Construction material tracking allows companies to monitor and manage all equipment and supplies used throughout a construction project, giving stakeholders visibility into the exact location of each material from procurement to installation.
Tracking materials in real-time is essential because it prevents project delays often caused by product unavailability. It also helps you maintain healthy inventory levels and avoid paying costly delivery fees for last-minute orders.
However, tracking multiple materials spread across various locations can become complex and cumbersome if done manually.
With construction management software like ServiceTitan, you can automate and enhance the materials management process.
In this article, we’ll explore various construction materials tracking strategies used by thousands of construction companies and professionals.
We’ll also show you how to use ServiceTitan to implement these more efficient strategies.
» Want to grow your business? Click here to get a demo.
What Is Construction Material Tracking?
Construction materials tracking involves monitoring the location, quantity, and status of materials throughout a project's lifecycle and tracking them as they move along the supply chain.
This ensures team members and subcontractors are properly equipped to execute their assigned tasks. It also keeps the project on schedule and prevents budget overruns.
What Are the Key Components of an Effective Material Tracking System?
For a material tracking system to be successful, it should include vital components such as:
Inventory databases: A centralized database for tracking inventory that’s accessible to all project stakeholders. It ranges from simple and error-prone spreadsheets and clipboards to premium and automated construction material tracking software.
Tracking identifiers: These are technologies used to track the location of materials. Some examples include barcodes, RFID tags, QR codes, and GPS trackers.
Real-time data access: To ensure accuracy, the system’s data should adapt promptly to changes in inventory levels. This data can be used for capacity planning, which involves predicting the amount of materials required for a construction project.
One source of truth: Any effective material tracking system is supposed to serve as the sole inventory record, hence becoming the single source of truth for project stakeholders. That’s one reason why free tracking systems like spreadsheets and clipboards fail.
ServiceTitan’s Materials Tracking platform has all of the above and more. Its real-time inventory management capability streamlines material tracking from requisition to procurement, transfers, and replenishment.
This helps construction companies prevent stockouts and minimize carrying costs.
For example, Barron Heating, AC, Electrical, and Plumbing, credits the platform for the company's efficient supply chain.
Michael Takemura, their Director of Technology and Supply Chain, shares:
“The way ServiceTitan allows us to create efficiencies in the supply chain is that we can track quantities on hand at different inventory locations.
“We can ensure techs have the parts they need. And we can put controls in place to help us reduce potential shrinkage or slippage in the inventory.”
Later, we’ll explain how the platform simplifies material tracking when used in conjunction with ServiceTitan’s other tools for key operational tasks.
The #1 newsletter for the trades.
Why Is Real-Time Material Tracking Essential on the Job Site?
Real-time material tracking is important for two key reasons:
Benefits of real-time tracking for project efficiency
One major advantage of real-time tracking is that it ensures construction workers always have the materials they need. This minimizes delays and allows the project to progress unhindered.
Another advantage is access to real-time, accurate data on material availability.
By tracking stock levels, warehouse managers can anticipate shortages and place early orders, thereby reducing lead times.
To increase the accuracy of stock level counts, ServiceTitan’s Inventory App lets users scan items when receiving purchase orders, transferring items between locations, or performing inventory counts.
Take, for instance, the purchase order workflow.
When users click on the purchase order card in the app, they are redirected to an interface where they can scan and identify the item mapped to the barcode.
Once the item is identified, users are prompted to input the quantity delivered by the vendor, which moves the item to the counted tab.
If a barcode isn’t recognized, ServiceTitan will allow them to map it to an item in the pricebook without taking the extra step of contacting the back office. This updates the inventory records in real time.
After scanning and counting all the purchase order items, the inventory app’s system will automatically mark the purchase order as “100% received.”
This streamlined workflow repeats when technicians or warehouse employees need to pick a transfer item or perform cycle counts, saving time and providing an up-to-date view of inventory levels.
Impact on cost management and waste reduction
Over-ordering and inventory shrinkage top the list of issues construction companies face with inventory.
Over-ordering occurs when warehouse managers order more than what’s actually required. Inventory shrinkage refers to a mismatch between recorded and actual inventory due to theft, damage, or clerical error.
Both issues cause waste and deplete revenue.
Excess stock depreciates and ties up money that could be used elsewhere. Repeatedly purchasing items you already have or failing to order materials before they’re exhausted can result in revenue loss.
