An SCO-Enabled Logistics and Supply Chain–Management System in Construction

Logistic and supply-chain management (LSCM) is of paramount importance to a construction project but is often problematic. Many researchers see LSCM per se as a web of decisions to be made, and attribute problems to a lack of process and information concurrence. This is exacerbated by fragmentation, discontinuity, and heterogeneity in construction LSCM. The bidirectional information flow remains unachieved in the existing sensing-based systems for construction LSCM. Without panoramically interconnecting to other smart abilities such as an automatic action-taking ability, most existing sensing-based systems are insufficient to realize their full potential in facilitating construction LSCM. Building on previous studies on smart construction objects (SCOs), this paper aims to develop an SCO-enabled system that can enhance concurrence of process and information, with a view to informing better decision making in construction LSCM. It does so by first analyzing the problems in prevailing LSCM practices...