CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF RFID APPLICATION IN PREFABRICATION INSTALLATION PROCESS

Attempts to achieve a higher productivity have led studies to focus on process improvement. Information has been found as an essential element for process improvement. This research has introduced and focused on two types of information, namely: related jobsite information along the process and feedback information. Related jobsite information along the process which needs to be processed and delivered in a timely manner, accurate, and real time is required to streamline the decision making process. Whereas feedback information about process' current practices which have to be captured and stored is a useful for continuous improvement in identifying the problem origin and determining corrective action. In the current practices, although these two types of information are essential for process improvement, construction process has faced barriers in obtaining that information. Therefore, this research will propose a new information system to overcome the aforementioned barriers. The new information system consists of RFID as an automatic identification and data collection device integrated with database to support construction processes. The new system attempts to provide related jobsite information along the process and feedback information to support decision making process and continuous process improvement respectively. A case study of prefabrication installation process in housing projects has been selected to be implemented in conceptual model of RFID application in construction industry. Conceptual model will be presented in this paper as an initial stage of this ongoing research. Expected outcomes of the new system and future works will be discussed briefly.