Optimising time and cost in construction material logistics

Abstract

Materials are important in every construction project as they contribute to a significant proportion of the total construction costs. As a result, planners and managers would strive to plan and control the ordering, distribution and storage of materials (i.e. the logistics process) carefully in order to maximize the productivity. Despite that, there is a lack of simple but powerful formalism to analyze and model the logistics process under a dynamic environment. This research aims to resolve the problem and facilitate the decision-makers to increase the productivity while minimizing the cost through better logistics arrangement. In this research, the common material logistics practices are revealed and a material management tool by referring to the acquisition cost is devised. Time and cost are both considered by linking the schedule of material delivery to the construction program to establish the determinant variables which could affect the material acquisition costs. Genetic algorithms are used to generate the best working and delivery schedules with the lowest material acquisition cost. The results of this research can be used for re-engineering and improving the logistics management at the stage of planning changes and evaluating the effects of those changes before such a decision is made.