Toward digital construction supply chain-based Industry 4.0 solutions: scientometric-thematic analysis

Abstract

PurposeThe wood construction industry has been described as slow in adapting efficiency-increasing activities in its operations and supply chain. The industry is still facing challenges related to digitalization, such as fragmentation, poor traceability and lack of real-time information. This study evaluates the status of digitalization in construction supply chains by thematically analyzing the existing literature and mapping research trends.Design/methodology/approachA review of the key literature from 2016 to 2021 was performed. The results highlight various technologies and their applications within supply chains and identify research gaps, especially between theoretical frameworks and actual implementation using a scientometric-thematic analysis.FindingsThis paper provides a conceptual framework to further aid researchers in exploring the current trends in Supply Chain 4.0 and its applications in the wood construction industry compared to other more advanced industries. Suggested directions for future research in the wood construction Supply Chain 4.0 are outlined.Originality/valueThe existing literature still lacks a comprehensive review of the potential of a digitalized supply chain, especially in the construction industry. This framework is pivotal to continue explaining and observing the best ways to accelerate and implement Supply Chain 4.0 practices for digitalized supply chain management (SCM) while focusing specifically on the wood construction industry. The literature review results will help develop a comprehensive framework for future research direction to create a clearer vision of the current state of digitalization in supply chains and focus on the wood construction supply chain, thus, fully achieving the benefits of Supply Chain 4.0 in the wood construction industry.

An Empirical Analysis of Barriers to Building Information Modelling (BIM) Implementation in Wood Construction Projects: Evidence from the Swedish Context

“…The examination of the identified barriers compared with the results of the literature review revealed many similarities. Barriers related to resources and cost (G2) [36,49,55,62,63], skills and knowledge (G3) [9,21,29,31], human behaviour (G5) [44,49,55], and governmental (G7) [21,31,49] were all identified previously from similar studies in the literature review, as shown in Table 1. Other barriers were mentioned by participants and were found to be related to the wood industry in particular, such as interoperability issues [46,64] and insufficient object libraries (G1) [50].…”

Applications of Industry 4.0 digital technologies towards a construction circular economy: gap analysis and conceptual framework

“…They managed the supply chain tasks, including purchasing, carrying and inventory tasks using blockchain smart contracts to speed the processing of plastic waste. Integrating products and services in an interconnected process using blockchain can enable to estimation the product lifecycle (Gharaibeh et al , 2022; Kouhizadeh et al , 2019; Vogel et al , 2019). Reserve logistics (RL) is a vital dimension in the CE process; therefore, Bekrar et al (2021) proposed a nexus of transportation, RL and blockchain to digitize the operation of the transportation equipment reserve supply chain.…”

Identification of Promising Research Issues in the Digital Industry Topic by Analyzing Scopus Bibliometric Data for 2018–2022

“…The article [2] is the opposite of the first -it is cited twice, published in 2022, and its title can be interpreted as the relevant issue of Digital Industry: "Toward digital construction supply chain-based Industry 4.0 solutions: scientometric-thematic analysis". Supply chain-based Industry 4.0 solutions are an obvious issue, just think of the challenges in logistics during the pandemic and the sanctions; the digitalization of logistics is necessary to quickly adapt solutions in a fast-changing environment.…”