RFID Helps Control and Organize Construction Sites

When a driver arrives with the goods and an RFID-tagged delivery notice, he or she approaches the construction site entrance, the tag is read, and the driver is then allowed to enter the site. If all the goods in the payload are tagged, RFID could also be used to compare delivery notices with actual goods delivered. Agnes Kelm, an engineer who worked on the project, says this idea was tested with bar codes only, since participating suppliers did not have RFID printers.

RFID could also be used to track construction tools and equipment. If these items are tagged, those tags could be read at the control center using a handheld reader. Feasibility tests were performed with an Intermec IP 30 reader.

By using the system, managers would have accurate, up-to-date lists about their property, which could greatly reduce the amount of equipment that gets lost, misplaced or mistakenly taken by other companies operating on the construction site. In addition, by combining tool information with employee IDs, businesses could record which worker used which tool, and when. Such information is valuable, Helmus explains, in case a company must retrace the steps made during construction for legal or regulatory reasons.

A third material-tracking application that the university integrated into software used to run its control center system is a standalone RFID-application from Gradwohl. The company has developed a freight-container-sized rental system that is unmanned and can be placed on construction sites. Workers who need to rent a tool or purchase a few missing screws can enter the container, use their RFID-based badge for identification, select their materials on a touch screen and then retrieve materials from a drawer that pops open, or a locker accessible with a key.

"The RFID Construction Logistics Control Center is a major piece in the puzzle for making construction processes more transparent, efficient and controllable," Helmus says, adding, "The system can also save lives by ensuring that workers wear the assigned protective equipment."

The project, led by the university's Construction Operation and Construction Industry Teaching and Research Area, is part of ARGE RFIDimBau, a research cluster focused on the use of RFID in the construction sector that is part of the ZukunftBAU project. ZukunftBAU is an initiative of the country's Federal Ministry for Transport, Building and Urban Affairs and the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning.

Industrial partners for the project include Streif Baulogistik, Cichon Stolberg, Klebl, Züblin, ALHO, ThyssenKrupp Real Estate and Gradwohl. Streif Baulogistik, a specialist in construction logistics, contributed know-how, while Cichon Stolberg and PCO provided software for the RFID application.