Issues and Challenges Affecting Supply Chain in Project Delivery: Construction Professional Perspectives

Supply chain management integration in construction project delivery emerged from strategies to improve competitiveness, increase profits, and gain control over the various factors influencing project delivery and performance. Hence, this study assesses the challenges of supply chain management in construction project delivery using the perspective of construction professionals in South Africa. A structured questionnaire was developed to obtain data from construction professionals in Durban, South Africa. Descriptive statistics and the Kruskal–Wallis test were conducted to determine construction professionals’ perspectives towards challenges affecting supply chain management in construction project delivery. According to the study’s findings, the essential challenges affecting supply chain management in construction project delivery in South Africa include weak procurement strategies, difficulties with scheduling flexibility, poor construction design, poor budget management, non-integration of automation systems in the SCM process, insufficient planning of the project before starting, and sub-contractors’ lack of understanding of SCM concepts. The study recommends that construction project delivery be guided by effective procurement systems, effective budget management, integration of automation in the supply chain, and enabling government policies.