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Table of Contents
These links are provided for easy browsing, but the document is a single work, intended to be read in its entirety.
• Introduction
• Historical System
• Our Materials Management System
• Laboratory Testing
• Materials Approval and Shipment
• Project Level Materials Documentation
• Project Level Materials Record
• Project/Item Certification
• Report on Materials Tested
• Final Comments

Introduction
The West Virginia Department of Transportation has developed a Materials Tracking System which is used to keep track of materials being used in highway projects. This system is based upon a computerized database files of all materials tested in the central or field laboratories including tests at project sites or samples taken from the project, or observed tests at a manufacturing or production source.

This database files and derivations are used for the recording of test data from these laboratories, tracking and locating test documents and providing documentation of test status and material acceptance to field personnel. This file and the results derived from source analysis and material analysis are used in evaluating the project or construction item for the preparation of a final letter of materials certification.

The final materials certification is a requirement of the Federal Highway Administration for all federal aid projects and is routinely used by West Virginia for most all projects. The requirements for this certification are included in FHPM 6 4 2 7.  This is performed by Contract Administration Division using the Materials Management System and Construction Project Records since August 1998.
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Historical System
Before the scope of what has been possible through the use of automated systems can be appreciated, a brief history of the previous system used is in order. A contractor would advise the Division of Highways of his source of materials and the DOH would arrange sampling of the material. When testing was finished a paper file was set up, with an attendant book keeping system, to keep track of where the material from the tested lot was used. This system required several audit clerks to maintain the required tracking. When shipments of material were sent to a project the project would submit documents that supplied identification of the material and source and would request test data documentation so that their files would contain the proper “proof of acceptability” of the material used. When an item of work was completed the project would submit a request for an independent audit and issuance of a final letter of Materials Certification for the item. Central Materials personnel would review the submittal and verify that the proper number of tests had been conducted and that all tests evidenced specification material had been used. If there was a non-compliance then the audit clerks had to go back to the project for resolution of the non-compliance before certification could be made. This, of course, meant that the item could not be paid for until any non-compliance was properly addressed.

This is a simplified overview, however those of you who have had to work within a similar system would know the hours and even months required at times to make sure all of the paperwork was available and that all material was properly “covered”. As any of you that have ever worked on a large multi-million dollar project know, there are files after files of test data required to provide proper documentation of the acceptability of the materials and work using those materials.

As I said, this is a brief history of how we used to do it before we finally jumped into electronic data transfer.
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Our Materials Management System
Source Requests for Material Approval (off site materials)

• Step 1: A contractor must provide to the DOH a list of all materials to be used and the source of each material.
• Step 2: There are two possible types of source; an approved source and an unapproved source.
• Step 2a: There are two possible methods of inspection and documentation for an unapproved source.  These are approving of a specific lot quantity from which the supplier can distribute to several sites or a specific quantity which is project specific.

When a contractor has need for preapproved material from a producer or manufacturer the DOH will contact the source listed on the contractor’s notice and arrange for source approval or for the testing of a specific lot of material.

The variability of the material to be supplied is the determining factor for source approval. Such approvals may already exist or may be established as a result of the contractor’s notice, These approvals generally are for a specific time period. Of course the lot approval is for a specific lot, said lot generally being defined by a quantity.  If the material being inspected is a standard construction material the quantity approved may be more that the individual project requires.  The laboratory number representing this material is called a Master Laboratory Number.  Several projects may obtain shipments from this lot of material.

If the material is unique to a specific project, or no other project is known to be using this material, or the source has not developed a satisfactory record of compliance with the Department the laboratory number will represent the quantity approved for that shipment only to that specific project.  The laboratory number representing that material is issued on Direct Report to the specific project.

Sampling of a specific lot is arranged and, in most instances, these samples are submitted to the DOH laboratories for tests and approval. A sampling report is submitted with each sample. This report is essential because it is used to enter into the automatic data processing system the information necessary to begin the record needed eventually to provide project level documentation and to support the final letter of materials certification when the project or item is completed.

Source approval works similar to this except that the data used for approval will most times include manufacturer quality control data and site inspections by our technical people. A report of this analysis will be initiated much the same as the sample report is issued for the sampling of a specific lot. These reports, whether representing the initiation of a lot approval or source approval, begin the needed record.
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Laboratory Testing
Once a sample, either for lot approval or for source evaluation, is received by the laboratory for testing it is assigned a laboratory number for tracking purposes. Basic information from the sample report is entered into the on-line system. This information includes source identification, material identification and, if applicable, project identification. The material is routed through our laboratories to have the required tests conducted. As each laboratory finishes tests the data developed are entered directly into the on-line system.

