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Skillsmaterial-tracker

material-tracker

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Updated 10-16 00:29

About this skill

Material Tracker Skill

Overview

The material-tracker skill provides full lifecycle material management for construction projects — from identifying what needs to be ordered, through PO tracking, delivery logging, spec verification, and certification tracking. It also maintains a vendor database for sourcing decisions.

Key capabilities:

  • Identify long-lead items from project schedule and specification requirements
  • Track purchase orders from creation through delivery
  • Log incoming deliveries with date, quantity, and condition data
  • Verify delivered materials against specification requirements
  • Track material certifications and test reports
  • Source vendors and suppliers for any required material
  • Alert on critical timeline risks (materials needed within 14 days but not yet ordered)
  • Cross-reference submittals for approval status before material acceptance

Five Core Actions

A) Add — Add New Procurement Item

What it does: Creates a new tracking record for a material that needs to be procured. Automatically populates details from schedule long-lead items and spec sections when matches exist.

Workflow:

  1. Trigger: User identifies a material to procure, or system detects from schedule
  2. Input required:
    • Material name/description
    • Quantity and units
    • Target delivery date (or search window)
    • Responsible party (contractor, subcontractor, owner-supplied)
  3. System auto-populates:
    • Spec section reference (from spec_sections matching material type)
    • Key material requirements (from key_materials database)
    • Expected delivery window (from schedule.long_lead_items if applicable)
    • Linked submittal (if one exists for this material)
    • Vendor suggestions (from vendor_database recent suppliers)
  4. Manual entry for:
    • Specific requirements/options
    • Budget/cost estimate
    • PO number (once issued)
  5. Saves to procurement_log with status = "identified"

Auto-population rules:

  • If material name matches key_materials entry, populate: spec requirements, expected lead time, typical vendors
  • If material is in schedule.long_lead_items, populate: scheduled delivery date, related task
  • If material has associated submittal, link submittal_log entry and show approval status
  • Cross-reference with subcontractors list to identify who furnishes each material

B) Status — Show Procurement Dashboard

What it does: Displays current status of all procurement items with filtering, color-coding, and alerts.

Workflow:

  1. Query procurement_log with current dates and statuses
  2. Display options:
    • All items — Full procurement list with columns: material, spec section, PO status, expected delivery, actual delivery, cert status
    • Long-lead filter — Only items from schedule.long_lead_items
    • Delayed items — Where actual_delivery > expected_delivery OR delivery_status still "ordered"
    • Upcoming deliveries — Items due within 14 days
    • Missing certs — Items where cert_status ≠ "verified"
  3. Color coding:
    • Green: Item ordered, on schedule, certs received
    • Yellow: Item ordered but near due date, or certs pending review
    • Red: Item not ordered but due soon, delayed delivery, missing required certs
    • Gray: Not yet ordered, future item
  4. Alert highlights:
    • Critical: Items where delivery_expected < today + 14 days AND (status = "not_ordered" OR status = "ordered")
    • Warning: Items where delivery_expected < today + 30 days AND delivery_status = "not_ordered"
    • Overdue: delivery_actual < delivery_expected
  5. Summary metrics: # ordered, # delivered, # with complete certs, # at risk

C) Delivery — Log Incoming Material Delivery

What it does: Records the arrival of materials, capturing date, quantity received, condition, and cross-checking against PO.

Workflow:

  1. Trigger: Material arrives on site
  2. Input collected:
    • Procurement item (lookup from log)
    • Actual delivery date
    • Quantity received (compare against PO qty)
    • Condition assessment: intact/undamaged, minor damage, major damage
    • Packing slip/bill of lading #
    • Receiving notes (any discrepancies)
  3. System validation:
    • Does received quantity match PO quantity?
    • Does packing slip item description match PO?
    • Is material needed for upcoming work?
  4. Cross-check against spec:
    • Confirm this material matches the spec section requirement
    • Note if product model/version differs from submittal
  5. Update procurement_log:
    • Set delivery_status = "delivered"
    • Record delivery_date, delivery_quantity, delivery_condition
    • Link to packing slip documentation
  6. Generate receiving report for daily log integration
  7. Trigger next action: Verify (if certs required and received) or hold for verification

D) Verify — Run Spec Verification on Delivered Material

What it does: Compares delivered material properties, documentation, and certifications against specification requirements. Uses submittal-intelligence compliance checking methodology.

Workflow:

  1. Trigger: Material received and ready for inspection
  2. Gather verification data:
    • Material documentation (certs, test reports, product data sheets)
    • Specification section requirements for this material type
    • Approved submittal (if exists) from submittal_log
  3. Run compliance checks (per submittal-intelligence):
    • Product model matches submittal and spec
    • Material properties meet spec minimums (strength, durability, etc.)
    • Certifications present and valid (mill certs, test reports, UL listing, etc.)
    • Installation/handling instructions reviewed
  4. Document findings:
    • Conforming: Material meets all requirements → Mark cert_status = "verified"
    • Non-conforming: Document deficiency with photo, reference spec requirement
    • Conditional approval: Material acceptable with conditions (e.g., different color lot, different option)
  5. Update procurement_log:
    • Set verification_status
    • Record verification_date and inspector
    • Attach compliance report
    • Note any exceptions or deviations
  6. Alert actions:
    • If non-conforming: Notify supplier, document decision (accept/reject/return)
    • If verified: Clear for installation/use
    • If incomplete certs: Escalate and hold material

E) Source / Find Vendor — Search for Suppliers

What it does: Identifies vendors and suppliers for materials. Checks internal vendor database first, then offers web search. Saves results for future reference.

