The Four Roles Of SCM

This is a solution of The Four Roles Of SCM In construction that describes about Developing business

4.1 Result

The study undertaken has brought together relevant findings from a number of research related articles having diversified methodologies which carves the pathway of the review study having a diversified characteristic. It has also been indicated by the research study that the strategies that work well for the application of SCM in the construction industry of the United Arab Emirates are effective for the nature of work included.

SCM (SCM) is the basic framework for the proper running and coordination in any construction business. The integration of SCM and the onsite activities in any construction site is an important aspect for the success of the venture and smooth transfer of products through the supply chain to the onsite location is required. But lack of conceptual deficiency and proper objectives the total supply chain is hampered, especially so in the United Arab Emirates where the availability of SCM is significantly inadequate. A strong understanding between the management related to the supply chain and the on site business management and labour is necessary to manage with whatever resources are available and to put them to effective use. Improved, construction logistics and material handling leads to an effective SCM process. Prefabrication and industrialisation are the ways to remove the onsite activities from the production chain. Mainly three case studies have been formulated to analyze the ways of improving the SCM. The case studies deals with the lag in the supply chain with the construction onsite which is also called the time lag. The various logistical problems faced by the workers, negotiations of the products being delivered onsite. Risk assessment is another important concept in the SCM. Proper communication between the various parties involved both offsite and on site, the contractors and subcontractors who does not share a common and similar work ethic. Thus a collaborative team work is required for the success of a project and minimizes the risk associated with it. Though project management is dealt with much importance in any project risk assessment is often neglected. TOPSIS provides a good method of identification and assessment of risk and is more appropriate than other models like MCDM.

The risk factor involved in a project includes three parts-risk identification, assessment and mitigation. The method that has been inducted is an effective way to deduce the risk assessment model with proper accuracy. To solve the TOPSIS of risk assessment model under a fuzzy condition where there are a number of decision makers to deduce the minimum risk model and work upon that model which would guarantee that minimum risk is involved. Another model is the matrix method of risk assessment. That basic difference of the risk assessment model and the proposed method is the method of choosing a fuzzy TOPSIS over normal TOPSIS which deals in precise number. The fuzzy TOPSIS way of risk assessment is more flexible and accurate. But in spite of all these there is no optimum and full proof model that can be followed and the risk involved in each model varies. The SCM in UAE is different from that of other countries and the risk involved is drastic and no well formulated model is followed there. UAE being the largest construction site in the world with over 16,000 contractors and 34000 employees involved it is the largest business sector of UAE. SCM in UAE is not only limited to a single project but with the collaboration of different multinational enterprises and contractors failure in the implementation of a smooth SCM affects the total industry as each of them are interlinked. Improvement on site conditions and skilled management will help the supply chain. In UAE the current trend is the partnership between a foreign company and local contractors. As a result conflicting interest and difference in work ethics is prominent. So working towards a common goal with well defined guidelines will help in the improvement of SCM.

In the hierarchical framework there are certain barriers to implement the Green Supply Chain      Management(GSCM) in the construction sites of UAE. These includes on one hand the failure of proper policy making by the government on the other hand lack of skilled professionals and lack of public awareness are also some of the reasons. The general public should be given the opportunity to choose from a range of sustainable options and for that the government has to take the initiative in encouraging them. GSCM policies are very much important as it reduces the carbon emission and helps in building the social responsibility image of the company following these guidelines .But in UAE the lack of proper governance has so far limited the implementation the green initiatives among different enterprises and stake holders of that enterprises. There are further scopes for the improvement of SCM process by ensuring a smooth flow of labour between the suppliers and contractors which would eventually decrease the onsite duration of the project and thus reduce the total cost of the project. But on based on the literary survey it can be concluded further improvement in SCM is required as many aspects of SCM are still unknown and unexplored. While the construction industry of the United Arab Emirates display to the world supreme infrastructural projects that are unprecedented and picturesque, the inability to implement an effective system of SCM has in a number of ways hindered the projects which would with the existence of a streamlined method of supply chain been facilitated notably.

