Investigation of Construction Material Supply Chain Management System in the Construction Industry of Addis Ababa Grade One Building Contractors

Abstract

Construction supply chain management has become a potentially valuable element in the construction industry to improve operational efficiency and enhance organizational performance. Different studies are conducted in construction supply chain management. However, there is a lack of study on material supply chain management in the construction industry regarding the challenge and practice of material supply chain management from the perspectives of contractors. So, the current study aims to fill this research gap by developing a conceptual framework and ABC classification of inventory materials list that helps to distinguish the variables that play a role in material supply chain management coordination and to provide a way for a business to identify that valuable 20% of materials. To realize this objective, first, current practices of material supply management in the construction industry and the most critical challenges that contractors face during the material supply chain management of projects were identified from literature sources. Second, the identified current practices and challenges of material supply chain management were assessed using a questionnaire survey. The results obtained from the questionnaire survey showed that The right perception of material supply chain management ideas is retained by 50% of contractors, which is regarded as a moderate level that has to be addressed to raise awareness of the value of such concepts and 43.3% of contracting organizations do not have a material supply management department, and another 23.1 % have incomplete material supply management departments, indicating that material supply chain management adoption is not valued by a significant number of companies. Furthermore, some important inventory materials were identified and classified by using the ABC analysis method from questionnaire survey sources. Lastly, a conceptual framework that helps to distinguish the variables that play a role in material supply chain management coordination was prepared.