Patents by Dr. Plotnick

Dr. Plotnick has two active Patents:

System and Method for Handling NP-Complete Problems - U.S. Patent 7,860,814, issued 28DEC10
An NP-Complete problem cannot be solved to provide an optimum result. An example is leveling of limited resources and yet calculate a shortest project duration. Theory (and practical usage) indicates that the calculated project duration, based upon any preselected priority order of activities or other schema, will be somewhere between optimum and twice optimum. While the software may calculate a project can be completed in two years the reality is that it may be completed in only one year. The mathematics are complex. A simple change, such as reducing the duration of one activity in the logic network may have the unexpected consequence of causing the calculated project duration to increase dramatically. However various schemas of how to perform the leveling algorithm tend to have better results for one network than another. The Patent addresses use of mutiple schemas being used to calculate multiple answers from which a best result can be selected.

Multi-Hierarchical Reporting Methodology - U.S. Patent 8,805,919, issued 16APR14
A project, especially in the world of construction, may have multiple "owners." Each may be one of multiple projects all part of a common "portfolios" of projects. Therefore a heirarchy of responsible "resources" leading to the CEO of any one of these multiple "owners" is inapplicable to the other such "owners." A number of project control software vendors market "portfolio" or "enterprise" solutions designed to pull information from this one (of the enterprise's many) project to summarize to that entity's portfolio. What this Patent provides is a means to have the data of a project, which is one of many projects of each of several project participants, summarize to the enterprise software and portfolio of each such participant.

Inquiries to the utilization of either of these Patents should be made to Dr. Plotnick at fplotnick@fplotnick.com.