4.2 Discussion

Case 1: The four roles of SCM in construction

As put forth by Vrijhoef and Koskela (2000), in traditional terms, it is not sufficient to have a control over the supply chain of construction but what is required is a shift in the methods for the management of such supply chain. There have been a number of initiatives related to SCM in the construction industry which were either partial or scattered. The roles that SCM plays include improvement of the interface present between supply chain and the site related activities, improvement of the supply chain, transfer of the activities to supply chain from site and lastly, integration of supply chain and site.

Reliant on the generic body and empirical analyses of the SCM related knowledge, there are objective and subjective limitations in the roles pertaining to SCM. The limitations that are subjective are because of the conceptual deficiency and the objective limitations are because of the environmental characteristics in terms of the addressed problem or construction peculiarities. It may be said that such limitations have hindered progress in the development of the construction related supply chain.

The fact that costs have been stressed in logistic initiatives is a limitation that is subjective. This resulted in the failure of addressing the impact of variability related to supply chain on the site assembly. The objective limitation includes the lesser focus on the role for improving the interface among supply chain and site activities in terms of the entire supply chain. In relation to the role of supply chain improvement, the objective limitation is caused due to the undisciplined and wayward nature of the activities of the customers. Both sides of the process of delivery have problems. Initially the definition of product is not complete and towards closure the date of delivery often is altered with chaotic conditions of installation. With regard to the role of activity transfer from site to supply chain, objective limitations are yielded. Pertaining to the role of integrating supply chain and site, a number of initiatives have objective limitations that are related to the characteristics of the constructed objects. A number of existent initiatives have logic that is based upon the idea that the effectiveness of SCM is more with such chains that are stable having products that are standardised. This role has certain subjective limitations as well. All the four roles of SCM are implemented to improve and for the betterment of the entire supply chain. The real estate owners should maintain a cordial relationship with the management of the SCM so that the flow of the materials is smooth and well oiled. The various initiatives that can be taken by the management are the coordination between the management on site and the suppliers that are involved which the interface between the supply chain and the on site management. The construction logistics and material handling should also be kept in mind. Another factor which affects the supply chain is the variance in the capacity of supply and ever changing on site demands. With the improvement of these two factors the improvement in SCM is possible. Prefabrication and industrialisation are the means of removing of removing the onsite activities from the production chain as a whole. To maintain the integration between the site and supply chain open building and step by step procedure which gives the users the opportunity to choose whether to postpone the construction of the interiors of the building or not. The SCM of pre engineered buildings are more stable as they have to choose from a limited set of options. The status of present construction chains have been observed in three case studies conducted in Netherlands and Holland. The first of the case study deals with the time required for the delivery and production in a housing project where the time buffer played an important role. The price negotiation, engineering, onsite installation was the major factors of the second case study which as a whole is known as the controllability problems. The issue of site logistics was the point of case study three where it dealt with the extra costs of logistics of building material in the site, bargaining and price calculations. See more about : HND Hospitality Management Assignment

Thus as found in the literature review section SCM involves the  primary and speciality contractors and subcontractors, engineers, architects, suppliers of materials who get together for building a project for specific owners. Now most of them belong to different set of organisations that ultimately the project manager has to handle in order to implement all the pieces of the jigsaw together in order to complete the project without any difficulty. The study basically emphasizes the fact that the basic framework of the SCM remains same as identified within the broad scope of the literature review with adjustments for the peculiar nature of the construction industry and taking the various environmental concerns into account.

Case 2: Risk assessment model selection in construction industry

As explained by Karimi Azari et al. (2011), construction related project would ideally require effective interaction between owners, contract based parties that are integrated, contractors, designers, suppliers, sub contractors, and so on who are not similar in nature. Hence collaborative team work is required where a common goal is shared for the completion of the project successfully. Aligned to the environment of group decision in terms of the problem, an effective yet simple mechanism is provided by the approach for making absolute judgements that are comparative in nature conventionally, which may discriminate methods of risk assessments with clarity.

