Real-Time Supply Chain Management Using Virtual Design and Construction and Lean

Supply chain management in construction has evolved in response to various innovative tools. Field observations and focus-group interviews with supply chain members, however, indicate a need to design an integration methodology of these tools to improve communication, reliability, visibility, and automation in the construction supply chain management. Thus the authors have developed and implemented the integration methodology of Virtual Design and Construction, lean, and real-time data capturing tools. With this integration, improvement in alignment between demand and supply, reduction in distortion of demand information, and savings in time and efforts have been achieved in a field trial for the supply chain management of the doors, frames, and hardware scope of work on a construction project, translating into a change in the behaviour of the construction supply chain management: supply chain members enable real-time, web-based, two-way communication, 4D color-coded visualizations and automatic status reports of a supply chain, and model-based Last Planner™, resulting in creating instant, consistent, visual coordination and communication between field crews and offsite personnel and bringing a high level of accountability to themselves and each aspect of the supply chain management.