Field installation crews, responsible for the final step in the
materials flow process, must find resources that match among
those available to them; they must ensure that the right material
gets put in the right place. For instance, they must identify the
location where installation is to take place (e.g., area AR-123),
then find the matching material (e.g., pipe spool SP-123) and
retrieve the correct installation accessories (e.g., attachments
and supports). An integral part of their work, time and again, is
to solve the so-called "matching problem." In facilities that
comprise thousands of materials of which many are unique,
tackling the matching problem is an enormous task.
Nevertheless, those performing installation have no way around
it.