Construction Supply Chain Management Research Articles

Construction supply chain management: a scoping review

Abstract Studies related to construction supply chain management (CSCM) emerged in the mid-1990s to address the structural, economic and organizational nature typical of the construction industry. Previous researches sought to review the literature on CSCM, however, they usually focused on specific and well-defined issues. This article aimed to map the current areas and subareas of the CSCM. Adopting a bibliometric approach and following the PRISMA-ScR recommendations, a scoping review was carried out. With the help of the CiteSpace© tool, the information was viewed as a co-citation network, providing a panoramic view of how the main publications are distributed and networked, forming research areas and subareas. The key documents and the main authors were identified; the current situation and the emerging points of interest in the CSCM field were also revealed. This article establishes a knowledge base for future research, which can help scholars and managers to identify authors, documents and journals to be considered when dealing with certain topics of the CSCM.

A cost evaluation model for IoT-enabled prefabricated construction supply chain management

PurposeThis paper proposes an evaluation model for prefabricated construction to guide a supply chain with controllable costs. Prefabricated construction is prevalent due to area limitations. Nevertheless, the development is limited by budget control and identifying the factors affecting cost. The degree of close collaboration in the supply chain is closely interconnected with cost performance that includes direct and indirect factors. This paper not only quantizes these factors but also distinguishes the degree of influence of various factors.Design/methodology/approachSystem dynamics is applied to simulate and analyze the construction cost factors through Vensim software. It can also clarify the relationship between cost and other influencing factors. The input data are collected from an Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled system under a Building Information Modeling (BIM) system and Hong Kong government reports.FindingsSimulation results indicate that prefabricated construction cost is mainly influenced by government promotion degree (GPD), working pressure from on-site construction (WPOSC), prefab quality (PQ), load-bearing capacity per vehicle (LBPV) and mold quality (MQ). However, it is more sensitive toward GPD, which indicates that the government should take measures to promote this construction technology. On-site worker management is also essential for the assembly process and indirectly influences the construction cost.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper quantifies indirect influential factors to clarify the specific features for prefabricated construction. The investigated factors are limited.Practical implicationsThe contractor can identify all factors and classify the levels of influence to make decisions under the supply chain system boundary.Social implicationsThe input data are collected from an IoT-enabled system under a BIM system and Hong Kong government reports. Thus, the relationship between construction cost influential factors can be investigated.Originality/valueThis paper quantifies indirect influencing factors and clarifies the specific features in prefabricated construction. The contractor could identify these factors to make decisions and classify the levels of influence under the supply chain system boundary.

Prospect of lean practices towards construction supply chain management trends

PurposeTo deal with the present situation and recover after the COVID-19 pandemic, construction firms are required to recognise the trends in construction supply chain management (CSCM) for the upcoming years and determine the appropriate practices towards the trends for the improvement of construction activities in terms of strategy, tactic and operations. This paper aims to recognise key trends in CSCM and uses these trends as strategic criteria for the evaluation and prioritisation of lean construction (LC) tools at different project phases including design and architectural engineering, planning and control, on-site construction and safety management.Design/methodology/approachThe integrated analytic hierarchy process–Delphi method is used to collect and analyse the data from construction experts to evaluate the importance levels of the CSCM trends and recommend the appropriate tools for LC practices to improve project performances.FindingsSeven key CSCM trends are identified: lean supply chain management (SCM), supply chain (SC) integration, SC standardisation, SC problem-solving, SC information-sharing, SC flexibility and SC sustainability. Based on these trends, a set of prioritised lean tools are suggested for LC practices, in which “virtual design construction” (VDC) and “last planner system” are considered as the central tools. These two LC practices can be integrated with other effective tools to support the strategic, tactical and operational targets in construction supply chain (CSC) projects.Research limitations/implicationsThis study gives the managerial implications by developing an application framework of LC practices for CSC projects. The framework promotes “VDC” as a strategic tool for the phase of design and architectural engineering and considers “last planner system” as the central LC practice for the phase of project planning and control. The framework also focuses on the improvement of efficiency in construction operations by taking into account the aspects of on-site collaboration, problem-solving, improvement and safety.Originality/valueUp to date, there is still a lack of researches in classifying and prioritising the significant LC tools for each project phase to deal with CSC issues in both breadth and depth. Thus, this study is performed to provide construction managers with the awareness of CSCM trends on which they can focus to have strategic criteria for selecting LC practices to improve CSC performances.

