The role of public actors in construction logistics: effects on and of relational interfaces

Abstract

Public actors are increasingly enforcing the use of specifically designed construction logistics setups (CLS) to cope with logistical challenges and minimising disturbances on third parties in large construction projects. The organising of these CLS is contingent on the interaction among several types of actors. The purpose of the paper is to advance the understanding of the design and use of CLS and the distribution of various outcomes of such arrangements on the actors involved. The paper analyses the role of public actors in the initiating of CLS and how this affects the relational interfaces in the CLS triad of developers, contractors and logistics service providers, and the outcomes of their interactions. First, the main reason for a public actor to initiate a CLS is not cost, productivity or innovativity gains, but to decrease disturbances on third parties. Second, developers and contractors are forced to use the CLS initiated by the public actor. This makes them take on a forced customer role, explaining why these actors are often resistant to adopt to a certain CLS. Third, ripple effects, such as unintended costs and productivity impacts, occur in the construction supply chain because of the use of CLS.

Turning a spotlight on construction logistics for a sustainable urban environment—a review of current policy concepts and literature

“…Besides calculating the dimensions of a CCC for one or multiple construction sites more accurately, the costs and benefits for initiators, like clients, and users, like construction companies, could be more evenly distributed. A more cost-causative allocation of the total costs, which is also recommended by policy papers (Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, 2021) and construction logistics research (Eriksson et al, 2021;Ekeskär et al, 2022) as well as a company-specific quantification of benefits is especially necessary due to the high deviation of logistical services needed for different construction tasks. Since the CLS is also used to improve the construction process on the construction site, considering the contractors' perspective and benefits could strengthen the contractors' identification with the CLS (Ekeskär et al, 2022).…”

“…In current CLS projects, this lack of acceptance is enhanced by an indirectly created "forced costumer role" of construction companies (Eriksson et al, 2021). The obligation to use the CLS especially originates from the interest of public institutions, like a sustainable logistics process, diverging from the ones of the construction companies, like an increase in productivity as well as an obligation for the construction companies to use and pay for the CLS when tendering for the construction project (Eriksson et al, 2021).…”

No concept is an island: conceptualising (in) the industrial network approach

“…For example, change of interfaces over time in the design construct contracts (Boes and Holmen, 2003); different phases of customer-supplier interaction in public procurement (Torvatn and de Boer, 2017); organisational interfaces in process innovation at LEGO Systems (Andersen and Gadde, 2019); technological development projects with interfaces that are “pure” or “mixed” (a combination of several interfaces) in the truck manufacturing industry (Lind and Melander, 2019); the interplay of interfaces at the firm, unit and functional levels involving multiple actors in product development (Sundquist and Melander, 2020); outsourcing of an IT system in the public sector (Håkansson and Axelsson, 2020); and the role of public actors in construction logistics including effects on and of relational interfaces (Eriksson et al , 2021).…”