The subsystem used for recording central laboratory test results is also used by all District laboratories to record test data from tests conducted in these laboratories. These systems also are used to record field tests on all cement concrete, aggregates, and asphalt concrete.

The data accumulated in this data base would include, for example, portland cement data on the cement used in concrete for a specific item of construction, aggregate test data on the aggregates used in concrete for this same item, data on the admixtures and water used in this same item, and data on the tests conducted on the concrete produced from these ingredients.

Information from all of these subsystems is cross-referenced in more detail for tracking purposes and use in other subsystems. This allows for the tracking of a sample from the time it was received in the laboratory (any laboratory) until the time of the need for the final material certification for the project.

With this on-line system any report can be accessed by using certain key identifiers. An on-line review of any report can be undertaken with a minimum of effort.

As an example: if a contractor, producer, manufacturer or DOH employee wants to know the status of tests on a particular sampling, our people can access the system at their desk while on the phone and provide an update on status.

Prior to going on-line the reporting of laboratory results required that laboratory work sheets be forwarded to the laboratory coordinator. This coordinator submitted these sheets to the computer section for entry and hard copy or sent them to the QUALITY ASSURANCE SECTION if the data required some analysis and manipulation prior to submitting to the computer section for entry and hard copy. Any review required after completion of testing and reporting required retrieving the reports from the main file and was, as you can imagine, labor intensive and time consuming.
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Materials Approval and Shipment
When laboratory tests are completed they are evaluated in accordance with current specifications. If a lot of material is approved, the manufacturer or producer is notified.

Several procedures are written which govern shipping documentation requirements, however they all require that the manufacturer or producer be responsible for providing documentation of the shipment of material from either an approved lot or from an approved source.  In all cases the shipping document shall reference the laboratory number representing the material.

When a shipment is made the source must provide a copy of a shipping document to accompany the shipment. When the shipment is from a lot represented by a Master Laboratory Number a copy must also be provided to the Contract Administration Division.

When the shipping notice is received at the finalization group of Contract Administration Division certain identifying information is entered into the system. This information includes identification of the source, identification of the destination of the material, material type, specific lot identification (the number assigned to the lot at the time of approval) and the quantity of material shipped.

This process allows for a materials accounting process which could show each shipment and the accounting of the balance of a specific quantity in a tested lot at any time. This electronic audit is available at the terminal for review as a verification process.
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Project Level Materials Documentation
Project level record keeping practices require that a record be kept of the quantities of material used and that a record be kept of the acceptability of these materials. When the project receives material from a manufacturer or producer they must verify the acceptability of the material received. As discussed earlier, the shipping document provided with the material shipment contains certain information. This information is entered into the on-line system and the project requests verification of acceptability and documentation of same. This request is assigned a number for tracking purposes. The information input is electronically compared against the identifiers assigned to the approved lot the material was supposedly shipped from and is compared against the shipment identifying information provided to Contract Administration Division by the manufacture/producer. This verification process cross checks the lot identification, date shipped, project identification and quantity. All of the information input by the project must match information input by the Contract Administration Division. If the computer verifies that the information matches, and the material is from a tested lot represented by a Master Laboratory Number, then a document is initiated that provides the project with test documentation for the quantity of material shipped to them from the approved lot. This document is instantaneously available to the field office and can be maintained electronically or a hard copy can be generated for conventional files.

With the initiation of this document, the value representing the quantity of material shipped is adjusted and a record is available for audit. This information becomes a part of the materials tracking system.

When the material shipped to the project is from an approved source or material inspected specifically for an individual project (Direct Report) all records are compared as described above but the laboratory number on the shipping document constitutes coverage.  All of this audit, this shipment verification, was handled by materials auditors and was extremely time consuming. The shipping, receiving and test documentation was not available to other subsystems.
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Project Level Materials Record
The project materials records summary, our On-line form number E 440, is used to record, by pay item number, the receipt of materials on a project site. This record shows date of use, quantity and laboratory identification numbers representing test results from samples obtained from these materials.

For example, the record would show 125 tons of Type II base course aggregate were received and used on June 12, the material source is identified, the placement location is identified and the record shows the source approval number and that a sample was taken for design verification of the materials delivered. The laboratory number assigned to the design verification test is listed on the record.  The project obtains the test information from the delivery tickets accompanying each load of material.

This summary is updated daily or when work is accomplished on this item. At the completion of an item all of this information is entered into the on-line system.  This is accomplished by the project entering all inspection and testing information on the Inspector Daily Report which is entered into the Project Record System.  This system upload to the Mainframe Materials File System where are records are cross checked with the material files.

