Leveraging Passive RFID

Project Team

Dr. David Grau (University of Alabama)

Dr. Yang Xiao (University of Alabama)

Ph.D. Student Lei Zeng (University of Alabama)

Presented by

Todd Sutton

Zachry Construction Corporation

1. Does Technology Have

an Impact on Labor

Productivity?

Equipment and Material Technology

Technology Change in Labor

ProductivityFactors

Equipment Technology DifferenceStatistically

Significant ?Factor

Energy 36.2% Yes

Control 31.7% Yes

Functional Range 38.3% Yes

Material Technology Difference Sig.

Factor

Modularization 16.1% Yes

Reduction in Unit Weight 38.2% Yes

Installation Flexibility 14.4% Yes

Data Sources:

– Equipment: 1976-1998 Means, Dodge, and Richardson Estimation Manuals

– Materials: 1977-2004 Means Estimation Manuals

CII RT 240 (2008) –

Co-Sponsored by

FIATECH

Technology Impact of IT

Projects with

higher Automation

and Integration of

IT had 31% to

45% better

productivity

31%

45%

Pro

ductivity I

mpro

vem

ent

Data Source:

– CII Benchmarking and Metrics

CII RT 240 (2008) – Co-Sponsored by FIATECH

2. Can Active RFID be

Successfully Implemented

for Supply Chain and

Construction Operations?

Active RFID Technology• Battery-powered tags – communication ranges

from hundreds to about a thousand feet

• Reader(s)

• Antenna(e)

• Successful deployment - FIATECH past record of studiesJongchul Song (2005)

Shipping and Receiving

FIATECH (Song et al. 2004)

Jongchul Song (2005)

On-Site Tracking

Manual Tracking Automated Tracking

with RFID and GPS

Improvement Ratio ~ 8.1:136.8 minutes per component 4.6 minutes per component

Sponsored by FIATECH and CII (Grau et al. 2009)

Installation

• 4.2% increment on efficiency

of erection crews for installing

steel components

• Not including bolting,

torquing, plumbing, painting,

and inspection tasks

CII RT 240 (2008) Sponsored by FIATECH and CII

Tools Management• Re-engineering of tool management process

around the active RFID technology

FIATECH (Kang et al. 2004)

Tools Management

• Labor productivity enhancement

• Successful RFID deployment

FIATECH (Kang et al. 2004)

Perceived Benefits

• Labor motivation

• Automation

• Efficiency

• Re-engineering

Thus, how is that RFID is still minimally used by owner, contractor, and supplier organizations?

Cost as a Potential Barrier

• Despite this successful efforts, implementation of active

RFID is still on its infancy

• However, each active tag costs in the range of $30 to

$50

• $5 unit cost perceived to widespread the implementation

of RFID technologies

3. Can Passive RFID Be

Feasible Utilized for Supply

Chain, Construction, and

Maintenance Operations?

Passive RFID - Feasibility as a Barrier?

• Very short communication ranges, and

• Weak signals

• However, cost per tag in the range of a few cents

of a dollar to a few dollars

Passive vs. Active tags

• Passive tag:

Low costs

Short read

range

• Active tag:

High costs

Long read range

Software Radio

Maximum reading distance for selected tags

• Maximum read distance

“free air” about 70% of their

claimed maximum

communication distance

• Metal tags perform better

when in contact with ferrous

materials

• Longer read range

Metallic Clustered Scenario

Read Rate vs. Tags

• How many tags per

second can we read?

• Read rate decreases

with distance

Read Rate vs. Tags and Communication

Modes

• Read rate faster with HS

mode

• Read rate slower with DR

mode

• HS with a higher

communication frequency

Shipping and Receiving

Conclusions

• To provide recommendations for practitioners on the feasible

utilization of passive RFID materials

• To identify the critical processes/activities that can be feasibly

re-engineered around passive RFID with maximum return on

investment and maximum impact on downstream operations

• To quantify the impact of the passive RFID technology −with

metrics such as cost, schedule, productivity, quality, safety, for

a re-engineered construction/supply chain processes/activity

Materials Management

FrameworkA holistic approach to materials planning, procurement,

fabrication, transportation, installation and ongoing

operations support. Reg HunterFIATECH, Sr. Program

Directorhunter@fiatech.org

Integrated Automated Procurement & Supply Network

Agenda

• CII identified materials management

opportunities

• Systems & Technology Solution Collaboration

Environment

• Materials management framework - a means

for identifying needs and “mapping” systems &

technology

• Implementation session topics

Construction industry Institute (CII) Identified MATERIALS

MANAGEMENT improvement OPPORTUNITIES

1. Reduced bulk supplies: 40%

2. Improved supplier performance: 24%

3. Cash flow savings: 23%

4. Reduced site storage & handling: 21%

5. Improved craft labor productivity: 16%

6. Improved project schedule: 16%

7. Reduced management personnel: 15%

8. Reduced risk: 5%

CII Sources:

