Trust before contracts: how construction consolidation centers build effective partnerships with the suppliers they did not choose.

Dutch cities will absorb most of the country's population growth in the coming decade, and the construction sector has to build more there while cutting emissions, congestion and noise. Construction consolidation centers (CCCs) are one answer. A CCC is a hub near the city where materials from many suppliers are received, stored and bundled before they go to the building site in fewer, fuller trucks. Its logistics benefits are well studied, but far less is known about its partnership with the suppliers who deliver to it.

The EaSiCon project develops a digital twin that gives a real-time virtual representation of construction processes and their connected supply chains, supporting tactical and operational planning to improve efficiency and sustainability. This article presents research into supplier partnerships at CCCs, which examines which controlling and enabling practices make them effective. Controlling practices are formal tools such as contracts, standard procedures and performance monitoring. Enabling practices are relational ones such as trust, flexibility and shared planning. The study draws on interviews at seven Dutch construction companies that own or use a CCC.

A partnership the hub did not choose

Most supplier partnerships are voluntary. At a CCC the contractor picks the suppliers and signs the contracts, and the hub is expected to work with whoever turns up. The CCC often has no direct contract with the supplier at all, because its own agreement is with the project team. This indirect tie limits how far a hub can manage its suppliers.

Control stays basic

All firms have some contractual arrangement around CCC use and require suppliers to book deliveries in advance, since space and time slots at the hub are limited. Beyond that, formal control is thin. Deliveries are checked visually for missing items and damage, not for material quality. Systematic tracking of supplier performance appears in only a few cases, and suppliers usually cannot see the data that is kept.

Costs are also unsettled. Supplier tariffs have not been adjusted to fewer deliveries and fuller trucks, so it is unclear who receives the savings. Several firms want the CCC involved in the negotiation phase of a project to agree this up front.

Trust and flexibility do most of the work

Enabling practices outnumber controlling ones two to one. Six of the seven firms rely on open, informal contact. Problems are solved with a phone call or email, usually before the site notices, because the CCC holds a buffer of materials. Flexibility is treated as a necessity. Delivery timing moves with project phases, and suppliers of small items such as screws may deliver a full pallet at once instead of small boxes per floor. This preference reflects both the early stage of most CCCs and the relational culture of the construction sector.

Suppliers follow the benefits

Suppliers often resist a hub at first, fearing loss of control over their deliveries. That resistance fades once they experience shorter waiting times, fewer trips and full truckloads that avoid city traffic. Because construction deliveries are less optimized than retail distribution, these gains are visible and direct, so compliance comes largely from self-interest rather than pressure.

The largest untapped opportunity is strategic collaboration between the hub and its suppliers. A firm using the same kitchen supplier on four projects a year could agree pricing and delivery planning once. Most firms see this potential, but none has put it in place, mainly because contracts still run through the contracting parties.

Conclusion and recommendations

Partnerships between CCCs and their suppliers rest mainly on trust, flexibility and benefits suppliers can see for themselves, supported by a light layer of formal agreements. That base works, but leaves the hub little insight into performance or costs. Practitioners can strengthen these partnerships through:

• open, informal contact and a quick response to delivery problems
• clear communication of the logistical benefits to suppliers
• involving the CCC in the negotiation phase to agree tariffs
• structured supplier evaluations and standard delivery procedures
• strategic agreements with recurring suppliers across projects

Several of these depend on shared, reliable data. Delivery bookings, inspection results and supplier performance recorded in one place would let a hub move from ad hoc contact to structured coordination without losing its flexibility. This is where a construction digital twin can support the partnership between consolidation centers and their suppliers.

For more information, please contact:

Ragnar Klabbers

Ivo Agricola

Kees Jan Roodbergen

Michael Dienstknecht

Jeroen Laarman