FORBAU

STATUS QUO

Logistics in the building trade is an area that has yet to achieve its full potential and which offers many more possibilities compared to stationary industries. By building logistics we mean the planning, management and control of the material and information flow in supply and waste disposal chains both on and between the building sites. The upstream and downstream processes play a vital role in the monitoring of the building site. Building logistics serves a central, cross-functional purpose within the ForBAU alliance. For one thing, it is supposed to ensure that the virtual plans are translated accurately and as smoothly as possible into the operations workflow on the actual site. One of the key tasks is to manage the material and information flows as economically, punctually and competently as possible. The non-stationary, variable conditions on the building site call for a very efficient, highly versatile supply chain system that is capable of implementing changes in a very short space of time. The current understanding of the term "flexibility" in the building trade is restricted to very narrow temporal horizons of less than one day and it is not uncommon for hasty "emergency" action to become unavoidable. It is then no longer possible to achieve the most cost-efficient solution. Preventing these negative issues from affecting everyone concerned at the building site is the organizational purpose of building logistics.

THE AIM

The objective of the overall project is to simulate the actual building site realistically on the "virtual building site". Sub-project 3 "Building logistics" monitors collaborative supply-chain processes and will rely on information derived from the building-site model to enhance the management of these processes. This will include transferring best practice Supply Chain Management methods developed in other sectors to the building industry, one of the main tasks being to adapt them to the branch-specific peculiarities of construction engineering.
Transferring the know-how of inter-process Supply Chain Management methods that has been accrued in the consumer goods trade and in industrial supply chains over the past few years also promises to be of considerable benefit for the building industry. One of the goals of the 3-year project work, for example, is to boost this potential. However, it needs to be developed and aligned to the mobile, temporary and highly complex world of construction engineering.
Another tool designed to improve the planning and managing of a building site will be a computer-assisted plant deployment system providing the required information.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

During the first year of sub-project 3 Building Logistics, the main tasks can basically be described by means of the core points set out below:

• Establishing a supply and logistics strategy
• Drawing up a site facilities plan
• Identifying the construction-specific supply network structures
• Status quo analysis of supplier-relationship management (strategic view)
• Status quo analysis of supplier identification and selection (operative view of building contractor)
• Status quo analysis of contract processing (operative view of the tier 1 supplier)
• Drafting a target process for supplier-relationship management

The foundation stone will be laid for an inter-process Supply Chain Management approach. A detailed status quo analysis of the building industry situation represents an important integral part.

Contact
Dr. Michael Krupp