Tavakoli, A and Kakalia, A (1993) MMS: A materials management system. Construction Management and Economics, 11(2), pp. 143-148. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
The contractor’s ability to manage the flow of materials has a great impact on the profitability of the firm. MMS has been developed and is presented in this article: it is an effective, practice-oriented, and automated materials management system. MMS consists of ten modules: (1) project information module, (2) vendor information module, (3) product master list module, (4) reference numbers and description module, (5) bid quantities module, (6) materials ordered module, (7) materials received and invoice verification module, (8) materials used module, (9) submittals management module, and (10) report generator module. The data entered through the first nine modules is accessed through the report generator module to produce the appropriate reports necessary to make effective management decisions and to keep abreast of daily activities. MMS was developed in conjunction with three competent local general contractors (ENR-rated top 400 contractors), and is designed for small- to medium- sized general contractors and large subcontractors. The information retrieved from MMS can be used by estimators, accountants, project managers, field engineers, and materials managers. Development, acceptance, and continued use of such systems should contribute to the efficiency and profitability of contractors.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | cm systems; management systems; materials management; mms; submit |
| Index terms: | manager, management system, general contractor, management decision, estimator, materials management, accountant, submittal, subcontractor, efficiency, project manager, engineer, module, profitability |
| Subjects: | economic analysis, operations management, practitioner, profession, professional development, management, architectural elements, decision-making and reasoning, performance management |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Research Practice, Information Management, Roles and Professions, Design Practice, Quality Management, Organizational Design, Site Management |
| 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