Voordijk, H (2001) A cost-benefit analysis of tracking and tracing systems in road construction. In: Akintoye, A (ed.) Proceedings of 17th Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2001, Salford, UK.
Abstract
A major problem in road construction is the lack of timely and accurate information about the location and productivity of equipment. As a result, the productivity rate of certain types of construction equipment is low and equipment has to be hired in from third parties. Lack of co-ordination between the equipment department and the site manager is the major cause of these problems. In this paper, two basic solutions for this co-ordination problem are presented by using the Galbraith' framework. A road construction company can either (1) reduce the need for information processing between the equipment department and the site manager or (2) increase its capacity to process information. The focus of this paper is on the second mechanism by analysing the role of tracking and tracing systems in increasing the capacity of information processing. The paper provides an improved understanding of the factors determining the costs and benefits of these systems in road construction. This cost-benefit analysis is based on the three elements of a tracking and tracing system: collecting, transmitting and analysing data. Empirical research was conducted at one of the biggest road construction firms in the Netherlands. The study shows that investments in tracking and tracing systems can be very efficient for equipment that has to be rented frequently.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction equipment; co-ordination; cost-benefit analysis; information systems |
| Index terms: | site manager, road construction, information system, information processing, construction equipment, Netherlands, productivity |
| Subjects: | management, civil engineering, Geography, construction equipment, information systems, practitioner, data science |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Plant and Equipment, Business Strategy, Engineering Principles, Geographical Context, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here