Kari Tanskanen, Jan Holmström, Jan Elfving and Ulla Talvitie
The purpose of this paper is to describe the challenge of managing logistics at corporate level in construction industry; and to present and evaluate vendor‐managed‐inventory…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the challenge of managing logistics at corporate level in construction industry; and to present and evaluate vendor‐managed‐inventory (VMI) as a potential solution for small item logistics.
Design/methodology/approach
The study has a design science approach. It describes and tests a possible solution design for small item logistics in construction.
Findings
The paper finds that VMI is an efficient solution for small item logistics at construction sites, provided that it is well designed and movable. When the construction company owns the solution, it can more potentially be a corporate‐wide solution.
Research limitations/implications
The VMI solution is tested at only three pilot sites, so there might be many situational factors affecting its feasibility that could not be observed.
Practical implications
The proposed solution is potentially a major step in moving from site‐by‐site logistics towards corporate level logistics management in construction industry.
Originality/value
The VMI solution presented in this paper is unique for construction industry. The study indicates that it improves significantly the effectiveness of small item logistics in construction. More generally, the value of the paper is in combining horizontal integration (across sites) and vertical integration (supply chain) views in designing logistics solutions for construction industry.
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Mario Henrique Mello, Jan Ola Strandhagen and Erlend Alfnes
Engineer-to-order (ETO) supply chains involve multiple companies for performing complex projects. The ability to effectively coordinate cross-business activities is essential to…
Abstract
Purpose
Engineer-to-order (ETO) supply chains involve multiple companies for performing complex projects. The ability to effectively coordinate cross-business activities is essential to avoid delays, cost overruns and quality problems. Coordination is related to a number of contingent factors that need to be better comprehended. The purpose of this paper is to highlight such contingent factors and to analyse their effect on the occurrence of project delays.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiple case study is used to investigate the moderating factors affecting coordination in projects carried out in an ETO supply chain. Such factors are examined through a cross-analysis of six shipbuilding projects based on data from interviews, project documentation and clips from the media press.
Findings
In ETO supply chains, the engineering and production activities involve mutual interdependences that need to be coordinated. The findings suggest that both the integration of engineering and production and the production capability are the most critical factors influencing coordination in an ETO supply chain.
Research limitations/implications
The study was carried out within shipbuilding projects as a setting to represent the ETO domain. To extend the findings, further research can examine other types of projects, such as: oil and gas, construction, military and aerospace.
Practical implications
In practice, there is no “one-fits-all” solution for coordination. Each project represents a unique context which has specific objectives, actors and constraints. From that perspective, this study provides a basis to comprehend coordination in a complex setting.
Originality/value
This study builds knowledge upon coordination by generating a number of propositions regarding the effectiveness of coordination on avoiding delays in complex projects carried out in ETO supply chains. Focusing on the engineering and production activities, the authors extend the existing theory by demonstrating that coordination can vary according to the level of several moderating factors.
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Mario Henrique Mello, Jan Ola Strandhagen and Erlend Alfnes
ETO supply chains produce high-value products on a project basis. The occurrence of delays is a major problem that impacts the performance of a company and its supply chain. The…
Abstract
Purpose
ETO supply chains produce high-value products on a project basis. The occurrence of delays is a major problem that impacts the performance of a company and its supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the cause of delays and to understand the role of coordination to mitigate them.
Design/methodology/approach
An in-depth case study was conducted to identify problems that delay a project and to examine such problems from a systemic perspective. Based on data from interviews, group meetings, field observations and documentation, a pattern is proposed to explain the relation between coordination and lead time.
Findings
Conceptually, to reduce the project lead time a higher level of concurrency is necessary. However, more concurrency increases the interdependencies between activities, something which demands more coordination effort. Since the coordination mechanisms applied are not appropriate to cope with the increasing coordination effort, a number of problems appear causing reworks and delays which increase the lead time.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation is that the authors are not able to distinguish which particular project characteristic influences the adoption of a specific coordination mechanism. Further research is required to examine the effect of various coordination mechanisms across a higher number of projects.
Practical implications
Practitioners can benefit from discussions in this study to comprehend how coordination can improve the delivery performance in ETO supply chains.
Originality/value
This study contributes to a better understanding of coordination in ETO supply chains by making sense of problems that delay the project. Matching the coordination mechanisms with the required coordination effort, which is based on the project characteristics, is a way to avoid delays and reduce the lead time.