A structure for an interactive project management system

The work described has been driven by the desire of an internationally recognized manufacturing company, Rediffusion Simulation Ltd. to improve the bid definition process. In the domain of flight simulator manufacture, the process of project bid definition is one which is time-consuming, and yet must occur within very limited timescales. The processes involved in bid definition are, ideally, exactly the same as those of full project management. The authors present research which investigates the use of the knowledge-based system paradigm in the domain of project management. The approach taken has been to attempt to define a framework for project management within which domain specific knowledge can be used to plan and control product-oriented projects. The planning philosophy revolves around the object-action-resource triple, and planning is achieved through the integration of a rule-based and an object-oriented approach. The work presented demonstrates the applicability of an expert systems approach to problems found within project management