Supply chain integration opportunities for the offshore wind industry

Abstract

Purpose This paper surveys the literature on supply chain integration (SCI) to identify the state of research in the various types of studied industries and manufacturing environments. The purpose of this paper is to identify academic discoveries that could provide offshore wind projects with means to overcome their current supply chain challenges. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive literature review was conducted involving 162 articles published in 29 peer-reviewed journals. The papers were analyzed in terms of the dimensions of SCI, research methodology, unit of analysis, level of analysis, type of industry and manufacturing environment being studied, integrative practices, integrative barriers and the link between SCI and performance. Findings While SCI has been evolving to become an influential topic in the field of supply chain management, scholars have overlooked industrial contingencies by ignoring the differences between the studied industrial contexts, especially project-based manufacturing environments. The present review also reveals that no study of SCI has been conducted on the construction of renewable energy projects. Another finding is that case studies and research articles using networks as a unit of analysis are underrepresented. Originality/value This is the first work to advocate for an industrial contingency approach in the analysis of SCI. Thus, it proposes the offshore wind farm-construction industry as a potential study subject to broaden the knowledge in SCI in project manufacturing environments.