what is construction material management

1.0 Introduction

In order for the construction activity to take place, the contract requires the contractor to furnish construction resources in terms on human resources, materials, machines, information and money. All these have to be carefully controlled.



Material management can be defined as a process that coordinates planning, assessing the requirement, sourcing, purchasing, transporting, storing and controlling of materials, minimizing the wastage and optimizing the profitability by reducing cost of material. Materials management is a process for planning, executing and controlling field and office activities in construction.

Building materials account for 60 to 70 percent of direct cost of a project or a facility, the remaining 30 to 40 percent being the labour cost. Therefore the proper management of this single largest component can improve the productivity and cost efficiency of a project and help ensure its timely completion. One of the major problems in delaying construction projects is poor materials management.

The goal of materials management is to insure that construction materials are available at their point of use when needed. The materials management system attempts to insure that the right quality and quantity of materials are appropriately selected, purchased, delivered and handled on site in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost.

Therefore, materials management is the system for planning and controlling all of the efforts necessary to ensure that the correct quality and quantity of materials are properly specified in a timely manner, are obtained at a reasonable cost and most importantly are available at the point of use when required. Thus Materials management is an important element in project management. Materials represent a major expense in construction, so minimizing procurement costs improves opportunities for reducing the overall project costs. Poor materials management can result in increased costs during construction. Efficient management of materials can result in substantial savings in project costs. If materials are purchased too early, capital may be held up and interest charges incurred on the excess inventory of materials. Materials may deteriorate during storage or get stolen unless special care is taken. Delays and extras expenses may be incurred if materials required for particular activities are unavailable. Ensuring a timely flow of materials is an important concern of material management. For effectively managing and controlling materials, the performance of materials management should be measured.



1.1 Components of material management are:
Material estimation, budgeting, planning and programming.
Scheduling , purchasing and procurement
Receiving and inspection.
Inventory control, storage and warehousing
Material handling and transport
Waste management



1.2 Objectives of Materials Management
Efficient materials planning
Buying or Purchasing
Procuring and receiving
Storing and inventory control
Supply and distribution of materials
Quality assurance
Good supplier and customer relationship
Improved departmental efficiency



To fulfill all these objectives, it is necessary to establish harmony and good co-ordination between all the employees of material management department and this department should have good co-ordination with the other departments of the organization to serve all production centers.

1.3 Functions of Materials Management

The functions of materials management are discussed below:

In order to fulfill the objectives of materials management as stated above to meet the basic objectives and goals, the functions of the materials management are also categorized as primary and secondary functions.

(i) Primary Functions

To meet the primary objectives, the primary functions of the materials management are given as follows:
Materials Requirements Planning (MRP)
Purchasing
Inventory Planning and Control
Ascertaining and Maintaining the Flow and Supply of Materials
Quality Control of Materials
Departmental Efficiency

coordinates planning,

assessing the requirement,

sourcing, purchasing, transporting, storing and controlling of materials, minimizing the wastage and optimizing the profitability by reducing cost of material.



(ii) Secondary Functions
Standardization and Simplification
Make and Buy Decisions
Coding and Classification of Materials
Forecasting and Planning



1.4 Site Layout

Before work starts on site, it is most important that the site layout is planned so that items such as hutments, stationery plant/ equipment/latrines and materials are placed in the most strategic and convenient positions

The main reason for site layout planning is to have the right tools and machines in the most advantageous positions; the materials stored so that they are readily available and that they should not interfere with the general site circulation, and adequate storage and site accommodation.

Good site layout is important to improved productivity. The construction site should be arranged in such a way as to make it function as efficiently as possible. With bad layout, time and materials are wasted through double handling. One of the reasons for slow progress and high cost of construction projects is the lack of planning and poor site layout.



Good site layout is most important when the product or materials being used are heavy or big as in woodworking, reinforcing steel assembly, or concrete pre-casting. Without a precise site layout plan, neither the site manager nor other site staff will have clear indication of where stores and offices, items of plant, work areas, and stacks of materials should be located. Then the following may happen:

a) Materials stores wrongly located;

b) Fixed plant and equipment wrongly located;

c) Not enough space allowed for stacking and preparation; and

d) Temporary buildings wrongly located