Modelling and simulation research for construction supply chains

Abstract

Simulation is a prominent research tool for Supply Chains (SC) in construction within the academia. However, there is a variety of approaches and definitions, which causes ambiguity, redundancy and discourages the real-world applications of simulation in the construction SC.This study aims to analyse simulation applications for construction SC. The method is a systematic literature review of 86 sources and is based on statistical content analysis. We analysed the application of modelling and simulation in construction SC by underlining the traits of both SC research and simulation. The study revealed a gap in the use of different simulation approaches for the construction SC research. There was a mismatch between the scope of SC research for construction and the level of complexity in the modeled system.We provide a framework for the evaluation of simulations and we propose a guideline for SC simulation studies.