Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
route from among traditional, construction management, management
contracting or design-and-build is necessary to reduce the barriers that
impede the use of SCM.
Concluding remarks
PSE applies much of the economic theory highlighted and the issues
identifi ed in this chapter, by seeking to balance supply and demand.
Through anticipating impending demand, the supply side is in a strong
position to plan and mobilise resources to meet that demand effi ciently.
Timing and communication are the keys to this approach. Allowing
supply enough time to respond, and ensuring that demand does not
completely dictate the parameters for supply, helps to match needs to
capacity, thus enabling an amicable and engaged supply chain to meet
a well-measured and communicated demand.
The following chapters set out the PSE management model that has
been delivered on the two largest construction programmes seen in
the UK in recent years. Individually they represent a mobilisation of
resources not seen in the UK since the Second World War. That is not
to say that Purchase and Supplier Engineering (PSE) is applicable only
to large-scale construction programmes or projects; it applies equally to
smaller programmes and portfolios of projects. This topic aims to inform
the industry of a new way of thinking and approaching construction.
The approach is equally applicable to construction clients and tier 1
contractors, as they are both buyers of supply chains for multiple
projects, and they both rely on successful businesses in the supply chain
to deliver value.
However, this topic does not claim to solve all problems and neither
is it the sole source of success on large programmes. It represents a
starting point and offers a complementary process to established project
management, contract administration, cost management and other tra-
ditional construction management techniques. Neither does the topic
advocate a completely new discipline. Procurement and supply chain
management should still form part of any project or programme deliv-
ery. PSE only takes procurement and SCM to a more strategic level
and integrates these approaches to form the client's viewpoint for the
delivery of several projects and to enable the sharing of project informa-
tion across a programme or portfolio of projects for the mutual benefi t
of all.
