Early-stage procurement means purchasing critical construction materials near the start of a project instead of waiting to buy each package immediately before its installation phase. The contractor then has to finance, receive, protect, store, track and move those materials until they are needed. Jason Earnhardt, supply-chain manager at Austin Commercial, described this approach in a June 20, 2022 Building Design + Construction article and called early-stage procurement “the biggest weapon in our arsenal at the moment.” His article presents a practitioner’s response to disruption, not a measured industry study, so the method is best treated as a risk-and-cash-flow decision rather than a guaranteed schedule fix.
The practical objective is to reduce exposure to uncertain availability and pricing for materials that could stop work, while giving the project team more control over logistics. That control comes with earlier funding, additional storage and security, handling equipment, insurance and tracking responsibilities. Owners, developers and contractors should adopt it selectively, with contract terms and logistics plans agreed before any large purchase is released. Read Earnhardt’s source article for the original account.
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What early-stage procurement means in construction
In Earnhardt’s definition, the construction supply chain is the system that identifies a need, acquires what is needed and delivers it, with material tracked from “cradle to grave.” Early-stage procurement changes the timing of that system. Instead of ordering a material only when a superintendent is ready to install it, the team buys selected materials at the beginning of the project, arranges a place to hold them, protects them from damage or theft and records every movement until installation.
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How it differs from just-in-time purchasing
Just-in-time (JIT) construction purchasing aims to deliver material to the site as it is needed. That can limit the amount of money tied up before installation and reduce the need for storage and security. Its weakness is that a delay at any point in a tightly sequenced chain can interrupt following activities. Early-stage procurement accepts more cost and work at the front of the project in exchange for holding material under the contractor’s control.
| Decision axis | JIT pattern | Early-stage pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase timing | Order by phase or near the installation date. | Order selected project materials near project start, before their phase is ready. |
| Cash timing | Lower upfront cash requirement, because purchases are delayed. | More funding is committed earlier, sometimes months before use. |
| Storage and security | Less planned storage when deliveries flow directly to work areas. | Dedicated, protected storage and a plan for handling, inspection and security. |
| Disruption exposure | A late shipment, restriction or shortage can stop a dependent activity. | Some supply and price exposure is addressed by owning or reserving material earlier, but storage and handling become new risks. |
| Control | Reliant on suppliers and transport arriving at the planned window. | More direct control of inventory and movement, subject to the quality of the logistics system. |
The comparison describes the trade-offs in Earnhardt’s 2022 account; it is not a quantified head-to-head performance study. No savings percentage, schedule improvement or failure-rate comparison is published.
Why disruption exposed weaknesses in JIT planning
Earnhardt argues that construction JIT plans often did not model combinations of employment shocks, local restrictions on movement and workforce, delay costs, material shortages and commodity-price swings. Each event can be difficult; several occurring together can break assumptions about labor availability, transportation windows and supplier capacity. A project may have a complete design and a willing subcontractor yet still lose time because a component cannot be obtained or moved when the sequence requires it.
His diagnosis is that fragility was already present in a system with many moving parts and risks, and that disruption made it visible. He recommends treating procurement as part of a broader system that combines logistics, risk mitigation, procurement and analytics. That is his professional recommendation, not an independently tested finding or a current market measurement. Conditions after June 2022 may differ by region, material and contract.
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How the early-stage model operates
A workable program must answer who buys, where the material goes, how its condition is verified and who pays while it waits. The following sequence translates the approach described in the article into project controls without assuming a particular software platform or supplier.
- Map schedule-critical materials. Use the current design, procurement schedule and installation sequence to identify items whose absence would stop a path of work or whose price and availability are unusually volatile. Record the decision basis for each item rather than declaring that every package should be bought early.
- Confirm the specification and quantity. Early purchase reduces flexibility if the design changes. Obtain the required approvals, dimensions, finishes, code requirements and release conditions before placing a non-cancellable order. Separate approved quantities from allowances or options.