The subsystem used for the analysis of the project materials record compares the data from this summary with data extracted from the on-line data files of the Materials Management System. The files that are used in the analysis of the summary data contain the basic information represented by laboratory testing. Further, if a special analysis of the material was required at the time it was tested, this analysis would have been added to this file to address specification compliance. Evaluation of this summary verifies that the laboratory numbers referenced are on file, that the quantities used have been tested, and that specification compliance has been documented.

If the system notes any deviation from the acceptance procedure such deviations are displayed on the terminal. This provides field personnel with an overview of the compliance of the documents with certification requirements at the time of data entry.

If there are deviations from the acceptance criteria at the time of entry to the on-line system, resolution of these problems is required prior to final review of the audit by central Contract Administration personnel.

If there are no deviations from the acceptance criteria, the system notes completion and acceptance of the item.

Prior to implementation of this system a hands on physical audit and review of all documents required to support compliance was required. In the case of a major structure the number of test documents for concrete used in substructure units could number in the hundreds.
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Project/Item Certification
The subsystem of the Materials Management System that all of this work is geared toward is the project or item certification of all materials incorporated into our projects. This subsystem makes use of both the project materials record and the report on materials tested.  Each District Material Section is responsible for the in progress Certification of Items.  They must maintain all records current and correct within two week of any data being uploaded from the projects to the Mainframe Material File System.  To assist the District in this task the mainframe computer printout on screen as well as hard copies of all errors in uploaded data.  This finds most mistakes except for missing laboratory numbers.  The missing laboratory numbers and other mistakes are shown on the E440 screen when the Districts Material Systems starts reviewing the information.  All major projects and resurfacing section have viewing access to the E440's and the status of all test reports.

Information is extracted from the Materials Management System to be used in the final analysis for the certification of the project or item. The system checks each entry from these records to verify that a sample was taken, that tests were conducted, that results were within specifications, that shipments documented are properly traceable back to the source and that all source approvals are properly documented. If there were problems to be resolved, the existence of proper documentation is verified. This on-line certification process provides the final electronic audit in real time and the results are returned to the terminal display for a final personnel review. The system reduces the process down to a yes/no or pass/fail decision that is displayed on each materials test entry in the project summary. This makes the certification process extremely fast and a very easy process. When our staff completes the review the report is assigned a date and initialed by our reviewer. The system at this point is protected to prevent modification of the records by anyone other that the central review staff.

This Materials Management System , as it has been dubbed, has reduced the paper flow that supported the certification system by approximately 95% and review time and effort has been correspondingly reduced.

The physical handling, review and analysis has been reduced from a labor-intensive process to a highly automated process.
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Report on Materials Tested

At the completion of work on a project initiates a report on all materials.  This report  on materials is a summary report of all items of work and includes the final quantities of materials used.  This data is compared at the District's materials section to those records in the on-line E440 to verify if quantities tested and approved are correct.  This is the signal for the system to determine final status of materials acceptability for the project.  When this process and the Project/Item Certification process is completed an electronics MC-8 (Summary Quantity of all Materials Used and Tested by Bid Item) is generated and submitted to the Finalization Section of Contract Administration Division.  This file is updated from the project materials record file and displays an overview of the status of the project records item by item.

Before the on-line system was instituted a hands on review of all of the items and correlation of them with the project materials report was required before the processing of the documentation could begin.

Final Comments

This system is only successful because of the interlinking of several Divisions' computer systems.  No data is entered twice; one entry in one system move the information to other systems that need information.

In addition data entered at projects, at various District Materials Sections, Materials Control, Soil, and Testing Division, and Contract Administration Division are all moved to the Materials File Management System.  This information is used to determine if the materials used were in conformance with approved plans and specifications.  Also it can be determined if construction operations controlled by sampling and testing likewise conforms to plans and specifications. 

Only by the cooperation of Computer Services Division, Materials Control, Soil and Testing Division, and Contract Administration Division (formerly Construction Division) have we been able to achieve the integration of systems that currently exist.  That integration is continuing with the advent of new Project Records System which will upload all necessary records electronically to the Material Management Systems as needed and the Districts' connection to the new Project Records System Master System in Contract Administration Division.  These new file systems will allow better real time review and error corrections by the responsible parties. 

Our employees and management realize that today's organizations are information driven and we have to be collaborative in sharing data to be most effective.  Sharing information is the prerequisite for collegial organizations and only they are adapted to solving the complex problems we face today.  We have shed the management of imperialism where managers felt they could gain strength by personally controlling the access and flow of information and came to realized that being a provider of useful information is what makes one a valuable manager and a more valuable organization.  Of course we do limit the authority to make changes in files to the required few personnel and have systems that record whom added, corrected, or changed any file.