Material tracking helps prevent overordering and inventory shrinkage by accurately identifying what’s available in various locations, such as warehouses, trucks, and project sites.
This makes it easier to discover when stock levels dip and order just the quantity of materials required.
Another way to manage costs and reduce waste is to continuously track project financials. ServiceTitan’s Job Costing platform helps with this.
The platform provides a breakdown of each project’s expenses and revenue.
It also compares the budgeted cost against what you’ve currently spent, tells you the portion of the original budget you’ve used, and shows your current profit as a percentage and dollar amount.
Clicking on any line item will redirect you to a table showing the purchase order, technician, and vendor it’s linked to.
Another valuable tool that reduces waste is ServiceTitan’s Dynamic Pricing software.
It lets you set custom pricing rules based on your billable rates, markups, surcharges, and custom modifiers (e.g. add-ons, after-hour services, weekend jobs, etc). These rules can be applied to specific categories or services.
This prevents revenue loss by ensuring that field technicians always charge accurate prices for flat-rate services, even when material and labor costs change overnight.
How Does Material Tracking Software Enhance Materials Management?
From our experience working with various construction companies, we know traditional material tracking systems, such as spreadsheets, cards, and clipboards, are ineffective.
Firstly, you need to manually enter data, which doubles the potential for error.
Secondly, their static nature makes it harder to have an accurate depiction of inventory levels.
Thirdly, they become difficult to maintain as your number of inventory items grows, increasing the risk of stockouts, overstocks, and revenue losses.
Using digital platforms for materials tracking is the best way to avoid these problems. Here’s why:
Advantages of digital tools over manual tracking methods
Digital material tracking tools increase data accuracy by minimizing the risk of human error from manual data entry.
Other benefits of digital tracking tools include:
Updating inventory records in real-time: This ensures inventory data is current and reflects actual stock levels.
Saving time: They automate manual tasks such as cycle counts and recording item quantities, freeing up more time for other tasks.
Providing a single source of truth: All project stakeholders can access the same inventory data from one location.
Scalability: Digital tools scale to accommodate increasing amounts of inventory.
For example, ServiceTitan’s Inventory Management platform automates the material tracking process from procurement to replenishment.
Warehouse managers can create templates and assign them to one or more locations. These templates contain the items assigned to each location, along with their respective maximum and minimum quantities.
Once an item from a truck is consumed or added to an invoice, ServiceTitan’s system compares the amount remaining against the truck’s inventory template.
If the truck's inventory is below the minimum, a replenishment workflow is triggered to replace the used item with one from the warehouse.
Any time the warehouse’s stock falls below the minimum quantity, ServiceTitan automatically notifies the warehouse manager to create a purchase order. The manager can print and mail the order to the vendor or email it directly from the platform.
Warehouse managers who use the latter option can pay for the materials from the platform and track the purchase order via six status descriptions:
Pending
Sent
Partially received
Received in full
Canceled
By providing this automated workflow and facilitating all inventory transactions, ServiceTian saves you time and allows you to focus on essential tasks.
It also makes the platform a trusted source of inventory data, helping maintain healthy stock levels.
Features to look for in tracking software
Now that you know why digital material tracking tools are a necessity, the next step is to find the right one.
To do so, look out for the following key features:
User-friendly interface: The platform should be easy to use. You can determine this via a free trial or demo call.
Integration capabilities: The best material tracking tools will integrate with your existing tool stack.
Mobile access: For construction workers and employees to use the platform to digitally track materials in the field, it must have a mobile application.
Barcode/RFID scanning: These technologies provide real-time location of inventory items.
Inventory rules: You’ll need this to set reorder points and manage stock levels.
Reporting and analytics: Provides insight into inventory data metrics, such as the total value of inventory on hand, inventory shrinkage, an item’s transit history, etc.
We considered all the above features when creating our Field Service and Inventory Apps, which enable technicians to manage inventory and close sales on the go.
Using the applications, technicians and other employees can:
Receive purchase orders.
Perform inventory counts and record the results.
Pick transfer items.
Scan barcodes and serial numbers when receiving purchase orders, picking transfer items, and conducting inventory counts.
With the Inventory App, field techs and site managers can requisition items and designate the replenishment source as either the warehouse or vendor.
