A Petri Net-based framework for realistic project management and scheduling: An application in animation and videogames

•A real life Petri Net-based prototype for project management in the Animation and Videogame (A&V) industry.•A computer application that covers the planning, scheduling and execution phases.•A methodology that shows significant improvement on the A&V project estimations•A methodology that shows its validity for schedule regeneration.

This paper presents a real life Petri Net-based framework for integrated and collaborative project management in the Animation and Videogame (A&V) industry. This framework provides an all-in-one modeling, scheduling, and simulation tool. The purpose of the framework is twofold: First to facilitate the configuration (and eventual reconfiguration) of projects and second, provide appropriate analysis tools. The modeling of the project activities and the associated resources is accomplished via a new class of Petri Net denoted here as extended attribute Timed Place Petri Net. This Petri Net class combines the strengths of colored and ordinary Timed Petri Nets in terms of modeling and analysis. The offline project schedule is generated with a Graph Search algorithm which explores the Petri Net state space. The algorithm is also adapted to handle reworks that often occur due to multiple changes during execution. Several scenarios can be simulated along with the calculations of duration, cost and resource usage. The potential of the framework is illustrated with two short case studies. The results and deliverables of the approach have been confronted with managers of several companies involved in the project who provided valuable insight and gave favorable remarks.