Just-in-time application and implementation for building material management

Materials constitute a huge proportion of the cost of construction. Materials are sometimes ordered weeks or even months ahead of requirement leading to uneconomical inventory on construction sites or contractors' warehouses. Building material inventory represents cost to procure, cost to store and insure, cost to guard against theft and cost incurred when inventory becomes obsolete. This paper presents an overview of the Just-in-Time (JIT) production system and discusses application and implementation issues for the control of material inventory in building construction. JIT ensures that suppliers deliver directly to the production floor to achieve either a reduction in inventory or zero inventory and consequently a reduction in production costs. Implementation of JIT building material management in construction has the potential to realize the same far reaching benefits experienced in manufacturing. Relevant factors to consider in JIT implementation for material inventory management in construction are implications for construction output and quantities, production planning, design planning, construction contractor and suppliers' relationships, material sourcing, and education and training.