The Utilization Of Just In Time Principles In The Construction Industry

Just in time, or JIT, amounts to efficient and cost-effective material management in building construction. While employed as an estimator, Rafael Rivera was challenged with formulating material takeoffs having waste factors that appeared to be higher than industry norms. This resulted in his project bid being inherently higher and placed his firm at a competitive disadvantage, due to higher carrying costs compared to other contractor bids. He recalls, "On a bid strategy involving a small Mobile City Public Works concrete sidewalk project, I submitted a bid that was very competitive. Although we were not the bid winners, the bid margin between my bid and the winning bid was a meager $4. That is what we call in the construction industry, 'sharpening your pencils.' " His inspiration for publishing this book? "In looking back at some of my projects, I was challenged with storing materials in limited space. The most memorable project was the re-roofing of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center in Cocoa Beach, Florida." Limited space was a major obstacle, as well as dealing with a multilevel structure where the volume was larger than the New Orleans Astrodome.