Material Scheduling

The primary objective within the Matrix module that addresses Material Scheduling functionality is to provide a means to minimise extra costs as a result of changes to delivery dates, construction schedules and design requirements. The solution within Matrix is exceptionally powerful and extremely efficient and can be utilised on construction projects of any size and complexity.

ControlmaX is a sophisticated project material control system that reconciles the availability of material with scheduled production requirements. The functionality provided has been proven to be highly effective on many successful and profitable projects.

ControlmaX takes essential materials information from procurement, material takeoff and planning, combines it together and makes it easily accessible through inquiries and reports. It simplifies assessing the impact of changes which may occur in one or more systems such as priority (planning), ETA (purchasing), material quantities (takeoff) and allows the overall impact to be easily and rapidly assessed before problems can occur.

ControlmaX can be applied as a productivity and control tool for planners and material controllers or it may be used as a primary input and control facility for the main operation functions of project materials management. As work progresses and the situation changes, ControlmaX can continually manage material allocations and / or activity schedules to optimise productivity. Significant areas of functionality that can be managed include :

• A full set of stock movements functions, operable as a stand alone system, or in combination with existing systems.
• Full project inventory support, tracking all stock movements and simplifying reconciliation at the end of the project. Details are maintained for receipt quantities, issued material, cleared material, on-hand quantities and the location within a warehouse of material. It can also provide combined issue notes and provide support for bagging and tagging operation.
• Functions for a site material controller or planner to determine the optimum use of the material available, and also to account for the impact of re-work due to loss, damage or design changes.
• Look-ahead analysis allowing the material controller or planner to ascertain that the schedule can be met.
• Global Update Facility to allow the material controller / planner to prioritize and assess the schedule impact very rapidly.
• Support for breaking down a design takeoff to the level required for fabrication / construction, defined as appropriate, such as work packs or job cards (or specialized grouping such as in pipe fabrication as "isometric" or "spool")

ControlmaX provides a powerful 'what if' facility, where details can be changed on a project wide basis in order to assess the overall impact on the project schedule.

Integrating information from purchasing, material takeoff, planning and fabrication to ensure that material supply is both timely and of sufficient quantity can be extremely demanding on a large scale project. The situation changes regularly, and integrating and updating the information is an on-going task.

ControlmaX rapidly matches scheduled receipts and orders against prioritised material requirements to suggest optimum usage, highlight expediting requirements and provide look-ahead information to avoid future fabrication bottlenecks, delays and possible contention for available material.