Supply chain management in construction and engineer-to-order industries

The construction industry is a key sector of every country and the application of supply chain-related techniques holds much promise to improve performance of construction firms in many ways. According to an extended view, which encompasses the construction of industrial and residential buildings, of civil engineering and infrastructure projects, there is a number of major actors that must be coordinated in some way to reach ETO decisions, leading to performance outcomes and metrics. The need to co-ordinate information across the supply chain is a persistent and pressing challenge for ETO companies. Procurement helps to establish the conditions for the supply chain to function effectively. New technologies such as product configurators or cloud manufacturing are being applied. Planning and decision making is a critical driver. In the future, the challenges of applying supply chain management techniques to a construction environment, will require more quantitative studies, to cast light on some potential gains from better information management and use of digital technologies. Then there is also an opportunity to integrate clear upfront planning and procurement with the project delivery processes, and choose the right configurations, focus and relational types. Finally, there is much potential to harness the innovation potential of SMEs.