- Model the cash requirement. Include deposits, progress payments, freight, taxes, insurance, storage rent, security, inspection, handling equipment, labor and potential re-handling. Show the month in which each payment occurs and identify the party providing the working capital.
- Secure a storage and protection plan. Select a warehouse, yard, off-site facility or controlled area that can hold the material for the expected duration. Define weather protection, access control, fire protection, lifting limits, stacking rules and responsibility for loss or damage.
- Plan transportation and receiving. Establish delivery appointments, unloading equipment, traffic routes and a contingency for a missed appointment. Receiving staff should inspect packaging and material condition, count units, record serial or heat numbers where relevant and document exceptions with photographs.
- Track every custody change. The inventory record should show purchase order, approved submittal, quantity, location, condition, owner of risk, date received, date moved and date issued to installation. Reconcile the record with physical counts on a defined cadence.
- Link inventory to the live schedule. A material that is safe in storage is not useful if the team cannot find it or if the workface is not ready. Tie release and movement requests to the look-ahead schedule, site access and installation readiness.
- Review exposure throughout the job. Recheck quantities, design changes, storage duration, market conditions and remaining cash commitments at each major design or schedule update. Cancel, defer or redirect purchases when the original risk no longer exists, subject to contract terms.
The microport example
For one of Austin Commercial’s largest projects, Earnhardt says the company created what it called a “microport”: a detailed, trackable logistics operation for receiving, storing and moving materials. The account does not identify the project, provide throughput figures or publish a cost comparison. Its significance is organizational: the storage and movement function was treated as a managed supply-chain node rather than an informal pile of deliveries at the jobsite.
Equipment and labor are part of the purchase decision
Earnhardt says Austin Commercial procured additional material-storage equipment, including forklifts and box trailers, and added resources to move material into place. Those categories illustrate a cost that a purchase order alone will not capture. A team must verify capacity, operator qualifications, maintenance, fuel or charging, inspection, site access and insurance. The article names no equipment model, vendor or universal specification, so a project should select equipment from its own load, reach, terrain and safety requirements.
Cash flow, contracts and risk allocation
Why cash flow is the central constraint
Early procurement shifts expenditure forward. Earnhardt calls cash flow the most fundamental challenge and says the method costs money in exchange for on-time project delivery. A contractor may have to pay a deposit or the full material value while the owner’s payment schedule is based on later installation. Storage, security, handling and inspection continue during that gap. The financial model should therefore show both the peak cash balance required and the time that money remains committed.
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There is no cost model or payback threshold in the article. A project team should not claim that early buying will save money unless it can compare the cost of financing, storage, protection and possible obsolescence with the specific exposure it is trying to avoid. Price protection is a potential benefit identified by Earnhardt, not a guaranteed saving.
Who pays when the contract was not written for early buying?
Some pre-pandemic contracts did not account for the additional costs of early procurement. Earnhardt describes general contractors issuing change orders on private work and COVID-specific funds appearing in municipal contracts. Those examples belong to the article’s 2022 context and are not a standard entitlement today. Current projects need explicit language covering deposits, stored-material payment, title, insurance, inspection rights, financing cost, escalation, cancellation, design changes, delay and responsibility for loss.
Owners should require evidence that purchased material exists, conforms to the approved submittal and is adequately insured before paying for stored goods. Contractors should clarify whether title transfers on payment or delivery, who bears risk during off-site storage and how a change in design will be priced. Subcontractors and suppliers need aligned release dates so an early purchase does not create an unplanned cancellation or restocking liability.
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Which materials justify buying early?
The source offers no universal selection rule. Use a documented decision for each candidate item. Questions that expose the real trade-off include:
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- Would the project lose a critical work sequence if this item arrived late?
- Is the item exposed to known availability, transportation or commodity-price volatility?
- Is the design sufficiently mature to avoid expensive rework or obsolescence?
- Can the item be stored in a secure, dry and accessible location for the required period?
- Can its identity, quantity and condition be verified while it is off the workface?
- Who supplies the earlier capital, and how will payment and title be documented?
- What happens if the owner changes the design, the schedule slips or the item is no longer needed?
