The contents of the book, for the most part, are based on the results of scientific
papers contained in a number of English-language guides, monographs, and articles
written at the end of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first century. The
author has also tried whenever possible to use the available, albeit few, modern
Russian-language works. Materials relating to the period of development of computer
systems in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s have also been used. The
structure and nature of any presentation always depends largely on the author’s
position. In this case, when considering methods of production planning, special
attention is paid to its regularity and dynamics, i.e. a periodic recurrence and at the
same time the need to introduce various changes, including urgent ones.
Different scientific disciplines are used in themethods of production planning.Each
discipline has its own set of traditional symbols. In this book, it was important to ensure
consistent use of symbols, so one designation system was chosen as basic. Therefore,
the nomenclature of symbols accepted in scheduling theory is used throughout; in
other cases, some symbols may be different from the conventional ones.
The author is grateful to Professor A.L. Ryzhko whose comments and suggestions
helped to improve the presentation significantly.
Moscow, Russia Yuri Mauergauz
Preface to the Russian Edition ix