plansbetween

Plansbetween is a term used in discussions of collaborative planning to describe the process of aligning and interleaving plans produced by multiple agents or stakeholders. It focuses on ensuring that timelines, dependencies, and resource usage of each plan are compatible within a shared objective. The concept is commonly discussed in multi-agent systems, operations research, and complex project management.

Origin and usage: The exact origin of the term is unclear and it does not denote a formal theory with standardized definitions. It appears in informal discussions, white papers, and planning forums as a descriptive label for cross-plan synchronization rather than a fixed methodology.

Scope and methods: Plansbetween emphasizes cross-plan interfaces, including points where one plan constrains or depends on another, and strategies for resolving conflicts. Techniques include constraint satisfaction, temporal reasoning, joint optimization, and negotiation between participants or agents, often with attention to data sharing and privacy.

Applications and examples: In project management, supply chain coordination, and autonomous multi-agent systems, plansbetween helps align production schedules, transportation plans, and task execution across teams and suppliers, reducing idle time and miscoordination.

Challenges and related concepts: The approach can become computationally intensive as the number of interdependent plans grows. Privacy and competitive concerns, dynamic changes, and partial observability complicate synchronization. Related ideas include planning interoperability, joint scheduling, workflow management, and temporal planning.

See also:

- Multi-agent systems

- Constraint satisfaction problem

- Temporal planning

- Joint scheduling

- Workflow management