CONSTRUCTION RESOURCES

The 4 M’s:
 Machine
 Manpower
 Material
 Money
 OBJECTIVES OF RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT 2

The completion of a construction project at maximum efficiency

with respect to time and cost requires the judicious scheduling and
allocation of the primary resources of manpower, equipment, and
materials.

The basic objective of resource management is to supply and

support the field operations so that time objectives can be met and
costs can be kept within the construction budget.
• Primary Resources:
Workers, materials, equipment.
• Other Resources:
Anything that adds value to the project, such as information,
cooperation, or work environment.

Sears et al., 2015

 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
3

 Long-term resource planning is only an indicator of

future needs.

 Detailed resource planning loses value as the time

horizon extends.

Sears et al., 2015

 EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT
4

On projects that require extensive spreads of construction

equipment, the project schedule and the production costs are
determined principally by the management of the equipment
onsite.

Several issues to consider in equipment management:

• Selection
• Maintenance
• Control of use and production on site.
 EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT
5

Equipment
Management Process

Mississippi Department of Transportation

 EQUIPMENT SELECTION
6

 Selection:
• Best fit for the job

o Size or capacity

o Job condition (e.g., weather, space, soil types)

o Production rate

• Condition and reliability

• Fleet composition and balance between production rates

• Standard brands
EQUIPMENT SELECTION
7

CONEXPO-CON/AGG (2014)
 EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE
8

Maintenance:
• Major repairs before project begins

• On-site field maintenance versus off-site shop maintenance

• Inventory of routine parts

• Preventive maintenance program

 EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE
9

Douglas, J. (1975).
 EQUIPMENT CONTROL
10

Control of use and production:

• Keep track of actual production rates ($/unit)

• Maintain optimum utilization

• Monitor maintenance costs

• Supervision, high utilization, no machine abuse

• Safety

• Environmental impact
 MATERIAL MANAGEMENT
11

Material management holds tremendous potential for increasing

productivity and safety on construction projects.

• On-site productivity can be improved by reducing man-hours

spent on indirect work, waiting time (including waiting for
materials), and material handling.

• Material handling and movement can be a hazardous activity, and

most trades persons are not trained in the lifting and transportation
of materials; the worker is highly trained for specific trade tasks.

Sears et al., 2015

 MATERIAL MANAGEMENT STEPS
12

Sequence Contributing Action/Documents

❶ RFQ (Request for Drawings, specifications; material bills; terms
quotations) and conditions
❷ Bids (Offers from Approved supplier list; prequalification of
suppliers) suppliers; Offers evaluations

❸ P.O. (Purchase Order) Bid clarification; notice of award

Vendor data; manufacturer inspection;

❹ Expediting
delivery; routings
Carrier and route; ownership en route;
❺ Transport
customs
Inspection and acceptance; receiving report;
❻ Receiving
storage
Dispersal (i.e., material handling); inventory
❼ Inventory
level; surplus disposal
Ahuja et al., 1994
 MATERIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
13

Ahuja et al., 1994

 MATERIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
14

 Project needs are usually identified usually by Engineering, which also

determines specifications and quantities. Engineering generates a Request
for Quotation (RFQ), which is completed by the Procurement department.
 Procurement develops a bidders list, solicits quotations or bids, evaluates
bids with engineering assistance for technical aspects, and issues a purchase
order.
 Construction Department receives materials, inspects materials upon receipt,
and stores and issues materials to the work stations.
 Quantity errors result in shortages or surpluses; shortages disrupt the work
pattern and require re-planning.
 Substandard materials are cause for rejection and usually require additional
man-hours for installation.
 Delays in material delivery disrupt the work flow and require re-planning.
Ahuja et al., 1994
 MATERIAL CONTROL
15

The material control function includes determination of quantities,

material acquisition, and distribution. The objective is to purchase
materials in a timely manner to avoid costly labor delays.

• Bills of materials establish quantities and materials specifications

define quality for ordering. A milestone schedule should be
established for major items so that a complete plan is available.

