الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The construction of roads, motorways and railways has been stepping up rapidly in recent years. As important as they are, it becomes more important to execute them with utmost care to optimize logistics and minimize waste. In Road Construction, Materials play a major role as they represent more than 40% of the work required, so providing them when needed is essential in order to make the project profitable. As materials make up such a sizable chunk of a construction project’s budget, they warrant special consideration throughout the planning phase. The materials used in building projects are crucial to their daily progress. Not having the right tools on hand can seriously slow things down on the job. There is a lack of cohesion and transparency in the current methods of materials management in the construction industry. The project is significantly fragmented as a result of the separation of design and construction, a lack of cooperation and integration across numerous functional disciplines, insufficient communication, etc. All of these are significant contributors to achievement issues such as material ordering and receiving delays, poor productivity and time and cost overruns. Huge amount of money is consumed in these projects, which is consumed with no extra benefits as a result. Material Supply Chain Management is essential to solve problems, identify and eliminate unwanted costs while improving function and quality.
The study’s overarching goal is to develop a framework for the material supply chain process across all phases of a project that can be used in road construction and help ensure that contractors have access to the materials they need, when they need them, in the quantities they need them, and at the lowest possible cost. Contractors will benefit from enhanced productivity, decreased losses, and heightened competitiveness as a result of this. In order to achieve this research goal, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to stakeholders in the road construction industry. This questionnaire was used to conduct an investigation into current practices in the material supply chain process, identify the key activities that constitute the material supply chain process, provide alternatives to the dangers and unpredictability inherent in road construction, identify the most common issues faced by contractors throughout the project phases, and finally identify the key factors that contribute to successful project outcomes. The contractors each received a hundred questionnaires. Fifty-one completed surveys were collected for analysis.
Literature review was carried out and described in order to gather the necessary information about supply chain process, road construction and productivity optimization. It was noticed that efficient material management is essential to the success of a project because material costs account for a large portion of the total cost of the project. It was found that the material supply chain process is divided into five stages: bidding, sourcing, procurement, construction, and post-construction. Each phase includes a set of activities.
After conducting the essential literature, a questionnaire was designed to study existing practices of materials supply chain management during each phase, the most familiar obstacles that faced contractors through supply chain, the factors that could contribute to the MSCP’s integration stages and the effect of Corona virus on MSCP. Hundred questionnaires were distributed to specialists, however only fifty one percent were returned. The results of the questionnaire were analyzed by (SPSS) and then the researcher used it for creating a framework for the material supply chain process. The proposed SCM framework begins with organizational strategy and flows into SC strategy because it is critical to align SC strategy with organizational strategy. Management plans are used to implement strategies. SCM is thus the framework’s next object. SCM also has three major components: SC participants, SC life-cycle activities, and SC support functions. SC participants are linked to SCM plans and are involved in life-cycle activities. The SC life- cycle activities and SC support functions have a many-to-many relationship. Measuring performance is crucial to this framework since it acts as a feed-forward loop into continual improvement, which in turn affects supply chain strategy and management. The SC enablers that act across functions, activities, and participants have an impact on each of the SCM components.
Finally, a feedback questionnaire is designed with six questions and sent to 10 contractors to answer with YES or NO. This feedback form utilizes the Delphi technique, which has been generally acknowledged and utilized to gather information from experts in their particular field of expertise. The results of this survey will be used to verify the accuracy of the process framework for the material supply chain. In order to get the most useful information, a face-to-face survey questionnaire employing the Delphi method was carried out. Delphi technique has been shown to be a successful method for gathering information from experts in a particular field of knowledge. Delphi technique is based on performing multiple iterations (rounds) to collect responses. The researcher visited ten relevant contractors to present the Material Supply Chain Process Framework and answer questions. Afterwards, we gave them a questionnaire with a series of yes/no questions. The questionnaire is administered in up to two rounds, with the same results in each. Conclusions of the developed framework and feedback questionnaire are presented in the following section.
6.2 CONCLUSIONS
The following are the main conclusions that can be made from this research:
1. It was discovered that the most frequently encountered problems by contractors were:
Biding phase
• Poor communication between the involved parties.
• Differences between specifications and designs.
• Incomplete drawings and missing details.
Supplier selection phase
• Missing proposals (Suppliers did not provide the whole set of documentation with the proposal).
Material Procurement Phase
• Not enough money on hand.
• Unavailability of required materials due to increased demand.
Execution Phase
• Late deliveries of required materials (Materials do not arrive as scheduled).
• The delivered materials do not meet the specifications.
Post Construction Phase
• No possibility to return surplus materials to the supplier.
• No storage places for surplus materials.
2. The most essential component that could aid in integrating the MSCP project stages is the contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers’ understanding of the client’s goals and objectives.
3. It was found that it is essential to create a system for project participants to communicate and share project information in a timely and accurate manner.
4. 73.5% of the questionnaire’s respondents stated that corona virus has a huge impact on increasing the price of materials, while 24.5% affected occasionally and 2% never affected.
5. 42.9% of questionnaire’s respondents indicated that the pandemic has a big effect on the delay in due dates of material delivery in supply chain process during construction, while 40.8% affected infrequently and only 2% never affected.
6. The proposed framework promotes sharing project information and data among project participants as 90% of the responded contractors stated that.
7. 80% of the responded experts stated that the suggested framework promotes completing the project with desired quality.
8. 80% of the survey respondents agreed that the introduced framework stimulates resolving the problems in advance once they arise.
6.3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORKS
In order to cover more areas of the topic in this research, Additional topics might be investigated:
1. Extending the current research to include more case studies.
2. Implementing the proposed framework for supply chain process in road construction and obtain performance indicators.
3. Upgrading the proposed framework to include key performance indicators.
4. Investigating the factors that impede the application of the SCM.
5. Developing a website as an integrated project planning tool.
6. Researching to study management of inventories.
7. Studying Lean and Six Sigma process improvement projects that had been used to assist in the continuous improvement of Supply Chains.