Should the Project Manager or Construction Foreman Really Be Tracking Project Materials?

By Rosita Johnson

It is common for Project Managers, Construction Foremen, Engineers, or Superintendents to track project materials when a job is moving fast and everyone is trying to keep the work on schedule. It makes sense at first. They know the project. They know what is needed. They know which items are critical. But should they really be the ones chasing purchase orders, calling vendors, checking shipment status, confirming delivery dates, and trying to find out why a material order has not shown up?

In many cases, the answer is no. Not because they are not capable. Most Project Managers and Foremen are very capable. The issue is that material tracking can quietly turn into a full-time job, especially on complex construction, maintenance, oil and gas, mining, utility, manufacturing, or government projects. When that happens, field and project leaders are pulled away from the work they are actually responsible for managing.

Material Tracking Is More Than Asking Where the Order Is

Tracking project materials sounds simple until you look at everything involved. It usually includes confirming that the vendor received the purchase order, checking whether the order is complete, verifying that the material meets specifications, monitoring fabrication or shipping status, following up on documentation, watching need dates, identifying hot orders, coordinating freight, confirming receiving, and making sure the material is staged for the right project or work package.

For construction projects, the details matter. Materials may need to match drawings, manufacturer requirements, part numbers, certifications, material test reports, or other technical documents. A shipment can arrive on time and still create a problem if it is incomplete, damaged, missing paperwork, or not staged where the crew expects to find it. This is why expediting should not be treated as an extra task that gets squeezed in when someone has time. By then, there is usually less time to fix the issue and fewer good options available.

The Problem With Making the Project Manager Do It

Project Managers already have a long list of responsibilities. They are managing schedules, budgets, client expectations, subcontractors, field issues, reporting, safety concerns, change orders, and project risk. When they also become the person tracking every material order, something else usually gets less attention.

The same is true for Construction Foremen. Their focus should be on the work happening in the field. They are coordinating crews, planning daily activities, checking safety, solving installation issues, and keeping production moving. If they are spending too much time chasing material updates, they are no longer fully focused on the job site.

That does not mean Project Managers and Foremen should be removed from material planning. They absolutely need visibility. They need to know what is ordered, what is delayed, what is hot, and what may affect the schedule. But visibility is different from ownership. There is a big difference between receiving a clear status report and having to create that status report yourself after six phone calls, three emails, and one vendor who has suddenly gone quiet.

I Have Seen This Firsthand

I was in charge of the expediting team for a large oil and gas producer, and the role did not always exist in the way it eventually did. At first, Project Managers often handled much of the follow-up themselves. They tracked orders, checked on shipments, and tried to keep an eye on whether materials would arrive in time. They could do it, but it took them away from their other responsibilities.

Some orders supported operations and maintenance, while others supported active projects. The project orders usually carried more urgency because their need dates were tied directly to project schedules. We also relied on a hot flag in our tracking system to identify the most urgent orders. I will never forget the red chili pepper that appeared next to hot orders in ASCI’s SmartTracker. It was simple, but it worked. Everyone knew those orders needed attention.

Eventually, we created a dedicated expeditor role to work with the Buyers and support the project teams. Buyers still got involved when there were vendor issues, pricing questions, purchase order changes, or commercial concerns. But Buyers were not always the best people to manage the daily shipment tracking, and Project Managers did not need another workload sitting on top of everything else.

Having a separate expeditor role made the whole process cleaner. Someone was responsible for keeping track of order status, following up consistently, updating the system, preparing reports, and raising issues before they became field problems.

Buyers Have a Role, But They Should Not Carry It Alone

Buyers are an important part of the process. They issue purchase orders, manage sourcing activity, support vendor selection, address commercial terms, and handle procurement requirements. They may also step in when an order needs to be corrected, changed, escalated, or re-sourced. However, buying and expediting are not the same thing.

Once the purchase order is issued, the work does not stop. Someone still has to track whether the vendor acknowledged the order, whether the promised date is realistic, whether fabrication is on schedule, whether the freight plan makes sense, whether documentation is complete, and whether the material has actually been received and staged.

If Buyers are expected to do all of that for every order, procurement can become reactive. If Project Managers are expected to do it, project leadership can become distracted. If Foremen are expected to do it, field execution can suffer. A separate expeditor or material coordinator helps keep the responsibility clear.

Recurring Meetings and Status Reports Matter

One of the most important parts of expediting is communication. Not casual communication, and not random updates when someone asks. A consistent process is what keeps everyone working from the same information.

Recurring meetings and clear status reports were key in the expediting work I managed. The meetings kept Buyers, Project Managers, warehouse teams, and other stakeholders aligned. The reports gave everyone the same information, including what was ordered, what was in transit, what had been received, what was delayed, what was hot, and what needed a decision.

