Awarded Master Thesis

The project

As part of the handling of a construction project, the executing construction site logistics deals with the transport and storage of building materials on the construction site. Due to the distributed storage of materials on the construction site and the unique character of each construction project, approximately 30 percent of the working time of the construction site personnel is required for unnecessary search and travel times. Due to rising costs and the shortage of skilled workers in the construction industry, possibilities are increasingly being sought to make the handling of a construction project more efficient by using digital tools.

With this in mind, the “LOG” system was developed. It links existing data sources into a useful logistics planning system and reduces the manual data entry effort. Data sources are the Building Information Model (BIM), schedules and catalogue data from the building materials trade. The logistics planning created is visualised with the help of an app for the employees of the companies involved in the project. By integrating current logistics status data, users can be provided with a real-time representation of construction logistics in the digital building model, similar to the track-and-trace services of parcel service providers. This eliminates time-consuming searches for building materials and unnecessary transports on the construction site.

The clearly understandable visualisation based on the three-dimensional building model also reduces language barriers. Furthermore, the data described form the basis for further concepts for the digital transformation of construction logistics.

The jury's assessment

The very practice-oriented and innovative approach of the work convinced the jury due to the use and combination of different innovative approaches such as Lean Construction and BIM to achieve a concrete improvement in practice. Supply chains and site logistics are becoming increasingly challenging, especially for the “last mile” of site logistics, between delivery to the site and the installation site (place of value creation).

The jury awarded the thesis second place in the construction business management category. The Master's thesis also convinced the premium sponsor, Ed. Züblin AG. The thesis was therefore also awarded the company's special prize.

Special features of the project

In the thesis, a very application-oriented concept is being developed that focuses on the transfer of construction site logistics data from planning to the construction site. The aim is to create this as easily understandable as possible and without much effort. The developed tool therefore uses existing data sources. On the one hand, this reduces the input and planning effort, and on the other hand, the use of BIM enables the three-dimensional visualisation of storage locations in the building. This concept reduces search and travel times for construction site personnel and, in the long term, construction site transports can be automated on the basis of the data.

Personal details

Maximilian Gehring studied industrial engineering with a technical specialisation in civil engineering at the TU Darmstadt. During his bachelor's degree, he was able to gain initial experience during a six-month internship in construction management in structural engineering. Managing different plan statuses, calculating masses by hand and searching for building materials on the construction site were inefficient activities he noticed during his internship. This led to his fascination with making construction processes more efficient with the help of digital methods. So after completing his Master's degree, he decided to do a doctorate at the Institute of Numerical Methods and Informatics in Civil Engineering at TU Darmstadt. Here he can develop new approaches as part of his research work and test them on the construction site together with practical partners.

More information on the pages of “Auf IT gebaut”: Learn more