A supply chain management is a technique used to integrate and manage all the aspects in order to produce a product.
Pros:
- Reduction of waste
- Reduction of overhead
- Reduction of shipping delays
- Reduce risks
- Competitive advantage
Each supply chain is unique and the best technique to create a strong supply chain is by looking at the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). Best practices enhance a projects performances and productivity
A supply chain is similar to organisational structure as both techniques consist of managing the group dynamics in the work place, how people behave, and both techniques are a major factor in regard to the performance of the groups which impacts the construction project.
A substantial supply chain will allow early supplier engagement and have the option to be client orientated in order to be more time, cost and quality efficient.
Within the supply chain there is various bargaining power either for the client or the supplier depending on the competition and various factors such as demand, threat of a substitute.
During my experience within the construction industry and renting out excavators, I had a client who needed an excavator for hire for three months, however another company was offering a cheaper price for him. Although my machines and the competitions wasn’t the same, it didn’t matter to the client as long as they got the job done. I had to adjust my price to the market value as the client had more bargaining power over me as there was an increase of competition with cheaper prices, this displays how the client and project manager can use the supply chain to their benefit.
Thoughtfully applied early supplier engagement, (Dowlatshahi, 1998)
Burton (1988) and Naumann and Reck (1982) estimated that the suppliers account for approximately 30 percent of the quality problems and 80 percent of the product lead time problems (S2, P5). Throughout my project there was a close relationship and good supply chain control, there was a PM whose role was communicate between internal and external stakeholders, the PM communicated between the project team, the project delivery team, community, delivery of the project. Communication between parties is a key aspect in managing a project and should be thoughtfully applied before the project starts
Guy and Dale (1993) stated that purchasing supplies must be proactive in its relationships with the designer at the product design stage to display yourself as bold, driven and motivated,
Constant innovation and integration
Constant innovation and integration is a necessity within construction, the world is always evolving and innovating and the construction industry needs to grow too. The construction industry is a large industry and is hard to control, changes in the built environment need to be enforced and need to happen gradually.
In order for a project to be successful it must successfully have:
High preforming team integration
Collaboration
Integrating systems
Managed innovation
High preforming team integration
Integrating a system that creates a high preforming team varies of various factors, such as size of the project, budget, time etc. There are various methods used to create a high preforming team such as:
Baiden’s method where project teams consisted of individual clusters to work towards their own goal. (Baiden, et al.2006)
Dainty’s method where professionals work as a team rather than individuals with individual goals. (Dainty et al, 2001)
Both techniques are valid, however you’ll need to implement one suitable technique for the particular project in order to integrate a high preforming team. For example, it’s ideal to have clusters working towards an individual goal if the project is too large to control, however if the project is small it’s best to work as a team.
Collaboration
Collaboration is vital within the management of construction project, Baiden’s research suggests “the most successful projects focused on collaboration.”
Collaboration occurs throughout construction weather it’s through the supply chain, procurement method, or organisational chart and must be done with clear communication and use methods such as, professional parties can search for solutions to issues together faster than blaming one another. (Baiden, et al.2006)
Integrating systems
There are constantly new techniques over 30 years ago, construction drawings were produced on paper, however now they’re produced on softwares such as AutoCAD.
A technique that has been introduced into projects is Building Information Modeling (BIM). Miscommunication is a major issue within construction projects and BIM allows collaborative working and integrated team working, where the architect can inform civil engineer about design changes easily. Innovation and integration occurs as more resources are available.
Newer methods are always being researched and introduced to make management simpler and efficient. An example of nitrating systems is, if there is any slack the project manager can explore opportunities however PM must be careful as the behaviour of once change can affect another. (Davis and Mackenzie, 2014) (Perrow & Weick)
Managed innovation
Innovating requires looking and learning from models in order to successfully implement innovation.
“two points flow smoothly and improve the current system, then effective innovation can be carried out” slaughter, 1998,
During a government funded project, £60 million was allocated in order to tackle unexpected environmental issues and accelerate the masterplan. The government wouldn’t just allocate £60 million, but they’ve looked at previous models and assumed from past projects that if they allocate funding the project can be accelerated.