IR7-3, Procurement and Materials Management: A Guide to Effective Project Execution

EM7-21, Tools for Effective Materials Management

RS7-1, Costs and Benefits of Materials Management Systems

RS7-2, Project Materials Management Primer

Developing & validating systems & technology solutions

Owners, Operators, Managers, Planners, Services Providers & Suppliers

• CII Best-Practices – reduction to practice

• Peer consensus building – identification of shared challenges, impacts & needs

• Peer experience leveraging – lessons learned

• Agreement on optimal solution enabling systems & technologies needs

• Capitalizing on a structured development, verification & implementation process

• Solution deployment validation

• Solution sharing

• Solution harvesting

Materials Management Framework

Site

Logistics

Fabrication

& Modules

In-Transit

LogisticsBuild-Out

ConstructionOngoing

Operations

Lessons Learning

Designing Acquiring Planning &

Organizing

Monitoring &

ControllingMaintaining

Integrated Materials Communication & Coordination System

Materials, Modules, Subsystems, Blocks, Work Packages, Spares, etc.

Functions & Flows

• What are the functions & interdependencies?

• Where is information produced?

• How is information moved?

• Where is information consumed?

• How is control authority established &

maintained?

• What are the driving challenges &

opportunities?

Over 300 attributes impacting materials management performance have been identified (primarily related to lack of accuracy, accessibility, timeliness, interoperability, control & monitoring)

Systems & Technology “Mapping”

• What aspects of the framework could be

involved?

• What legacy system linkages would be

required to facilitate interoperability?

• How mature & sustainable is it?

• How compatible is it with existing processes?

• Can it be generalized & shared?

• How can benefits be identified & quantified?

• How can adoption risks be reduced?

Systems & Technologies must enable cost effective end-to-end materials visibility, predictability, accountability, traceability & control

Implementation session Topics

• Estimating ROI

• Determining needs & strategies

• Developing & validating systems & technology

solutions

• Shared materials management challenges

example

• Systems and technology solution identification

• Solution demonstrations

• Related projects & initiatives

Facilitating Systems & Technology Implementation

Facilitating Systems & Technology Implementation

Decrease RisksIncrease Rewards

Rewards - Building the Business Case

Compelling ROI is not sufficient to motivate productivity improvement

• Productivity improvement planning

(Chapter 2)

• Identifying & ranking opportunities

• Setting expectations - Return on

Investment (ROI)

• Defining verification pilot

projects/case studies

• Refine/update the plan

Reduce Systemic Inefficiencies

Activities

Tasks

Efficient Elements

Labor, Equipment & Materials

Expended to Directly Perform the

Task

Inefficient Elements

Disruptions/

Non-Systemic

Inherent/

Systemic

Consistently

Occurring with

Predictable Costs

Randomly Occurring

with Variable Costs

Reducing systemic inefficiencies can provide compelling ROI

ROI example: Lay down yard materials locating

using GPS vs Grids Alone

2004 FIATECH/CII/KBR Pipe Spool Locating

Study

Assumptions:

• Meantime to locate using grids: 6.7min

• Meantime to locate using GPS: 0.92min

• Efficiency gain per locate task using GPS: 5.78min

• The 0.92min represents travel time (unavoidable cost)

• The 5.7min spent looking per locate task (avoidable cost)

• The number of times a spool is located varies: 3.5x (est.)

• Aggregated & fully loaded craft labor crew cost varies: $300/hr (est.)

Cost Avoidance Opportunity

Estimating Project cost avoidance potential

GPS Enabled Cost avoidance (example)

Locate Costs ARE Incurred Early

Shared Materials Management Challenges

• Out of date &/or obsolete

• Incomplete &/or inaccurate information

• Multiple or ambiguous identifications, affiliations &

associations

• Counterfeit, fraudulent & suspect items

• Positive control, traceability & accountability

• Shifting project schedules & priorities

• Early detection & effective recovery from exceptions

• Reconciling, documenting & data gathering

• Workflow consistency, stability & efficiency

• Status awareness & performance monitoring

• Other?

Global Materials Management Solutions

Case Study/Demonstration Example:

Global materials Management (GMMS) solutions

& Others

Monitoring

Shared Materials

Management

Challenges

Members Solution DemonstrationSolution Touch Points

GMMS materials management Framework Touch points

Site

Logistics

Fabrication

& Modules

In-Transit

LogisticsBuild-Out

ConstructionOngoing

Operations

Lessons Learning

Designing Acquiring Planning &

Organizing

Monitoring &

ControllingMaintaining

Integrated Materials Communication & Coordination System

Materials, Modules, Subsystems, Blocks, Work Packages, Spares, etc.

