Using bar codes to improve labor and equipment tracking in the construction industry
Author(s)
Pizzagalli, Jon (Jon Francis), 1970-
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Other Contributors
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.
Advisor
John D. Macomber.
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This thesis outlines the costs, advantages, and industry impacts of implementing a system to track resource allocations, procurement and deliveries of materials on construction job sites. By using bar code scanners and hand held data collection devices, the construction industry stands to reduce costs to owners by some $16 billion annually. The system will provide daily reporting of budget allocations across sets of phases, and automatically create various reports defined by the project team prior to beginning work. The result is improved quality, reduced project costs, and increased accountability of resources. The paper presents a dynamic system that has the capability to track a high level of labor and equipment cost detail, as well as an improved means of tracking submittals, approvals, fabrication, delivery, and installation of materials. The need for the system stems from the demands placed on supervisory personnel in the construction industry. Supervisory personnel include foremen on job sites and in fabrication shops, vendors shipping materials to job sites, project managers, and management in supply houses. With improved data collection capabilities, these individuals will provide their supervisors with improved cost information with greater frequency. This data will result in lower costs per reports, such as project schedules and inventory reports, and bolster the companies' historical cost data for all operations performed. Additionally, the system will allow contractors to recover a greater portion of extra work expense than they do presently, as well as shorten payment durations from general contractors and owners. The thesis examines the effect of implementation on a single subcontractor in a single trade. The potential ramifications of industry wide use of such a system are similar in scope to what the grocery industry experienced in the late 1970's and early 1980's as a result of implementing bar code technology to track and order inventory through the checkout process. At a minimum, the system promises to help individual contractors realize savings and increases productivity on construction projects. At most, it could change the way the world buys $4 trillion in construction services globally every year.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2001. "September 2001." Includes bibliographical references.
Date issued
2001Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and PlanningPublisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keywords
Urban Studies and Planning.