A solver Solution to resolve the incomplete housing inventory

 Many solutions using the Excel solver tool as used in the field have been presented in this blog. The application ranges from structural design optimisation to revising weights to green building parameters. Solver works like magic; results are too good to be believed. Once you start using it, you understand problem formulations and asking the right questions as the only thing you ever need to know and develop. If you have never used solver, you would like to read a solver primer  first.

Problem Statement

Task Allocation optimisation to contractors' of specialised trade in the present scenario*.

Assumption

Tasks and skilled trade workforce are available in plenty.

Constraints

 Each contractor would take up only one or two tasks simultaneously. (They tend to grab many jobs, and all task's schedule and quality suffer as a result) 

In the hypothetical problem in the sheet, "one Contractor 1 task, " five tasks are allocated to five trade contractors. 

The workbook can be downloaded by clicking here. Relaxing constraints of allocating up to two works would enhance the cost efficiency but increase the schedule and quality risks. 

*Present Scenario: ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) implications of millions of incomplete residential flat skeletons in Delhi NCR alone are humongous. News articles, editorials and letters to editors report tragic stories of people and their families. Many invested their life savings; decades passed, and despite all efforts, what even a lucky few got was an incomplete, poorly built unit. Most of the buyers have yet to get their units.

However, the powerful stakeholders' poor project management and poorer service intent might be... their publicity and billing systems are robust. Both in their outreach and their ability to interpret in their own way. Yes, no one can find a flaw in their paper work.

Builders want these substandard and incomplete units to be handed over so they can start charging for maintenance even when the unit is unusable. The local authority gets the registration charges. The regulatory bodies, administration, and everybody wielding state power declares their win with press statements showing their immense contribution.  The tired unit holder has no choice and nowhere to go but to accept the shabby, incomplete, unsafe and unusable unit. Most finishing works are redone, and the garbage hills on the NCR periphery keep rising.

 ESG context requires fundamental shifts in the construction industry. The solver solution is suggested, as this is what can be quickly done.