Inspite of having significance in the realm of project management, risk management is not approached with as much rigor as the other processes of project management which include scheduling, scope and so on. The risk management process is inclusive of identification of risk, assessment of risk and mitigation of risk. The project related risk identification and assessment are considered to be procedures that are critical for the success of the project undertaken. A number of techniques of risk assessment pertaining to construction project are applicable in the industry of construction though the attention paid is insufficient in terms of a model that can be termed as suitable for the purpose of risk assessment. In order to suitably address this problem related to decisions, certain approaches of fuzzy TOPSIS have been developed including an algorithm that is effective for the improvement of effectiveness as well as quality pertaining to decision making. Good evaluation has been provided by TOPSIS and is considered to have more appropriateness than other models of MCDM. The project of construction requires interaction to take place otherwise dissimilar but integrated by contractual element parties such as designers, owners, suppliers, contractors, sub contractors, manufacturers and so on. For such reason, construction is known to be a process of collaborative teamwork having parties who have diversified functions, interests and objectives ye they share a goal that is common – the successful completion of the undertaken project. Aligned with the problem of the environment of group decision, the approach undertaken is effective in providing a mechanism that would be simple as well as efficient for making judgements that are absolute and comparative conventionally. The method that has been proposed will be successfully able to discriminate among the methods of risk assessment with adequate clarity. The proposed method is the way of solving the TOPSIS of the risk assessment model under a fuzzy environment where there a number of decision makers and a committee to assess the minimum risk model. Once the best model is chosen, the group of members make decision on which model to follow which would eventually minimize the risk and uncertainty element from the certain venture. Fuzzy set theory is one of the commonly practised methods which a fuzzy number A is defined. It is a subset of real line R and its member function f(a) represents the uncertainty related to a particular transaction of a process in a business. The normalised matrix method is another famous method of valuating the risk management aspect to the business and is commonly used. The MCDM ( multi-criteria decision making) problem have been proposed and improved upon by a number of scientists and researchers over the year but an ultimate and full proof algorithm has not been formulated yet and it varies from one company to another depending upon the dynamics and culture followed by them . The main difference between the risk assessment model and the proposed method is the method of choosing fuzzy TOPSIS over TOPSIS which deals in precise numbers. Fuzzy TOPSIS is more flexible in nature and more acceptable to the scientists.

The degree of satisfaction in each model is different though it deals with the basic three needs of risk management that is-risk identification, assessment and mitigation. The risk assessment is the initial step, followed by the assessment of the uncertainty followed by the mitigation of the risk by eliminating the risks involved through various proposed models and efficiency of the management. So the risk management of the uncertainty faced by them are completely different and indigenous to that institution itself.

This study is a special research of the collaborative risk at play in case of construction projects which inherently and evidently has a lot of risks and variables at play. Eliminating all the potential threats or chalking of a model which would minimize and mitigate the risks to an acceptable value is thus of imperative importance. This study thus has been successful in incorporating a certain aspect associated with SCM which did not form a part of the literature review studies.  Like for example, the global recession of 2009 affected the growing industries in Dubai severely (Fellows, 2011).But incorporating this model helps to account for such unforeseen circumstances and helps to minimize the losses. So, this model is a much needed one which will provide a great support and fall back mechanism for the construction industry.

Case 3: SCM in the United Arab Emirates Construction Industry

As opined by Albaloushi and Skitmore (2008), primary supply chain involves material delivery that is incorporated into the final products of construction, support chain including provision of materials and equipments for facilitating construction and the supply chain related to human resources that includes labour supply. Construction SCM is also known to be the coordination that takes place in the decision making of inter organisations as well as the integration of the primary business processes of construction.

