Supply chain management in the shipbuilding industry: challenges and perspectives

Abstract

Currently, one of the main challenges for most of the shipbuilding companies is to manage the activities performed by a network of suppliers worldwide. Empirical evidence shows that the lack of integration and coordination between partners of the same supply chain affects the quality and the delivery date. Supply chain management (SCM) has been proposed to manage the flow of material, information, and service through the supply chain. However, the literature has dedicated significant emphasis to the high-volume sector, while other sectors have been largely ignored. Different approaches for SCM should be considered according to the characteristics of each industry. Therefore, this paper was proposed to provide an understanding of the role of SCM in the shipbuilding industry. A review of the literature identifies the main concepts, principles, and methods of SCM, and a case study provides a discussion of the barriers to implementing them. The results showed that SCM in shipbuilding depends essentially on improving the relationship with suppliers and adopting appropriate information and communication technology (ICT).