Finding lot sizes for materials used in projects

Project managers have usually given little attention to the cost reductions available through careful management of materials acquisitions. Materials lot sizes are determined for a number of projects using lot-for-lot, one-lot, Silver-Meal, Blackburn and Millin’s modified Silver-Meal, and Freeland and Colley’s incremental approach procedures. Use of lot-sizing heuristics in project environments can lead to significant savings over the lot-for-lot and on-lot approaches often used in practice.