A number of industries have used management and collaboration of supply chain in order to obtain competitive benefit. The adoption of SCM as compared to other industries has been slower in the construction industry as an effective management strategy. The opinion of the contractors has been taken into account since they play a significant role in the supply chain of construction. This exercise is considered to be timely in terms of the energy and interest that has been devoted for the debate on newer forms of procurement. SCM is aimed towards the improvement of trust as well as collaboration between the partners of supply chain which results in the improvement of visibility of inventory and improved velocity of inventory. In terms of mainstream management, ideas of construction management pertaining to supply chain have undergone evolution with influences that have corresponding influence from the theories related to production, strategic procurement and distribution. The extent of the awareness in the industry pertaining to the integration of supply chain and the related methods are yet to be established specially in countries like the United Arab Emirates. The factors that contribute towards the success of SCM include adhering to the procedures of the organisation while dealing with SCM, approaches of customer needs, technical background of supply chain, distributors, support received from the higher management, proper understanding of the environment of SCM and support extended towards the objectives of the system of production. More awareness of the significance of these factors lead to the success in implementing of SCM later on. The Supply chain is not only related to single construction business but it is a multiple business and institution relationship where the entire UAE construction business is affected as they are interlinked to each other. The main features of CSC are the converging supply chain where all the materials are brought to the site from different locations and the final product is assembled on site. Other than this a temporary supply chain of a specified make order chain can also be formulated on specific and rare occasions. Depending on the stated characteristics few features of SCM in UAE can be deduced depending upon the priority given to the supply chain or on site construction. Firstly the management should be well aware of the supply chain a smooth flow of labour and on site activities should take place. Secondly there should be a well coordinated relationship between the suppliers and constructors which would directly affect in reducing the cost and time. The business objective all the all the ongoing construction projects in UAE are not the same and so the supply chain has been difficult to manage. The UAE construction business has about 16,000 contractors and 340,000 workers employed making it the single largest business sector in UAE. The current trend in the construction business in UAE is partnership between a foreign and a local construction company. Though both the parties agree on the importance of SCM in the success of their particular research project the way they perceive the role of SCM is different and so because of this conflicting interest of both the parties the role of SCM in UAE is unlike from the other developed countries.

This case study highlights the salient points that have been discussed in the literature review section of the research like the State of SCM practices in UAE together with a particular focus in the construction industry. In order to understand the current state of affairs of the practices of construction industry this case study plays a pivotal role describing the total number of personnel and primary stakeholders whose livelihood is intricately linked with this industry. The practices of SCM although have been long neglected by the practitioners of this industry have started to infiltrate the industry especially since UAE has been the house of some extremely high profile and risky projects which demands the best and all methods that can be applied to speed the process up, ensure flow of materials and yet stay within the budgetary constraints evaluated at the beginning of the study amidst rising costs all over.

Case 4: A hierarchical framework of barriers to green SCM in the construction sector

As suggested by Balasubramanian (2012), a noteworthy strategy for taking up the challenge of reduction of carbon emission would be Green SCM (GSCM) and the subsequent enhanced sustainability due to the potential of improvement of organisational environmental performance. There have been attempts for measuring the practices related to GSCM such as implementation, advantages, performance and so on.

The highlights of the hierarchical framework of barriers to green SCM in the construction sector include the extensive identification of the barriers that are existent among the aspects of economy, environment, technology, society and culture for the adoption of an effective system of GSCM in the construction sector of the United Arab Emirates. Secondly, a hierarchical modelling that is scientific of the barriers in order to understand their significance in the process of decision making. Thirdly, the extent of potential of the adopted framework with regard to other countries of GCC that include Qatar and Oman who share similar Gross Domestic Product, e – readiness index and human development index.

There exist certain limitations which are mainly because of the inherent subjectivity of the approach of ISM. The opinion put forth by the experts in the realm may be considered to be biased without effective reflection of the setting in the real world. There also is a dearth of numerical validation of the results thus obtained. The structural equation model which is a quantitative approach may be applied to evaluate the validity of the ISM model that has been developed with numerical measurement of the association strength of the barriers. Balasubramaniam through his research has identified the factors that are eternal to the establishment which include lack of professionals who are skilled and sustainable, lack of developers and green suppliers, inadequacy of government support, inadequacy of awareness of the public as well as demand and uncertainty prevalent in the market. These form the crucial barriers in the GSCM adoption in the construction sector of the United Arab Emirates. The internal barriers are reliant on the external ones. Policies are required by the government to attract right resources. A quantitative based approach such as the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) can be handy to test the validity of ISM models. The measurement of association between the internal and exterior barrier can also be made with this approach. Future prospects involve amalgamation the ISM and SEM models to form a country wide integrated framework. Lack of public awareness and appropriate planning by the UAE government are some of the major problems in implementing the GSCM model successfully. The external barriers should be overcome by the management itself to clear the path for the public to embrace this model. The government should device methods and polices to attract skilled professionals and the general public as a whole. The people should be given the choice to make sustainable choices and for that the government has to take proper steps for the planning and execution of the GSCM policies. The GSCM policies are really important for the construction sector as it reduces carbon emission which results in the betterment of the environmental result of the construction company. The lacks of green initiative among the stakeholders of the construction companies are a direct result of the failure of the government to construct and formulate a proper framework for the smooth running and implementation of the GSCM policies.

