourcing strategies. Initial results are finally presented to showcase the viability and efficiency of the solution.