An agent-based framework for supply chain coordination in construction

Supply chain coordination has become a critical success factor for supply chain management (SCM) and effectively improving the performance of organizations in various industries. Coordination refers to the integration of different parts of an organization or different organizations in supply chain to accomplish a collective set of tasks and to achieve mutual benefits. This paper defines the concepts of construction supply chain (CSC) and construction supply chain management, especially regards construction supply chain management as the coordination of interorganizations decision making in construction supply chain and the integration of key construction business processes and key members involved in construction supply chain. Much research and practice indicate that there still are many problems in construction, most of which are supply chain problems. The research analyzes the problems in construction supply chain. In order to resolve these problems and improving the performance of construction, an agent-based framework for construction supply chain coordination is designed based on the agent technology and multiattribute negotiation and multiattribute utility theory (MAUT). The framework, which integrates the construction organizations in construction supply chain and multiattribute negotiation model into a multiagent system (MAS), provides a solution for supply chain coordination in construction through multiattribute negotiation mechanism on the Internet. Finally, the prototype of the framework is developed and tentatively run based on an imaginary construction project. The trial run reveals the feasibility to implement the agent-based framework for coordination in construction.