Exploring smart construction objects as blockchain oracles in construction supply chain management

Blockchain technology has attracted the interest of the global construction industry for its potential to enhance the transparency, traceability, and immutability of construction data and enables collaboration and trust throughout the supply chain. However, such potential cannot be achieved without blockchain “oracles” needed to bridge the on-chain (i.e., blockchain system) and off-chain (i.e., real-life physical project) worlds. This study presents an innovative solution that exploits smart construction objects (SCOs). It develops a SCOs-enabled blockchain oracles (SCOs-BOs) framework. To instantiate this framework, the system architecture of a blockchain-enabled construction supply chain management (BCSCM) system is developed and validated using a case study, whereby four primary smart contracts are examined in the context of off-site logistics and on-site assembly services. The validation results show that accurate data is retrieved against malicious data in each request, and the corresponding reputation scores are successfully recorded. The innovativeness of the research lies in two aspects. In addition to mobilizing SCOs as blockchain oracles to bridge the on-chain and off-chain worlds, it develops a decentralized SCO network to avoid the single point of failure (SPoF) problem widely existing in blockchain systems. This study contributes to existing research and practice to harness the power of blockchain in construction.

Gestión de la cadena de suministro verde en el sector de construcción: una revisión sistemática desde una perspectiva longitudinal

The construction industry is responsible for a significant environmental impact. Growing ecological and social concerns are driving construction to go green. Green supply chain management offers the potential for a systems approach to facilitate industry transformation. Research on green supply chain management in construction has increased in recent times, but to date it has not been collected systematically. A systematic review of the literature (SLR) is presented, applying the high standards of rigor and transparency required by the methodology. From an initial search result of 207 articles, 44 were included in the detailed analysis. Articles are described in terms of publication medium, publication date, geographic setting, methods used, tools and techniques, conceptual definition, the role of stakeholders, and practical implications. The findings are synthesized to propose a categorization of focus and a comprehensive definition of green supply chain management in construction. An agenda for future research is outlined that emphasizes the need for an end-to-end perspective, commitment to the unique characteristics of the industry, a focus on ultimate environmental sustainability goals, and gaps in practical guidance, the use of knowledge of relevant theoretical perspectives and expansion to include critical positions.

Studi pendahuluan pada standar kemampuan tenaga kerja rantai pasok konstruksi

The ability of workers in construction supply chain section has not been strongly standardized as to their role and performance, especially in Indonesian project. The purpose of the research is to conduct a preliminary study of workforce capability standards in construction supply chain management. The initial standard was adopted from Supply Chain Operations References (SCOR) 12.0. The results showed that the ability element was the highest priority with 50%. Whereas the most standard worker needs to be mastered is to schedule product shipments with 18% and the lowest value is to do exception management in construction with 1%. Research recommendations are that workers need to attend every training on construction supply chain workers' standards in order to have complete capabilities.

A conceptual framework for effective contracting in construction supply chains

Construction supply chains are characterised by lack of trust and poor collaboration due to the short-term, project-based organisational structure of the construction industry. The lack of collaboration and trust among construction supply chain stakeholders affects the transparency and exchange of information, as well as the efficiency of the supply chain. Existing literature has shown that collaboration problems can be overcome through better integration, partnering and contractual governance. The latter requires some form of compatibility analysis and matching between the stakeholder profile and the appropriate contract type. This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework that will assist General Contractors in dealing with the complicated relationships and risks in construction supply chains through effective contracting. The methodology employed for the purposes of our analysis is based on constructive literature review, qualitative correlation of existing research and combination of concepts drawn from the fields of construction supply chain management and stakeholder analysis. The construction supply chain is viewed as a network of stakeholders organised around a General Contractor. Borrowing principles and tools from Stakeholder Analysis, a matching mechanism is developed with the aim to facilitate General Contractors in determining the suitable contract type for different profiles of construction supply chain stakeholders. The main conclusion of this paper is that stakeholder theory and contractual management can be effectively used to tackle opportunism and its negative impacts on construction supply chains.