Workflow:

  1. Trigger: User needs to source a material or establish where to buy
  2. Input: Material name/specification
  3. Search vendor_database:
    • Look up by material type
    • Show recent suppliers (with past performance notes)
    • Filter by: location, specialty, certified capability
  4. If no suitable match in database:
    • Offer structured web search suggestions
    • Typical search terms: material type + local area + supplier category
  5. Capture results:
    • Company name, contact (phone/email), location
    • Specialty/products offered
    • Lead time estimate
    • Cost range (if quoted)
    • Performance notes: reliability, quality, responsiveness
  6. Save to vendor_database:
    • Auto-tag with material type
    • Link to project if sourced for specific item
    • User can rate/comment for future projects
  7. Recommend best match based on:
    • Lead time fit with schedule
    • Availability of spec version
    • Geographic proximity (delivery cost)
    • Past performance history

Data Sources

The material-tracker skill integrates with:

  • procurement_log — Core record of all materials being tracked, with status, dates, quantities, costs
  • spec_sections — Specification requirements for each material type (cross-reference for verification)
  • key_materials — Project's critical materials list (auto-population source)
  • schedule.long_lead_items — Long-lead materials from project schedule
  • submittal_log — Submittal approval status (track approvals before material use)
  • vendor_database — Historical and recommended suppliers by material type
  • subcontractors — List of responsible parties for furnishing materials
  • daily reports — Receiving and delivery logs for integration

Auto-Population Rules

When Add action creates a new procurement item:

  1. Match to key_materials: If material name matches entry in key_materials, auto-fill:

    • Spec section reference
    • Typical lead time
    • Spec requirements summary
    • Last vendor used (from procurement_log history)

  2. Match to schedule.long_lead_items: If material is in schedule long-lead list, auto-fill:

    • Scheduled delivery date
    • Related schedule activity
    • Dependencies/critical path impact

  3. Match to submittal: If material has associated submittal in submittal_log, auto-fill:

    • Link submittal record
    • Show submittal approval status
    • Reference approved model/options

  4. Vendor assignment: Assign responsible party from subcontractors list:

    • Some items are owner-supplied
    • Some are general contractor furnished
    • Some are subcontractor furnished

Alert Rules

The system flags items for superintendent attention:

Critical (red):

  • Expected delivery date is within 14 days AND delivery_status = "not_ordered" or "ordered"
  • Delivery is overdue (delivery_actual_date > expected_delivery_date)
  • Required certification is missing and hold period expired

Warning (yellow):

  • Expected delivery within 30 days AND status = "not_ordered"
  • Certification received but not yet verified (cert_status = "requested")
  • Non-conformance pending disposition decision

Information (blue):

  • Upcoming delivery (within 60 days) to plan receiving
  • New vendor used for first time (cross-reference on performance)

Cross-References

  • project-data skill — For schedule, spec sections, project site info, subcontractor list
  • submittal-intelligence skill — For compliance checking methodology when verifying delivered materials against specs; for tracking submittal approvals that gate material use

Workflow Integration

Typical material procurement workflow:

  1. Identify (project-data) — Review schedule long-lead items and spec sections
  2. Add (this skill) — Create procurement tracking record, auto-populate from schedule/spec
  3. Source (this skill) — Find vendor, get quote, recommend supplier
  4. Order — Issue PO (external system, record PO# in material-tracker)
  5. Track (this skill) → Status — Monitor delivery timeline
  6. Receive (this skill) → Delivery — Log arrival, inspect condition
  7. Verify (this skill) → Verify — Check against spec, collect certifications
  8. Approve — Clear for use or escalate non-conformance
  9. Closeout — Verify all certs filed, update daily reports

SC/PO Log Spreadsheet Sync

Many GCs maintain an Excel-based SC/PO log for subcontract and purchase order tracking. The material-tracker can read from this spreadsheet to auto-populate procurement data.

How it works:

  1. During /set-project (Step 1C), the plugin scans folder_mapping.spreadsheets for files matching *SC*PO*Log*.xlsx or *SC-PO*.xlsx
  2. If found, the file path is stored in folder_mapping.sc_po_log
  3. When /material-tracker status is run and sc_po_log is set, the skill reads the spreadsheet to sync data

Spreadsheet reading workflow:

  1. Open the SC/PO Log spreadsheet using the xlsx skill
  2. Identify the header row and map columns to procurement_log fields:
    • Look for columns like: "SC/PO #", "Vendor/Sub", "Description", "Amount", "Status", "Delivery Date", "Notes"
    • Common column names vary — use fuzzy matching (e.g., "PO Number" = "SC/PO #", "Supplier" = "Vendor/Sub")
  3. For each row with data:
    • Check if a matching procurement_log entry already exists (match on PO number or description)
    • If new: create a PROC-XXX entry and populate from spreadsheet data
    • If existing: update delivery status, dates, and amounts if the spreadsheet has newer data
  4. After sync, present a summary: "Synced X items from SC/PO Log. Y new items added, Z items updated."
  5. Store last_sync_date in config so the user knows when data was last refreshed

Important rules:

  • The spreadsheet is the source of truth for PO numbers, contract values, and vendor assignments
  • The plugin is the source of truth for delivery verification, spec compliance, and certification tracking
  • Never write back to the spreadsheet — only read from it
  • Flag discrepancies between spreadsheet data and plugin data for the user to resolve

Daily Report Integration

Procurement data feeds into daily reports:

  • Receiving log — Materials delivered today (from Delivery logs)
  • Material status dashboard — At-risk items flagged by Status action
  • Certification tracker — Certs due/received, missing items
  • Vendor performance — On-time delivery, quality, responsiveness notes

File Structure

material-tracker/
├── SKILL.md (this file)
└── references/
    ├── delivery-verification.md
    └── cert-tracking.md