Environmental sustainability has been a point of discussion since the 1980’s and today it is one of the most important considerations in the world over. Using construction materials such that they can be reused recycled or iteratively used in some way or the other has been the goal of enginners, architects and project managers all over. Many countries have specific site waste business management plans that has to be submitted prior to the inception of the project, after which the project gets a go ahead .So green initiatives have to be taken considering the long time future of the environment of the country. So implementation of GSCM is a possible solution to the problems posed by environmental issues. The idea is to close all possible angles when it comes to the environmental issue from foods, to cars, to carry bags and even construction materials and supply.

Case 5: SCM in Construction: A literature Survey

As explained by Tiwari et al., (2014), supply chain is applied in the construction sector for the purpose of better coordination and costing. A number of models related to decision making have been formulated with regard to specific areas of the supply chain in construction that include risk management and trade off between times – cost. The flow of information, material and fund is significant in the construction project supply chain hence it is required to explore the areas of information flow as well as material flow. The feasibility in terms of SCM application has also been duly worked upon particularly in geographical application in countries like United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Indonesia and so on. It has, however, been found that there is not too much evidence regarding a complete solution for the application of construction based SCM. The models that had been developed extend focus on areas that are specific which do not offer a solution that is comprehensive.

The advantages of SCM in the realm of construction and the related barriers in terms of its implementation have been looked into. The advantages include the fact that the enterprise is considered to be a single unit. It is said that SCM has the visibility and permits due development of a consistent plan pertaining to demand and supply from customers to suppliers. Thus for somebody involved in planning, will be able to devise a total plan of any movement via the chain in terms of specific products. This may occur between the different functional groups or between a number of independent companies in the channel of distribution. This is turn provides services that are considered to be better with inventory reduction, paperwork reduction, consolidation of distribution centres and transportation cost reduction. The barriers include inadequate guidance in alliance creation with the partners of supply chain, failure to formulate alliance monitoring measures, inability of broadening the vision of supply chain beyond product procurement or distribution for encompassing bigger processes of the business, inability of integrating internal procedures of the company, inadequate trust inside as well as outside the company, resistance on the organisational level to the given concept, inadequate system of integrated information and firm linking electronic commerce and inadequate set up on the organisational level that may be considered suitable. The SCM provides the scope for constant improvement, better coordination at each level and a sense of coherent bonding in the whole process of supply chain. The various aspects of SCM includes the reduction in the onsite costing which can be done by ensuring a smooth flow of labour and work between the labours and contractors. The trade off between time and cost is another important factor. The orderly management of the supply chain will ensure that the onsite working flow is fast which would eventually reduce the duration of the project resulting in cost saving. In case of the UK aerospace industry the SCM is well established unlike construction based companies where exists a chaos between the supply chain and the production sector. One of the main reasons to incorporate SCM is to maintain and establish a well oiled integrated system in the supply chain. A sense of bonding and well tuned understanding is required between the SCM and the onsite contractors for the smooth running of a project. Various numerical models of SCM have also been formulated but the optimality of the methods is debatable and it varies for each company or institution. Another important aspect is the smooth flow of material which is directly related to SCM is a deciding factor in a project's success.

But on a whole based on the literary survey it can be concluded that the documentation and extensive research that is required in SCM is still not enough and there is further scope of improvement because many of the sectors are still untouched and there are many unchartered territories to be explored.

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