If the replenishment source is the warehouse, the field tech can use the app’s picklist module to scan and retrieve the designated items and mark them as picked, which updates the inventory record in real time.
Designating the replenishment source as a vendor triggers ServiceTitan to notify an appointed person to begin creating a purchase order.
These features automate the replenishment process, which expedites inventory transfers and minimizes errors associated with manual data entry.
What Are the Best Practices for Implementing Material Tracking on Construction Sites?
For material tracking to work as it’s supposed to, some basic principles must be followed. They include:
Establish a standardized tracking process
Develop clear procedures for material transfers, check-in/check-out, and audits. These procedures should be spelled out in an SOP document and shared with construction and engineering teams.
Additionally, phase out paper documents and replace them with digital tools that enable workers to record data and perform inventory transactions with their mobile devices.
This saves time and minimizes human errors.
Lastly, use ServiceTitan to speed up the approval process for material requests. This ensures requisitions are processed quickly and all stakeholders have real-time visibility into their status.
Conduct regular inventory audits
Sometimes, the numbers on your screen don't match what's in the warehouse or truck. This disconnect can lead to costly errors and inefficiencies.
To bridge the gap between physical stock and inventory records, perform routine inventory audits. Depending on your company's size, you could do them every month or every 12 weeks.
Given how difficult it is to physically count each inventory item, consider using ServiceTitan’s Inventory App to scan the barcode on items.
This automatically links your physical counts to inventory records, saving you from manually checking items off spreadsheets.
Optimize material storage and organization
What’s the best way to ensure employees can quickly find materials when they need them? The answer is optimizing material storage.
You can do this by implementing the following:
Design your warehouse and truck layouts with materials accessibility in mind.
Use a labeling system to indicate each material’s storage area.
Organize materials systematically so employees can move around the warehouse and access the materials they need.
Train staff on new technologies and processes
For material tracking systems to work, employees must be able to use them with ease.
As such, conduct regular training sessions to teach employees how to use tracking tools and store materials correctly. After each training session, collect feedback from employees and use it to improve your material tracking system.
Lastly, pick a tool with an intuitive user interface and a short learning curve. One such tool is ServiceTitan’s Materials Tracking platform, which has an intuitive interface that supports quick adoption and reduces training time.
How Can ServiceTitan Improve Your Construction Materials Tracking?
As stated earlier, digital tools are a more efficient way to track inventory levels. They reduce the time spent on inventory tasks.
However, digital tools disconnected from the rest of your business present issues similar to those of traditional material tracking systems.
Employees will constantly copy and paste data between tools whenever an item is added to a customer’s invoice or transferred between locations. They’ll also need to manually record items when receiving purchase orders and scan documents.
To truly overcome the challenges of manual data entry and delayed inventory updates, the tool must integrate with other business tools – something most material tracking platforms fail to do.
Fortunately, ServiceTitan seamlessly integrates with tools used for:
Invoicing
Scheduling
Dispatching
Fleet management
Payment processing
Because it’s connected to other business and operational sectors, the platform serves as a single source of truth for inventory levels. It lets you manage purchase orders, requisitions, replenishments, and inventory from one location.
“Before we started on ServiceTitan’s inventory platform, we were using five different systems, including probably 10 Excel spreadsheets. We were buying things we already had because we didn’t have one source of truth,” Michael Takemura says.
“It also created the need for manual checks and made it difficult to update prices.”
“With ServiceTitan, we also have things integrated with carriers or vendors that allow us to adjust the cost and price rapidly, such as dynamic pricing and updated pricing through billing,” he adds. “It also allows us to create and generate multiple transactions simultaneously with one step, which is a huge advantage.”
If you wish to achieve the same efficiency and effectively track your materials, book a demo call today.
ServiceTitan is an all-in-one platform for field service contractors. It’s the perfect tool for streamlining marketing, field operations, inventory management, and customer interactions. Join the many companies nationwide who use it to grow their revenue.
ServiceTitan Software
ServiceTitan is a comprehensive software solution built specifically to help service companies streamline their operations, boost revenue, and substantially elevate the trajectory of their business. Our comprehensive, cloud-based platform is used by thousands of electrical, HVAC, plumbing, garage door, and chimney sweep shops across the country—and has increased their revenue by an average of 25% in just their first year with us.
