Buffering policies for prefabricated construction supply chain subject to material lead time and activity duration uncertainties

Abstract

Supply chain management plays a pivotal role in the smooth execution of prefabricated construction. One key aspect involves strategically placing and sizing buffers to handle uncertainties (e.g., stochastic material lead-times and activity durations) within the prefabricated construction supply chain (PCSC). This study examines three buffering policies based on varying combinations of time and inventory buffers to mitigate stochastic material delays and activity prolongs in PSCS, namely, pure inventory buffering policy, pure time buffering policy, and mixed inventory-time buffering policy. To enable this analysis, we characterize how stochastic material delays originating from off-site supply chains impact project schedules, and then develop mathematical procedures for sizing inventory and/or time buffers under the three buffering policies. Case application and numerical analysis are conducted to investigate the performance of these buffering policies and the impact of the project characteristics on them (e.g., due date and arrival rate). Finally, insights are extracted to assist managers in choosing appropriate policies for projects with different characteristics. In general, combining inventory and time buffers results in better performance, particularly under tight project deadlines and high arrival rates. The pure time buffering policy can also be a viable option in specific situations, allowing managers to have more choices.

Keywords

• prefabricated construction
• supply chain management
• time buffer
• inventory buffer
• uncertainty