E-commerce application for construction material procurement

Abstract

The aim of this research is to make contribution in the domain of applying electronic commerce (E-commerce) applications in construction material procurement. This research reviewed the current construction material procurement process and identified its limitations relating to information retrieving, handling and sharing. A review on current applications of E-commerce and geographical information system (GIS) was undertaken and those functions of E-commerce and GIS that can be applied in construction material procurement are identified. This research also pointed out the inadequacy of existing E-commerce websites in supporting the construction material procurement functions. Based on the findings of the above reviews an E-commerce system that utilize the state of the art E-commerce and GIS technologies was developed for supporting the whole construction material procurement process. This E-commerce system is designed for trading construction materials in Mainland China and is implemented and run by a construction firm in Hong Kong. The system was evaluated based on feedback and quantitative data collected from users of the system. This system is found to be useful in supporting the purchasing personnel to carry out the material procurement jobs. Identified benefits of this E-commerce system include shorter time for searching materials and suppliers information, easier comparison of similar and alternative materials, provision of transportation distance between cities, and reduction of paperwork. This research also discussed the limitations of the developed system and the future works required for providing an E-commerce system with more comprehensive services for buyers.