Study of Various Automated Construction Materials Tracking Technology

Abstract

Inventory is important especially in construction project as the proper amount of inventory will ensure that all construction activities will be able to carry out according to the planned schedules. Inadequate amount of inventory will result in job stoppage due to materials required for conducting the work could not be specified at time they are needed, waste of labour working hours, and schedule delays. Construction materials constitute a large portion of the total cost in construction projects. It may account for 50-60% of the total project cost. As the cost of materials is important, the management of materials especially at the inventory level are crucial for the successful project completion. The tracking and locating of materials in construction jobsites has increase a great concern among construction entities. The on-site materials tracking and locating are made complicated by the use of traditional tracking process which is labor intensive, error-prone, not reliable and contribute to the increase in construction costs. Thus, this paper provides a review of the existing issues in material tracking of inventory management process in huge construction projects. The findings reveal that there is a need for more proper technology to be implemented in construction project in order to facilitate materials tracking process and at the same time, reduce dependency on paper work reports in inventory management.