• Field material control is required to plan storage and issue of

materials. A material management system should provide an alert for
potential shortages. Control of inventory is required to prevent theft,
unauthorized issue, and warranty protection for environmentally
susceptible items. For those who have had to find material under the
snow, the benefits of well-planned storage are readily evident.

Ahuja et al., 1994

 MATERIAL PROCUREMENT SCHEDULE
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Ahuja et al., 1994

 MATERIAL HANDLING
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 Material handling consists of operations such as unloading, storing,

sorting, loading, moving materials and tools to the installation area,
and hoisting.

 Material handling can be categorized as follows:

• Packaging, containerization.
• Movement to site.
• Off loading at site and storing.
• Hoisting and vertical handling.
• Horizontal movement

Ahuja et al., 1994

 LABOR MANAGEMENT
18

Overview of labor resource management:

• Develop activity daily labor requirements.

• Determine project labor requirements on a given day by
totaling labor required for all activities on that day.

• This may need to be craft specific.

• Use float time to minimize peaks and valleys.

• Use overtime only after float is no longer available.

Sears et al., 2015

 LABOR MANAGEMENT
19

Does CPM work for resource planning?

 CPM is a top-down approach

 Duration is given for each activity

• Duration = Work Quantity / Work Productivity

Resource inputs are not considered in CPM analysis.

 RESOURCE LOADING DIAGRAM
20

For a particular
resource, the required
resource units for each
time period are
annotated on the bar
chart. The total number
of resource units for
each time period can
then be summed and a
resource aggregation or
load chart can be
produced.
 RESOURCE LOADING DIAGRAM
21

 AON Network:
 RESOURCE LOADING DIAGRAM
22

 CPM Analysis

E TF/F E
S F F
Activity Name
L
Dur. LF
S
 RESOURCE LOADING DIAGRAM
23

 CPM Analysis:
 RESOURCE LOADING DIAGRAM
24

Early Start (ES):

 RESOURCE LOADING DIAGRAM
25

 Late Start (ES):

RESOURCE LOADING DIAGRAM
26
 UNLIMITED RESOURCES VS. LIMITED
RESOURCES 27

Anyone can make a plan, but it will be useful only if it can be

translated into actual work. It can be put into action only if the
resources required are available. The availability of resources is
superimposed on the CPM project duration under two conditions:

1. Unlimited resources (fixed project duration)

When there are no constraints imposed on the availability of
resources, the problem arises regarding what optimal level of
resources is to be acquired to achieve the given target date.

2. Limited resources (variable project duration)

It may be that the availability of resources is limited, and it is
desired to evaluate the impact of such scarcity on project duration.
 RESOURCE LEVELING
28

What is the problem of such a resource loading plan ?

 RESOURCE LEVELING
29

A fluctuating resource profile causes:

• Cost of administration (e.g., supervision, recruitments, training,

storage, learning curve)

• Cost of idling or overtime

• Cost of overcrowding and logistics problems

• Uncertainty of the resource market

• Poor productivity/morale due to inconsistent workgroups

 RESOURCE LEVELING
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 Objectives:

• Minimize the fluctuations in day-to-day resource use

throughout the project

• Achieve a reasonably constant demand for a particular resource

during construction
 RESOURCE LEVELING
31

Resource leveling is concerned with how to postpone the start times of

noncritical activities such that the project resource demand profile is
leveled out, while maintaining the original project duration from CPM.
Noncritical activities are shifted within available total floats. Peaks and
valleys in resource usage profiles are leveled as a result, while the total
project duration remains unchanged.

Siu et al., 2016

RESOURCE LEVELING
32
 RESOURCE ALLOCATION
33

 Resources are limited per unit of time. We have to decide which activities
can proceed and which ones delayed to satisfy resource availability.

 Allocate limited resources such that extension of the original total project
duration is kept to a minimum under the fixed resource availability limit
being imposed.

 The objective is to sequence execution of activities such that the resource

demand aggregated from all activities at any time point is kept below the
resource supply limit imposed for the project.

 Certain activities need to be delayed to acquire resources as required at a

later time. The original project time is commonly extended as a result.
RESOURCE ALLOCATION
34