- Best Practice
In the Flow! 3 Steps to Optimizing Your Materials Management
Digital Materials Management in Industrial Construction
Boosting efficiency: Materials are a key issue in industrial construction. If you have the material flow under control, you reduce downtimes, avoid additional costs and optimise project efficiency. This requires integrating a large number of suppliers, providing all data in one system, keeping an eye on the entire supply chain and being able to react to changes in real time.
In Three Steps to Efficient Materials Management
Insite LMS has the answer to materials management "from A to Z", from packing to installation. Using Insite LMS, you can have 100% of the packing lists digitally available in the system.
- Supply: Register deliveries & generate packing lists
- Acceptance: Receive, inspect, and store materials via the app
- Installation: Request & withdraw materials via the app
This allows you to access real-time information at any time:
- inventory levels
- storage locations
- associated material information such as installation location, delivery, storage location, and
- photos.
Details: Digital Materials Management System
Step 1: Pre-Register Deliveries - Generate Packing Lists with QR Codes
In the first step, deliveries are pre-registered. This can be done through the user-friendly Insite LMS direct supplier process (using Microsoft Excel and e-mail) or through ERP integration. This allows the project team to access all delivery data early on.
Additionally, the necessary documents for transportation can be generated using Insite LMS software. This includes packing lists with unique QR codes.
Step 2: Receive, Inspect, and Store Materials via the App
Delivered material is taken in using the Insite LMS app. The materials' unique QR codes are scanned for this purpose. The app can also be used to inspect and document deliveries. Insite LMS offers everything that is necessary for this:
- material inspection incl. photo documentation,
- deviation management
- reporting including signatures
- storage location management incl. GPS position.
Step 3: Request and Withdraw Materials via the App
Materials management with Insite LMS means optimizing the material flow up to installation. Therefore, in the third step, the reservation and withdrawal of materials, components, and parts needed for assembly are carried out via the app. Feasibility analyses can be conducted in advance if necessary (especially useful in pipeline construction or for bulk materials in general). During withdrawal, inventory levels are reduced by the quantities taken out. All transactions are documented in the system and available for reports, etc.
Best Practice
1. Start - Digitalizing Materials Management Is Easier Than You Might Think
- Whether it's piping, structural steel, machinery, bolts, mould plates, etc., Insite LMS lets you manage materials of all kinds from production to assembly and control the flow of materials.
- Packing lists form the basis for material management. 100% of the packing lists can be available digitally in the system!
- No special tools or training are required to integrate all suppliers: Suppliers register deliveries via Microsoft Excel and e-mail, the system generates the necessary transport documents and QR codes and sends them to the suppliers.
2. First Work with ACTUAL data, then add TARGET data
In many projects, it is helpful to first use ACTUAL data (e.g. packing lists) and work with this information. In a second step, TARGET data (e.g. bills of materials, purchase orders etc.) can be added to generate target/actual comparisons.
The all-in-one Insite LMS software is modular. This allows you to digitally handle further process steps at any time.
3. Rely on a Powerful Allrounder
The materials management system Insite LMS runs on a variety of devices and clients (Android, iOS, Windows). Insite LMS can be used via web client, app or desktop client. The Insite LMS platform can even be used without internet connection. As soon as a network is eligible, data will be synchronized again.
For managing materials, a typical scenario is:
- Material registration – Microsoft Excel & e-mail: No special tools are required to integrate suppliers. They simply mail Microsoft Excel files to Insite LMS. This way, your suppliers do not need an Insite LMS user account!
- Material acceptance – app: Material acceptance upon delivery to the site is often performed using the app on a phone. The project teams on site use the app to scan the QR codes, update information, add photos etc.
- Full scope – desktop client: You can also use Insite LMS via the Insite LMS desktop client. This client “plays all the pieces” and is popular with project logistics experts as well as on site.
In the Flow! Insite LMS as Materials Management System
- Materials registration, take over, storage management and withdrawal: Digitally managing all those steps via the materials management system Insite LMS gives you control of your materials and helps achieving your project goals.
- Above all, this solves the problem of having goods „disappear into a black hole“ upon delivery on site. You always know where to find what item, component or good.
Our experience from more than 6,000 projects is that digital materials management via Insite LMS is the way to go. Let's talk about it!
About the Author
INSITE IT GmbH
Since the company was founded in 2012, INSITE IT GmbH has continuously become the professional partner for plant engineers. The software company is headquartered in Linz (AT) and develops software solutions for materials, logistics and site management in plant engineering.
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