Pengukuran Kinerja Rantai Pasok Konstruksi Berkelanjutan dengan Pendekatan Model Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) 12.0

The challenge of construction supply chain management is to maintain supply and demand in the supply chain flow and ensure a sustainable supply chain in the framework of lean construction. This challenge must be captured as part of the solution of the development of the rapidly growing construction industry. At present a sustainableSCOR on the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) version 12.0 has been developed. SustainableSCOR is a concept of a sustainable supply chain performance measurement approach by considering environmental aspects. The aim of this study is to adopt a supply chain performance measurement model in the sustainable construction of SCOR 12.0. The research method adopts standards, categories, and matrices in sustainableSCOR to a constructionally validated definition to academics and practitioners. The discussion of the supply chain continues with the calculation of each matrix. The results showed that all sustainableSCOR categories, namely materials, recycled inputs, recovered inputs, energy, water, emissions, and waste can be adopted to measure sustainable supply chain performance in construction. The adoption of this performance measurement needs to be detailed into one of the construction materials, in this study is steel material.

EXPLORING FACTORS AFFECTING SUPPLY CHAIN RELATIONSHIPS CONSTRUCTION

Managing business relationships between the parties in construction supply chains (CSCs) is the essential element of construction supply chain management (CSCM). Therefore, in order to have success in the CSCM, the relationships between the parties should be noticed. This study aims to identify and discover important factors affecting supply chain relationships in construction. The study identified 12 key factors affecting the supply chain relationships in construction and ranked them according to their degrees of impact. The findings showed that “working relationship”, “top management support”, “trust”, “business attitude”, and “communication” are the five most influential factors. The study can be considered as valuable additional contribution to the body of knowledge relating to the CSCM. The findings could help practitioners to have an insight into the CSCM and obtain success in managing the CSCs.

Sustainable construction supply chain management with the spotlight of inventory optimization under uncertainty

In this research, a supply chain network has been designed for inventory management using not only the project site storage facility but also an ancillary warehouse to keep materials. In order to make decision about the appropriate place for building the warehouse, multi-criteria decision-making techniques have been applied. Since the transportation sector, as the most important energy-consuming part, plays a significant role in global warming after power stations and the delivery of materials will have environmental impacts, this research tried to minimize the external cost of global warming caused by transportation. In this study, a mathematical formulation is presented to solve the problem of ordering the required amount to project site, while taking into account an ancillary warehouse. To quell the discussion, a numerical example has been demonstrated. The findings show that uncertainty considerations fortify the strict decision making and can increase the confidence level.

Supply chain management in construction: critical study of barriers to implementation

Supply chain management (SCM) is considered to be the future of the construction industry. However, it is applied slowly because of barriers against its implementation. In addition, the potential benefits brought from construction supply chain management (CSCM) may not be achieved as expected if the barriers are not identified and removed. The barriers to the CSCM implementation seem to have not been thoroughly explored and analyzed by previous studies. This study identifies the barriers and discovers the underlying relationships among them. The results of the study showed that lack of effective leadership, lack of competence of parties in SCM, lack of understanding the supply chain concept, passive sub-contractors and suppliers, and organizational resistance to SCM were the five most significant barriers. The underlying relationships among the barriers were discovered under five factors, namely lack of knowledge and competence, lack of support and active participation from parties, confronting culture and adversarial behaviour, deficiencies in the contract system, and inherent difficulties in SCM. The findings could help practitioners to fully understand the barriers and to come up with appropriate strategies for promoting the development of the CSCM. The study contributes to the field of knowledge related to the CSCM.

Integrated construction supply chain: an optimal decision-making model with third-party logistics partnership

Studies have confirmed the benefits of using Third-party logistics (TPL) for efficient construction management, especially in large projects. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of decision-making models evaluating the exact role of TPL providers as drivers for supply chain (SC) integration and optimisation. This study aims to develop a decision-making model for construction supply chain (CSC) optimisation, with possible TPL integration. The proposed model considers two types of purchased materials (type-1 and type-2) and assists the main contractor in determining construction supply chain management (CSCM) strategies, including supplier selection, order quantity determination, and TPL use evaluation. Using the model, the main contractor can take advantage of the TPL provider’s warehouse and order larger quantities, if necessary, to obtain lower prices offered by suppliers. Through case examples in Canada, we find that the proposed model performs better in optimising total SC cost, as compared to the model without TPL. Model validations also show that TPL can be conditionally used to improve construction logistics performance and to meet practical requirements targeting issues in the construction industry.

