There are several supply chain-related problems facing the construction industry, such as poor construction site logistics, lack of communication and trust. These problems can jeopardize construction projects through delays and cost overruns. Supply chain planning, a part of supply chain management (SCM), can be used as a tool to deal with these problems. The purpose of this paper is to study how linkages between common supply chain-related problems in construction can be illustrated and to demonstrate how they could be resolved through supply chain planning. Firstly, we identify how the linkages between common problems can be illustrated, and secondly the role of supply chain planning in resolving these problems. A conceptual model is developed that was verified using three cases with Swedish gypsum and kitchen supply chains. The model is shown to be useful in illustrating how supply chain problems occurring at executional level on-site are related to problems originating in lack of planning at company/pre-construction level. The study thus demonstrates how supply chain planning can aid in resolving supply chain problems. The paper contributes by bringing planning back into the picture and by showing how supply chain planning can help to adopt SCM in construction.

In this paper, construction material supplier and construction site performance are assessed according to the supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model. Current applicable literature focuses mainly on assessing the main contractor’s ability to construct a building according to customer requirements, i.e. construction performance. Omitting supplier performance when evaluating construction performance reduces the ability to improve the construction supply chain, as reasons for cost and time overruns and quality deficiencies will often be overlooked. In this paper, the SCOR metrics perfect order fulfilment (POF), source cycle time (SCT) and cost to source (CS) are measured to assess construction supplier reliability and construction site responsiveness. The values for POF, SCT and CS are measured to be 38%, 134 min and EUR 249, respectively. The practical implications are summarised in five improvement suggestions concerning communication, predefined material allocation, supplier performance assessment, delivery verification and notification and use of the SCOR model.

The construction industry is one of the least digitally advanced industries. Although the industry is project-based, a project-level assessment of digitalization is lacking. The aim of this paper is to develop a digitalization index to assess the degree of digitalization of construction projects. Relying on the outcomes of a workshop with 11 participants and questionnaire responses from 113 site managers in Sweden, four activities; visualized drawings and three-dimensional (3D) models on sites; updated drawings, models, and system documents; created and updated work disposition plans; and updated time resource plans were selected, and a digitalization index enabling a simple assessment of the degree of digitalization of construction projects was constructed based on the degree of digitalization of the data management processes involved in these four activities. The approach to determine the digitalization index was demonstrated in a case study of a new construction project. For future studies, an accurate and simple assessment of the degree of digitalization of projects should increase the opportunities to study the association between the degree of digitalization and project performance. With longitudinal assessments, digitalization trends in the construction industry can be reported.

Supply chain management (SCM) has been stressed as a remedy to many of the underlying issues in the construction industry. However, the positive examples where SCM has been successfully utilised an ...

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify how the responsibilities and costs of planning, controlling and executing the material, resource and waste flows are shifted between actors when introducing a construction logistics setup (CLS) as a product innovation in a construction project, compared to the traditional way of organizing these activities.Design/methodology/approach: This study is an analytical conceptual research study which aims to bring new insights into a problem through logical relationship building. Empirical data are gathered in two cases where CLSs are used, through observations and interviews regarding how the activities within the order-to-delivery process are performed. The results have been discussed at workshops with suppliers, installation companies, contractor firms and trade unions.Findings: The outcome of this study is a model for illustrating how costs and responsibilities are shifted in the construction project and supply chain when a CLS is introduced. The cost shift is dependent on the activity shift that accompanies the services included in the setup.Practical implications: The practical contribution of this work is twofold. First, this study provides a methodology of how to evaluate the impact of logistics services on the actors in the construction project. Second, this study shows shifts in costs and responsibilities in logistics activities with the introduction of construction logistics services.Originality/value: The theoretical contributions of the model and this study lie in the inclusion of a multi-actor perspective in total cost modelling in supply chains.