Subject Matter Expert Collaboration

• Leading Logistics Services & Material Management Provider with Global Reach

• 2009 Globally Responsible For Logistics Management Services of Over $10B in Construction Materials

• Established Global Working Relationships with Best-In-Class Partners & Suppliers

• Leading Provider of Hosted Logistics Resource Management Software Solutions for Construction Materials

• Currently More Than 65% of 3PL Globally Managed Construction Materials Use HAL Systems

www.hal-inc.comwww.panalpina.com

GMMS System Architecture

Engineering,

Procurement &

Construction

(EPC) Systems

Enhanced

Site Logistics

Systems (ESLS)

Integrated Materials & Data Management System

Other Systems &

Stakeholders

Information Flows

Material Flows

Site Receiving

Suppliers &

Fabricators

GPS In Transit Monitoring

RFID & Barcode IDs

In-Transit

Logistics

Services

Local/Site

Sources

GPS Locating

Material Flows

Material Flows Site Logistics

Information Aggregating & Sharing Example

Consolidated,Packed Material

Processes, Procedures & Controls

Engineering & Design Systems

Engineering, Procurement & ConstructionLegacy Systems

Site

Operations

EngineeringDocuments

REQs & BOMs

REQ ,BOM POs

• PO Items to Ship• Shipping Status • ID Management• FIM & BIM Tools• Project Priorities• Reporting & Tracking• Etc.

• Ready to Pickup• Material Details • Shipping Details• Consolidation, Reconciliation• ID Management• Project Priorities• Reporting & Tracking• Expediting • Etc.

Suppliers& Vendors

Logistics Services Providers

Purchasing

• Workface Planning

• Reporting & Tracking

• ID Cross-referencing

• Activity Reporting

• FIM & BIM Build-out

FIWP/Blocks

• Etc.

Construction Operations

In-Transit Logistics Site Logistics

Ordering Systems

AccountingSystems PO’s

LogisticsFacilities

Suppliers /

Vendors

C2C

Transit Facilities

(Modules)

• Requisition• Bill Of Material• Reporting & Tracking• Etc.

Enhanced Site Logistics System Capabilities

Generate 2D Data Matrix Labels

Commission Existing & New Materials

Decommission Materials

Designate Damaged or Mismarked Materials &

Locations

Background Inventories

Position of Relocated Materials

Transaction Allocation/Assignments To Handhelds

Process Transaction Requests

Moves: What, Where, & When

PMs: What & When

Verifies: Material & Location (Flagging, Virtual

Marshaling)

Palletizing/Field Work Packaging

Material Locations On Maps With Zoom & Grids

Direction & Distance To Materials

Security & Environmental Monitoring

Barcode & RFID Reading Technology

PM Scheduling & Reporting

PM Performed: When, What, Who, Where

Authorizations & Privileges Management

Current Location Of Handhelds (Lay-Down Yard & Grid

Location)

Material Grid Location, Description, Owner, Craft, etc.

Pending & Completed Transactions Assignments On

Handheld

GPS Coordinates of Materials, When Placed & When

Last Seen

Transaction Completed: What, When, Where, Device

Used

Material Transaction History: When, What, Where &

Device Used

Performance Metrics

Reports/Notifications

GMMS Demonstration Environment

Facility located Near the IAH airport Houston Texas

Related Fiatech projects &

initiatives• Automating Equipment Information Exchange (AEX)

– XML protocols to streamline equipment supply chain and eliminate redundant input of data

– Recently adopted by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

• Global Valve Cross-Reference e-Catalog (GVCC)

– Electronic version of Process Industries Practices (PIP) reference valve catalog used to

cross-match valves and automate procurement process

• RFID Valve Tagging Case Study

– Document value of using RFID tagging on valves throughout their life-cycle, including anti-

counterfeiting efforts

• Leveraging Passive RFID

– Demonstrate feasibility of passive RFID technologies in construction process

• RFID for Materials Management and Productivity Improvement

– Comprehensive reference book to guide users in capital projects industry through process

of using RFID technology in the supply chain to achieve financial benefits

• ISO 15926 – Digital Interoperability

– Global standard for exchanging complex information easier and thus, at lower cost

• Packaging methods, marking & identification practices

– Panprojects, University of Houston, and EPC’s collaborating on supply chain and logistics

solutions

Summary

• FIATECH is systematically driving systems and technologies that facilitate

next generation visibility, predictability, accountability, traceability & control

performance

• Subject matter experts use membership in FIATECH to accelerate the

development, demonstration and deployment of technology advancements

Further information

• Visit FIATECH website at http://fiatech.org/

•Purchase copy of FIATECH RFID Book

•Attend FIATECH Technology Tuesday

Webinars

Thank you