Addressing effective construction logistics through the lens of vehicle movements

Abstract

Construction logistics is an essential part of Construction Supply Chain Management (CSCM).However, limited attention has been paid to this issue in the New Zealand construction industry.The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge about what hampers efficiency in transporting construction materials and plants to a construction site. The intention is to gain detailed understanding of the practice and obstacles in efficient construction logistics and thus identify interventions to improve logistics efficiency, especially using the numbers of vehicle movements to the construction site as an indicator. A case study approach was adopted with onsite observations and interviews. Observations were performed during constructions on-site from the start of construction to "hand-over" to the building owner. A selection of construction suppliers and subcontractors involved in the studied project were interviewed. Significant intrinsic and extrinsic interventions necessary to enhance construction logistics were acknowledged from the data analysis. These include both qualitative and quantitative data. These intrinsic and extrinsic interventions, such as implementing appropriate logistics tools that suits individual site and introducing traffic management costs, offer plausible explanations regarding how to improve the efficiency in construction logistics through optimising transportation movements to the construction site.Key words: construction logistics, vehicle movements, construction supply chain management, New Zealand IntroductionLogistics is defined as "the process of strategically managing the acquisition, movement and storage of materials, parts and finished inventory (and the related information flows) through the organisation and its marketing channels, in such a way that current and future profitability is maximised through the cost-effective fulfilment of orders" (Gattorna and Day, 1993). For the construction industry, logistics comprise planning, organisation, coordination, and control of the 2 materials flow from the extraction of raw materials to the incorporation into the finished building (Agapiou et al., 1998). Main aspects of construction logistics include whole project logistics, supply logistics, and on-site logistics (Sobotka et al., 2005). The success of the project heavily depends on the coordination of the on-site and external logistics in all aspects.Addressing the logistics issue in construction can influence customer service levels as well as the economic and environmental performance of supply chains. Building materials and construction components, along with human resources, are the first and foremost important requirement for construction. Logistics provide customer service by ensuring materials and resources are appropriate and available for construction operations (Wegelius-Lehtonen and Pahkala, 1998).Furthermore, research suggests that improved logistics will reduce the costs incurred in the system by low productivity, and save on indirect costs associated with the tra...

Logistic Quality Management of Transport Process in Construction

“…Fei Ying, John Tookey, Johannes Roberti (2014) believe that the intention is to gain detailed understanding of the practice and obstacles in efficient construction logistics and thus identify interventions to improve logistics efficiency, especially using the numbers of vehicle movements to the construction site as an indicator [1]. Viktoria Sundquist (2018) in this research reflected logistics reorganizing can contribute to improved performance in the construction industry.…”

A Shared Ontology for Logistics Information Management in the Construction Industry

“…Materials could be purchased too late causing delays or too early and getting damaged in poor storage conditions on-site [4]. Delivering materials to the site without a timely notice causes extra material handling and labour cost [14]. Proper logistics management requires complete and accurate information regarding the materials and delivery that is communicated between the project parties.…”

Construction Logistics Solutions in Urban Areas

“…Zeng and Rossetti, 2003;Shakantu, et al, 2003;Engblom, et al, 2012;Stock and Lambert, 2001). However, there were indications that the cost for transports could actually be lowered as instead of multiple vehicles arriving to site, one consolidated delivery could take care of the last leg of the journey (see Table 4) (Ying, et al, 2014;Vidalakis, et al, 2011;Vidalakis, et al, 2013). On site, this can reduce the cost of non-productive time as deliveries are coordinated and consolidated, meaning that the craftsmen will not be interrupted as often to receive materials as in the traditional setup (cf.…”

“…Ekeskär and Rudberg, 2016;Lindén and Josephson, 2013). However, the costs of implementing and utilizing CLS's are still a source of worry for many construction companies as the logistics costs are to a large extent intangible (Ying, et al, 2014;Fang and Ng, 2011). Paper 4 provides an initial cost modelling effort through activity-based costing (see Table 5, Figure 18), and from this it was shown that there is a way to take control of the costs of CLS's.…”