The key to the speed of construction resumption is supply chain management
Affected by the epidemic COVID-19, the output value of the construction industry in China and even the world is greatly affected. With the continuous advancement of resumption of work and production, enterprises in the construction industry should pay attention to supply chain management(SCM), increase technology and management reserves, and seize the opportunity in the crisis.
The negative impact of the epidemic COVID-19 on the construction industry is mainly in three aspects. First, although some construction sites have been resumed, the industrial chain has not yet been fully restored, and the output value of the construction industry has been greatly lost. Second, as a labor-intensive industry, the construction industry’s almost shutdown in the past three months has a significant impact on employment. Third, due to the continuity and strength of construction operations, the early stage of resumption of work will inevitably cause problems such as waste of materials and reduction of work efficiency.
When the epidemic situation comes, the construction industry is facing a “crisis” but we must also see the “opportunity”. From a management perspective, high-level decision-making can overcome the crisis and seize the opportunity. If the production method of the construction industry can accelerate the transformation and upgrading since then, thereby promoting a major change in the strategic production method, it will have a profound impact on the development of the economy.
The traditional production methods of the construction industry attach importance to project progress, quality and cost, but the concept of HSE (health, safety and environment) is insufficient. The uncertainty brought by the epidemic will make the concept of green construction more important in project management and more in line with the concept of high-quality and sustainable green development. Compared with manufacturing, the construction industry is an industry that lags behind in innovation. The epidemic made the construction industry more widely use information technology such as building information models(BIM) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), and promoted the innovation of working methods. Enterprises should pay more attention to emergency management and improve the emergency management system for major projects.
After the epidemic is controlled, some enterprises could resume work quickly, while others could do nothing but worry. The key lies in the ability of external supply chain management. The industry chain of the construction industry is long and tightly connected, involving multi-level suppliers such as subcontracting, labor services, materials, and equipment. If one or two links are disconnected, it may lead to overall stagnation. Future enterprise competition is not a competition between individual enterprises, but the competition of the supply chain formed by each enterprise. The integrity of the supply chain will constitute the core competitiveness of the enterprise. The success of the project also lies in the common value-added of the entire supply chain enterprises. Enterprises should identify weak links in the supply chain exposed during the epidemic and make up for shortcomings, and transform to a higher level of management.
The construction industry chain is very intuitive for the promotion of manufacturing, employment and other fields. Infrastructure investment is still one of the important means of economic recovery. The construction industry chain is very intuitive for the promotion of manufacturing, employment and other fields. Infrastructure investment is still one of the important means of economic recovery. However, we must pay attention to avoid duplication of investment, should increase investment in rural water conservancy infrastructure, prevention and control of soil and water pollution and other aspects. On the new infrastructure projects, avoid rushing forward, do a solid feasibility analysis, proceed step by step according to the region and the gradient, take small steps and keep on going, take into account economic and social benefits, do a good job in talent, technology and manage reserves to achieve steady development.
These suggestions are easy to say but difficult to do, and require joint efforts from the government to the enterprise. There is a saying that if you feel that your life is very comfortable every day, you will get more and more difficult; but if you feel that every day is hard, you will get better and better. This sentence now seems very reasonable.