- Does the avoided disruption justify financing, storage, handling, insurance and additional management?
An item that is cheap to replace, easy to source and sensitive to design changes may remain a poor early-buy candidate. A difficult-to-replace item with a stable approved specification and a secure storage route may warrant earlier release. The decision is project-specific; neither the article nor the available evidence supports a blanket percentage of the bill of materials.
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Receiving and condition control
Receiving is the first point at which the project can prove what it owns. Match the shipment to the purchase order and approved submittal, count units, inspect packaging, note visible damage and quarantine exceptions. For components with batch, heat, serial or expiration information, capture that identifier in the inventory record. Require a documented disposition before damaged or questionable material is released to installation.
Location and movement control
Assign a physical location that a different crew can find without relying on personal knowledge. Label racks, trailers, containers or zones; record each move; and prohibit unlogged transfers. A weekly or otherwise risk-based cycle count can reveal shrinkage, duplicate orders and material that has become inaccessible. The right frequency depends on value, theft exposure, movement and storage duration.
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Analytics and exception management
Earnhardt’s holistic approach connects procurement, logistics, risk mitigation and analytics. In practice, dashboards or disciplined spreadsheets should flag late confirmations, unreceived quantities, damaged units, storage capacity, expiring warranties, uncommitted design changes and inventory that is not linked to an upcoming installation need. Analytics does not remove risk; it makes an exception visible early enough for the team to act.
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Common failure modes and practical responses
- Buying before the design is stable: require approval gates and identify which changes trigger a hold, substitution or owner decision.
- Underfunding the holding period: budget storage, security, insurance, equipment, labor and financing rather than pricing only the material.
- Storage that causes damage or loss: set environmental, stacking and access rules, inspect routinely and assign a named custodian.
- Inventory that cannot be found: use location codes, movement records and scheduled physical reconciliation tied to the schedule.
- Unclear title or risk: write payment, ownership, insurance and loss provisions into the prime and trade contracts.
- Early delivery without an installation plan: coordinate release with site access, lifting plans, workface readiness and the look-ahead schedule.
- Assuming price protection is automatic: compare the supplier’s commercial terms with financing and storage costs, and document the avoided exposure.
A controlled way to introduce the method
Teams that have used only phase-by-phase purchasing can reduce uncertainty by piloting the process on a small, high-consequence group of materials:
- Have the owner, contractor, design team and key trades agree on the risk the pilot is intended to address.
- Choose items with approved requirements, identifiable quantities and a realistic storage route.
- Obtain written commercial terms for price, validity, deposits, cancellation, substitutions, delivery and stored-material payment.
- Approve a cash-flow forecast and assign the funding source and payment evidence.
- Set up the storage area, security, equipment, receiving inspection and inventory fields before the first shipment.
- Run a receiving-and-movement drill so the site team can locate and issue a unit without bypassing the record.
- Review actual storage duration, handling events, damage, schedule effects and remaining exposure at each project-control meeting.
- Expand the scope only when the controls work and the added cost is transparent to the contracting parties.
What the 2022 source does—and does not—prove
Earnhardt’s article is valuable as a practitioner account of how one major contractor responded to disruption. It establishes the meaning of early-stage procurement in that example, describes the microport concept and identifies forklifts, box trailers and added movement resources as part of the operation. It also clearly names earlier funding, storage and protection as trade-offs.
It does not provide a controlled comparison with JIT, a quantified reduction in delays, a percentage price saving, a universal cost model or results that can be generalized to every region or project type. Statements about the current state or future of construction supply chains require newer, project-specific evidence. Use the method as a structured decision about exposure and control, not as a promise that every early purchase will improve the outcome.
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Early-stage procurement can make a construction supply chain less dependent on a perfect, last-minute delivery sequence by moving selected purchases forward and managing them as inventory. The trade is deliberate: earlier cash commitments and more logistics work for the possibility of better availability, price certainty and contractor control. It succeeds only when design approvals, storage, protection, tracking, financing and contract risk allocation are planned together.
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