Dynamic Supply Chain Capability Analysis of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Construction: A Topic Modeling Approach

Abstract

Prefabricated construction as a preferred construction approach instigated significant technological advancements in construction supply chains in Hong Kong (HK). The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) was a milestone prefabricated construction project which was successfully constructed using these industrial advancements. However, the project itself was a great challenge as it was highly vulnerable to disruptions due to complex supply chain processes. In this regard, increased resilience could be the key to boosting project performance through enhanced Supply Chain Capabilities (SCCs), where identifying SCC dynamics becomes essential. Therefore, this study employed the Topic Over Time Modeling approach to detect critical SCCs using 1,748 unstructured official documents on the HZMB from 2003 to 2018, which spans the period from project design to handover. The popularity trend analysis of texts enabled identifying the six most critical capabilities associated with each construction phase of planning, construction and handover. Thereafter, an ex-post capability evaluation map was developed by considering the popularity trend of capabilities and their relevance to different project phases. Industry practitioners would benefit from prior knowledge of SCCs and their dynamic impact on each project phase to prioritize initiating them adequately and appropriately, targeting value-enhanced-resilient supply chains in ex-ante decision-making of future prefabricated infrastructure development projects. Further, the text-mining research approach unveils to academia, an effective and novel mechanism to extract dynamic empirical clues from a large unstructured set of documents in construction SCC analysis research.