Construction materials supply logistics

Materials supply logistics plays a significant part in meeting the project delivery goals of cost, quality and time. Customer service is the key element that holds together all supply logistics activities, thus, the effectiveness in selecting suppliers should begin with evaluating characteristics that are deemed necessary for a supplier to provide a pre-requisite level of customer service. Such factors, or enablers, provide indications as to whether a given supplier will be able to meet key materials delivery objectives. This paper provides a review of problems besetting the supply of construction materials as identified in current literature. Opportunities presented by the introduction of information and communication technologies for improving the materials management process have been examined. A logistics perspective of construction materials management has been adopted. The analytic hierarchy process has been presented as an appropriate methodology for assessing factors that enable achievement of efficient and cost-effective materials supply logistics to support construction.