Hybrid intelligent vehicle system for managing construction supply chain in precast concrete building construction projects

PurposeWhile the adversarial nature of precast concrete (PC) building construction is frequently cited in the PC building construction press, only a few researchers have investigated construction supply chain management within the construction industry. Due to the interdisciplinary transportation environment, which inevitably results in disruption, the uses of construction supply chain and recovery from construction supply chain risk must be a subject of real interest, yet transportation management research in this area is scarce.Design/methodology/approachThe purpose of this study is to discuss the weakness in system approaches and their application for managing precast concrete building in the context of construction supply chain practice and how to overcome it. As a precursor to this paper, the paper reviews current construction supply chain management occurrence on PC building construction and explores the hybrid intelligent vehicle tools and techniques currently being used on such management. This paper also presents the new hybrid intelligent vehicle-based approach to manage construction supply chain risk and reduce associated tension on PC building construction schemes.FindingsThe findings reveal the need for more sophisticated construction supply chain management solutions which accord with the needs of PC building construction schemes.Originality/valueThe paper concludes by presenting a research framework for developing such a system in the future.

A Dynamic Multi-Period, Mixed-Integer Linear Programming Model for Cost Minimization of a Three-Echelon, Multi-Site and Multi-Product Construction Supply Chain

Quantifying the benefits of construction supply chain management through prescriptive models is a challenging and fast-growing research area that still lacks standardized optimization models with full integrative potential. In response to the needs and the peculiarities of the construction industry, this paper proposes an innovative model that merges temporal and project-based supply chains into a sustainable network with repetitive flows, large scope contracts, strategic alliances and economies of scale. It is a dynamic mixed-integer linear programming model for cost minimization of a three-echelon supply chain serving multiple sites with multiple products over a time horizon. Its novelty lies in yielding optimal decisions on network design, product quantities to be purchased and transported, shipments and inventory levels in all echelons under any logistics system in a multi-period, multi-product and multi-project environment with discount schemes and strategic preferences. The model is general enough to be implemented by any general contractor acting as a system integrator but also allows customization with logical constraints. All these features constitute an innovative, versatile and flexible managerial decision making tool. Model implementation is based on a spreadsheet optimization software and is followed by post-solution analysis, sensitivity analysis and multiple parameterized optimizations.

Shifting trust in construction supply chains through blockchain technology

PurposeBlockchain technology is booming in many industries. Its application in supply chain management is also gradually increasing. Supply chain management (SCM) has long been committed to reducing costs and increasing efficiency and is trying to optimise resources and reduce the sector's fragmentation. Trust has always been an important factor in managing supply chain relationships, and it also affects the efficiency of supply chain operations. To this end, this study aims to examine how trust is affected by the introduction of blockchain technology in construction supply chain management.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on semi-structured interviews and publicly available information from experts in blockchain and construction supply chain management. Through content analysis, the data are analysed thematically to explore how various types of trust, such as system-based, cognition-based and relation-based, are affected by blockchain technology.FindingsBlockchain technology provides solutions for data tracking, contracting and transferring resources in supply chain management. These applications help enhance the various sources of trust in SCM and provide supply chain partners with protection mechanisms to avoid the risks and costs of opportunistic behaviour in collaboration, shifting trust from relational to system-based and cognition-based.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focuses only on inter-organisational rather than interpersonal trust and empirical data from experts whose knowledge and cognition could be subjective.Practical implicationsLeveraging the potential of digitalisation to manage trust requires that leaders and managers actively try to improve contractual arrangements, information sharing and being open to new innovative technologies like blockchain.Social implicationsFrom a relational view of supply chain management, the extent to which blockchain technology can develop and spread depends on the readiness of the social capital to accept decentralised governance structures.Originality/valueThis study builds upon an original data set and discusses features and applications of blockchain technology, explores the sources and dimensions of trust in supply chain management and explains the impact of blockchain technology on trust.

A Conceptual Development Framework for Prefabricated Construction Supply Chain Management: An Integrated Overview

Prefabricated construction (PC), with the characteristics of green, environmentally friendly, energy saving and high production efficiency, is attracting more and more attention from all over the world. Supply chain management is closely related to the application efficiency of PC, but only in the last three years has this interdisciplinary research received due attention. The prefabricated construction supply chain management (PCSCM) have not received enough attention. Especially recently, the related literature shows explosive growth. This paper adopted the method of systematic literature review through the tool of bibliometric statistics. And we reviewed 152 articles from 2001 to 2018, with the goal of understanding the current situation, trends, and gaps in PCSCM research, and a framework is proposed to promote its development. First, the study discussed the four themes of clustering, concentrating mainly on strategic research and project evaluation, PC supply chain process design and optimization, supply chain integration and management, and the application of advanced technology. Then, the research gaps and conceptual development framework to promote PCSCM were reported. Only through the coordinated development of technology, market circumstances, and decision-making level of participants, can the PCSC form an integrated whole, so as to optimize the efficiency and sustainability of prefabricated construction industry and improve its level.

