Analyzing Inventory Control Techniques of Material Management in Construction

Construction materials account for more than 50% of the total cost of the project. Efficient materials management plays a major role in the successful completion of the project within estimated cost and time. This study mainly focuses on Materials planning and Inventory control as these are the major aspects of materials management. S-curve analysis is performed to measure the deviation in planned materials cost and actual materials cost. S-curve analysis is performed for 5construction projects in which 3 projects are for commercial purpose and 2 projects are for residential purpose. The result of the S-curve analysis show that the actual materials cost is higher than the planned materials cost in any type of construction. The major reasons for cost variance are identified and corrective actions are suggested. Inventory control techniques such as ABC classification and EOQ analysis are performed to maintain the inventory in an optimum level. Inventory control techniques are applied for a construction in ongoing status. By applying inventory control techniques such as ABC classification and EOQ analysis the stock out problems of some A-class materials can be avoided. EOQ analysis also helps to save some substantial amount of money if price hike in materials is predicted in advance and this savings can be utilized for other purposes related with the project. After the application of ABC and EOQ analysis, the total cost of inventory will be reduced.