The influence of technology on the development of partnership relationships in the Irish construction industry

Abstract

This paper investigates the potential for improvement in the construction supply chain management (SCM) given the current crisis in the Irish construction industry. The research was undertaken because of the need to improve productivity and tackle historical problems between main subcontractors and specialist subcontractors in the construction industry. The goal of the research is to present and analyse a case study of the fit-out of Terminal 2 in Dublin Airport, Ireland. It seeks to establish if specialist subcontractors are active participants in construction collaborative technologies (CCTs); contribute to the design process; are fully integrated into the supply chain and have longer-term strategic partnership as opposed to project partnership as an objective. The research found that subcontractor involvement in design development using CCT was crucial to the success of the project and that investment in collaboration technology would be a determining factor in the future success of the industry.