A Portal-based Web Service Framework for Construction Supply Chain Integration and Collaboration

The benefits of integrating and collaborating with supply chain partners have been well identified in many industries. In the construction industry, however, supply chain integration and collaboration is challenging due to the high fragmentation and the temporary project-based nature of the industry. Leveraging web service and web portal technologies, we have developed a prototype web service system to facilitate communication, integration and collaboration among project participants in construction supply chains. The system SC Collaborator implements a service oriented portal framework and provides a secure, modular and flexible solution for managing construction supply chains. This paper presents the service oriented portal framework, the orchestration of services in the framework, and the system architecture of SC Collaborator. A project rescheduling scenario is employed to demonstrate the potential value of SC Collaboration in construction industry applications.