Component Tracking

This project comprises of over 14,000 structural components, the basic concept of component tracking is to monitor, communicate and record the progress of every single one of these pieces through the supply chain, from design to manufacture, installation and handover on site.

The purpose is to create a single source of information for monitoring the value-add process through the supply chain to enable better decisions to be made based on live information and to reduce waste in the handling and processing of supply chain data.

Better decisions around the manufacture, distribution and handling of units inevitably means more efficient logistics can be realised through efficiency of transport and load building.

Component tracking aims to replicate a manufacturing style workflow in the construction industry and link the activities of design, manufacture and installation as if they were happening in a unified process under one roof by equitable sharing of production information through the supply chain.

A new suite of hardware including tags and Bluetooth gateways to track the physical location of components has been used, but the real value lies in the integration of data between this and other existing sources such as field quality systems and electronic document management systems.

Widespread use of information aggregation and sharing techniques has the potential to improve processes and is an essential forebear of increased automation of process and optimisation of products throughout the construction industry.