Integrating the supply chain within construction industry

Since the middle of the 1990's, the researchers and people within the construction industry have moved towards Supply Chain Management (SCM) philosophy in order to make construction industry more effective and more efficient. The main driver behind the adoption of this philosophy was the successes within other industry sectors. SCM can be defined as network of different organisations, linked upstream and downstream in a chain, aiming to produce quality and value in the services and products for the end consumers through integrated processes and activities. In order to achieve the optimised level of integration of the whole supply chain, the industry has responded in various forms. One of the efforts is the change in procurement, from traditional to partnering arrangements. Research work has been done showing benefits of adopting the partnering arrangements, enjoyed by the whole supply chain. Despite the work done in this field (mentioned in this paper), there is still a need to look at: the different levels of integration within construction supply chain for example upstream by the client or client organisations and downstream by the sub-contractors and suppliers; the responses towards these partnering initiatives by the subcontractors and material suppliers; changes in the supply chain structures due to the implementation of SCM philosophy and partnering; analyses of rise in the competition among downstream supply chain (based on facts and evidences); level of collaboration and integration among supply chain participants; client-led supply chain vs. contractor-led supply chain; changes in public and private clients procurement system; the demand management within client organisation(s); government initiatives; supply chain networks and clusters; and integration of SMEs within these partnering arrangements. The paper will look at the research done within construction supply chain and will identify gaps for further research dealing with some of the issues mentioned above.