Supply Chain Integration

Offshore wind power plants have faced an exponential increase in demand in a relatively short period of time, which is a situation that poses challenges to the industry’s supply chain. Industrial players have called for the application of supply chain management practices to increase the efficiency in the flow of materials and information in the offshore wind industry (OWI), with the aim of making it more efficient compared to established and mature power sectors.
Supply chain integration (SCI) refers to the strategic collaboration among companies with the aim of increasing the performance of the supply chain network. Academic findings highlight the positive effect on the performance of industries when the various practices, attitudes or patterns of SCI are observed and properly implemented, although little is known about the influence of these concepts in construction projects and more specifically in the OWI.
This research work seeks to find how the OWI can apply the academic knowledge of SCI to increase the availability of offshore wind energy by means of a better integration of the industry. The main research question of this dissertation is: How can the offshore wind industry integrate its supply chain to expand the supply of this source of renewable energy?

Although some of the dimensions of supply chain integration in large-scale manufacturing environments might have similar applications in projects, some others might be unique to the context of large construction endeavours e.g. relationship management, information integration and information sharing.

Identification of the dimensions of SCI that are present in the process of transforming from Boeing being an air-plane manufacturer into a systems integrator.