Identifying supply chain vulnerabilities in industrialized construction: an overview

Abstract

Construction supply chains are subject to much more disruptive forces than before, and the heightened risk exposure of supply chains calls for greater resilience. Focussing on Industrialized Construction (IC), this study examines how more resilient supply chains can be better developed through a deeper understanding and clear identification of key vulnerabilities that are commonly encountered. Therefore, this study employed a systematic review of the Supply Chain Vulnerabilities (SCV) related literature and conducted a thematic analysis to categorize the variables identified. The results revealed 37 SCV in IC and mapped the trend in the research publications by the year, country, and methodological approaches adopted in previous research. This study contributes to a deep understanding of the vulnerabilities that retard the performance of supply chains through reviewing and consolidating the state -of-the-art literature on SCV in IC. The findings highlight major vulnerabilities that need to be addressed by (a) introducing appropriate capability initiatives to counter these SCV and develop value-enhanced resilient supply chains in IC and (b) developing an envisaged action framework for addressing the identified SCV in IC to provide a launchpad for further research and development.