That kind of visibility reduces confusion. It also reduces the number of one-off calls and emails asking the same question: where is my stuff? When a critical item is at risk of being late, the team can talk through options early. They may be able to resequence work, approve an alternate, find another source, change the shipping method, or update the project plan. Without that information, the team may not know there is a problem until the crew is ready to install material that is not there.

Expediting Matters Beyond Construction

Construction is one of the clearest examples of why expediting matters, but the same issue shows up in many project environments. Maintenance turnarounds, facility upgrades, oil and gas projects, mining operations, manufacturing work, utilities, government contracts, and infrastructure projects all depend on materials showing up correctly and on time.

At ASCI, expediting is also important on our GSA contract, where customers may be located in rural areas of Alaska. In those cases, late or incomplete shipments can create more than a simple inconvenience. Weather, limited transportation options, longer transit times, and remote delivery locations can make recovery much more difficult once something goes wrong.

As Steve Miller, ASCI’s Supply Chain Manager, explains, “On our GSA contract, expediting is critical because many of our customers are not located near a major distribution center. Some are in rural Alaska, where transportation options are limited and delivery windows matter. If we do not stay ahead of order status, shipping updates, and vendor communication, a small delay can turn into a much bigger issue for the customer.”

That point applies across project work too. The harder it is to move material, the more important it is to track it early and often. Expediting is not only about checking a box after the order is placed. It is about making sure someone is watching the material through the full process and communicating before a delay affects the work.

Why a Dedicated Expeditor Can Save the Project Team Time

A dedicated expeditor gives the project team one place to go for material status. Instead of every Project Manager, Foreman, Engineer, or Superintendent chasing updates on their own, the expeditor tracks the movement of materials and communicates the information back to the team.

This helps in several ways. It keeps project leaders focused on managing the work. It gives Buyers support without making them responsible for every shipment update. It improves vendor follow-up. It makes hot orders visible. It helps warehouse and staging teams prepare for incoming material. It also creates a better record of what happened if delays or discrepancies need to be reviewed later.

Expediting Supports Cost Control

Late materials are expensive. Rush freight is expensive. Rework is expensive. Idle crews are expensive. Buying duplicate material because no one can confirm where the original order is sitting is also expensive, and it happens more often than companies like to admit.

Expediting helps control those costs by giving project teams better information earlier in the process. When materials are tracked from order through delivery, companies can reduce last-minute buying, avoid unnecessary premium freight, and lower the risk of schedule delays.

There is also a financial planning benefit. Expediting reports can show what has been ordered, received, delayed, or still pending. That helps Project Managers forecast material costs and understand whether procurement activity is matching the project schedule.

Expediting and Material Staging Work Together

Expediting should connect directly to receiving and staging. Once materials are delivered, they still need to be counted, inspected, documented, and staged for the right project or work package.

For construction and other project work, staging can be a major advantage. Materials can be grouped by project, milestone, system, work order, or installation sequence. This makes it easier for crews to get what they need when they need it.

For example, if a project includes a valve installation, the valve, gaskets, stud bolts, documentation, and related materials can be kitted together before the work begins. That reduces time spent searching and lowers the chance of crews pulling material from the wrong project area.

Clean Material Data Makes Expediting Easier

Expediting is much harder when material descriptions are inconsistent, part numbers are missing, vendor information is incomplete, or purchase orders are entered manually with errors. A strong material catalog supports the expediting process by giving procurement, warehouse, and project teams consistent material information.

Accurate material descriptions, manufacturer details, part numbers, pricing history, substitution notes, and vendor data can reduce ordering mistakes and speed up vendor communication. Clean data also makes it easier to report on delays, damaged shipments, missing items, substitutions, and recurring supplier issues. Without good data, expediting turns into a lot of extra research that could have been avoided.

The Bottom Line

Project Managers and Construction Foremen need material visibility, but they should not always be the people responsible for tracking every shipment. Their time is too valuable, and their responsibilities are too important.

A dedicated expeditor or material coordinator helps keep the project moving by tracking orders, following up with vendors, communicating status, flagging urgent issues, and giving the project team the information they need to make decisions.

For construction and other project-based industries, the real question is not whether someone is tracking project materials. Someone usually is. The better question is whether the process is organized, proactive, and supported by the right tools, or whether it is being handled informally by people who already have too much on their plate.

When the field team is ready but the material is not, the whole project feels it. A good expediting process helps keep that from becoming the normal way of doing business.

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ASCI specializes in helping businesses to address supply chain management challenges. Visit our website to learn more and to arrange for a free consultation.