Radio frequency identification system (RFID) facilitated construction materials management (RFID-CMM)

Construction materials management faces many problems in materials planning, ordering, receiving and storing, handling and distribution, site usage and monitoring due to the complex and dynamic nature of the construction industry. Poor materials management has been identified as a major source of low construction productivity, cost overrun and delays. Lack of active, accurate and integrated information flow is one of the major contributors to materials management problems.Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has been reported as being a new technology that can be effectively used in obtaining active and accurate materials management information in construction industry. Thus the aim of this study has been to determine the materials management related problems faced by Turkish and Iranian construction firms and find out the possibilities of employing RFID technology in order to solve these problems. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey has been administered on 33 Turkish and 25 Iranian construction companies. Results showed that Turkish and Iranian construction firms faced similar problems and had similar attitudes related with the management of these problems.