Identification of Potential Uses of Building Information Modeling (BIM) for Construction Supply Chain Management: Preliminary Studies

The 4.0 industrial revolution in all fields encouraged the construction industry to make technological-based innovations. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is one of the tools in advancing construction technology today. On the other hand, supply chain construction continues to grow and becomes important in project management. This study aims to identify the potential use of BIM in construction supply chain management. Preliminary studies on several projects in Indonesia were carried out as identification methods. The Delphi process was used to obtain the data described in the Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat (SWOT) analysis. As a result, BIM has the potential to be applied to the construction SCM with several considerations. There are 5 trends in strength, 4 trends in weakness, 5 trends in opportunity, and 3 trends in threat. Trends in strength and opportunity are used as indicators in the analysis of impacts. BIM as advanced technology is the highest indicator and the lowest trust between stakeholders in the application of BIM in the construction supply chain. In addition, harmonization between BIM actors is needed: the Ministry of Public Works, contractors, suppliers and academics in the supply chain.

Barriers and opportunities to greening the construction supply chain management

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate critical barriers hindering the adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) and the opportunities that can be exploited with such an implementation in the construction industry of developing countries. It also devises strategies to avoid critical barriers in implementation and exploit opportunities for a better overall environmental performance of the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach This research relies upon an extensive literature review; data are collected from 163 professionals and 15 interviews of field professionals from 11 developing countries are conducted. The barriers and opportunities are synthesized through literature review and then data are collected over their significance from the construction professionals through an online survey. To highlight the interconnectedness of the critical barriers and opportunities, a causal loop framework is developed. Furthermore, expert opinion is sought to develop the strategies. Findings This research integrates information from different sources and provides a holistic view of the current situation of GSCM in developing countries. In total, 34 barriers and 23 opportunities are extracted from literature. The top 4 barriers fall under the “involvement and support” category, whereas the top four opportunities fall under the “environmental” category. Furthermore, the strategies to implement GSCM include suitable policies by top management to incorporate practices such as innovative green design, green procurement, green packaging, green distribution and even end-of-life management, which play a vital role in emission reduction. Originality/value This research is a first attempt at evaluating the barriers and opportunities facing GSCM in the construction sector of the developing countries. The findings encourage the stakeholders in adopting GSCM practices by presenting a clear picture of the potential benefits that can be exploited by implementing the proposed strategies to eliminate critical barriers in the construction industry.

The driver and barrier of implementation green supply chain management (GSCM) in construction projects

Climate change due to rising greenhouse gas emissions and resource depletion is one of the major challenges of the twenty-first century. Construction waste is not only associated with energy use and waste of materials in the construction process but also other activities that do not add value such as repair, waiting time and delays. Concepts such as waste and value are not well understood by construction personnel. They often do not realize that many activities they carry out do not add value to the work. These issues contribute to a reduction in the value of construction productivity and could reduce company performance. The aims of this GSCM study on the construction sector are to identify: (i) the drivers of stakeholders to implement green practices and (ii) the barriers faced by stakeholders in the implementation of these practices. The research methods are literature study and fields observation, where the experts were asked about their opinions related to barriers and drivers to implement the Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) in construction. The results showed that each phase of GSCM has barriers and drivers. The barriers and drivers are involved in Green Initiation, Green Design, Green Material Management, Green Construction and Green Operation and Maintenance.

Risk study on supply chain management in construction (Case study: Building projects in Indonesia)

The concept of supply chain in construction is very influential on the improvement of projects performance. In outlining the problems in the supply chain, it need to be identified the risks therein related to the smoothness of the supply chain process. Risk is an event / uncertainty condition, when it happens may lead to positive or negative impact [1]. The purpose of this study are to determine the identification of risks on supply chain in construction projects, analyze the risks, and analyze the response of risks. Primary data obtained through a questionnaire and interview methods. Data processing method that used in this research were Promethee method for risk analysis, and descriptive statistical methods at risk response. From this research, it is known that the identification of risks at supply chain in construction projects can be seen from the potential failure of achievement of Key Performance Indicators in Supply Chain Management (SCM). From risk analysis with Promethee method, it is known that the highest risk in SCM is the change of price from sub-contractors. Based on the analysis for risk response, it is known that the contractor has developed mitigation measures to risk response.