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An overall review of research on prefabricated construction supply chain management

Yanhu Han (Chang'an University, Xi'an, China)
Xiyu Yan (Chang'an University, Xi'an, China)
Poorang Piroozfar (School of Environment and Technology, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK)

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management

ISSN: 0969-9988

Article publication date: 11 August 2022

Issue publication date: 28 November 2023

2409

Abstract

Purpose

As a strand in industrialization movement in architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, prefabricated construction (PC) has gained widespread popularity due to high efficiency, energy saving, low environmental impacts, safety and other advantages of PC. Well-managed supply chain can further leverage the advantages of PC. However, there is a lack of more systematically overview of the prefabricated construction supply chain (PCSC). This paper aims to comb the current status and look into the future direction of PCSC by reviewing the existing research.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 131 articles related to prefabricated construction supply chain management (PCSCM) from 2000 to 2022 have been collated to (1) conduct a bibliometric analysis by using VOSviewer, including the literature sources, keywords co-occurrence, co-authorships, authorship citation and country active in the field of PCSCM; (2) classify and summarize the status of research in PCSCM through qualitative discussion and (3) point out the future research directions.

Findings

In total, 131 articles are carried out for bibliometric analysis and in-depth qualitative discussion, the visualization maps and the main research themes in the field of PCSCM are obtained. The results show that supply chain intelligentization and informatization are hot topics. Finally, future research directions that should be paid attention to in the field of PCSCM are pointed out.

Practical implications

This study can help project managers understand the current status and problems of PCSC operations and provide a basis for future management decisions.

Originality/value

Compared with previous studies, this study adds the dimension of “article authorship” to the quantitative analysis and discusses the research themes in the field of PCSCM in a comprehensive manner. In addition, this paper deeply discusses the main research topics from both the specific contents and research methods adopted.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This research is jointly funded by the Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi (No. 2021SF-522), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 300102239621 and 300102230616) and Social Science Planning Program of Xian (Grant No. 22JX203). Their funding is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to thank the editors, reviewers and experts for their time and constructive comments.

Citation

Han, Y., Yan, X. and Piroozfar, P. (2023), "An overall review of research on prefabricated construction supply chain management", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 30 No. 10, pp. 5160-5195. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-07-2021-0668

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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