Analyzing the benefits of RFID technology for cost sharing in construction supply chains: A case study on prefabricated precast components

The problems encountered in the current manual material tracking methods result in late deliveries, missing components and incorrect installations. Automated data collection technologies, such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), are promising technologies that can be used to efficiently track components in construction supply chains. However, it is still not clear how the cost of technology investment should be shared among supply chain members. This study proposes the use of a cost sharing ratio, which is calculated for each party based on the benefits received. A case study was conducted at a prefabricated exterior concrete wall panel supply chain, and a simulation-based decision-support tool was used to model the current manual phase and automated phases. The simulation results were used to determine and analyze the benefits and related cost savings of RFID for each party, and a cost sharing ratio was calculated for distributing the technology investment cost among parties. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.