Procura: a project management model of concurrent planning and design

Abstract

Procura is a Project Management model which allows the planning and scheduling of agent based design projects in a hierarchical top-down approach. Since the information which is available while the top-level planning and scheduling is done is usually incomplete, the decisions made at this level will often need to be revised as soon as more information becomes available, and conditions change. Procura facilitates the necessary replanning, making use of Redux' (Petrie, 1993), a design support tool which can keep track of decisions, rejection of decisions, and their rationales. In the Procura model, Redux' tracks planning and scheduling decisions as well as the actual design decisions, there by integrating planning, scheduling and design, and supporting a notification system which keeps all involved agents (designers as well as scheduling agents) informed about occurring changes.