ProBuilder.com Professional Builder 23
SUPPLY CHAIN RELATIONSHIPS
T
he relationship between any home building operation
and the building products supply chain is critical to
delivering new homes on time and on budget. So we
asked home builders and general contractors nationwide to
share their preferences about working with their supply chain
partners, and we asked manufacturers, retailers, and others
along that chain to offer their insights about builders as well.
The results show a great deal of alignment in terms of prod-
uct knowledge, local availability of products and installation
labor, and who’s responsible for making product specifi ca-
tion and purchasing decisions—all good signs that the supply
chain is already serving its home builder partners well.
Among the areas for improvement is a greater respect for a
builder’s time; either enough to adjust to price increases and
delivery schedules, or timely resolutions to product-related
problems or mistakes. Builders and suppliers still tend to
point fi ngers at each other when things go wrong, the former
blaming a product’s inherent design for poor performance,
the latter leaning toward installation errors.
“I think the savvy manufacturers and LBM dealers will in-
vest more time and energy into ensuring their outside sales
reps are well-trained on new products that can save their cus-
tomers time and money,” says Rick Schumacher, editor and
publisher of LBM Journal, which cosponsored the research.
“The construction supply industry is extremely competitive,
and smart dealers know they’ll succeed only to the extent
they help their builder customers succeed.”
We’ve selected and illustrated several aspects of the survey
data; for more info and greater depth, go to probuilder.com
and our social media channels.
By Rich Binsacca, Editor-in-Chief
Here’s what builders and building products suppliers say about what’s working and
what’s not in their construction products supply chain relationships
[EXCLUSIVE RESEARCH]
METHODOLOGY AND RESPONDENT INFORMATION: Professional Builder conducted a short
online survey among our home builder and general contractor readers from May 17 to June 14,
2019, collecting 245 responses. We also issued a separate yet similar online survey, in conjunction
with LBM Journal , to building products manufacturers and their supply chain members, receiving
99 responses in the same time frame. Thanks to Builder Partnerships for sharing the builder survey
with its client network and to Home Innovation Research Labs for reviewing the survey questions
to further improve the response rate and quality of results.
SELECTING THE SPEC
In your home building company, who most often decides which
products are used in your homes? (5 = MOST OFTEN)
4.03
Building company owner or general manager
3.22
In-house purchasing manager
3.16
Homebuyers
2.85
In-house construction manager
2.67
Architect/designer
2.52
Installers/trade contractors
2.2
Suppliers
2.21
In-house sales managerAs a supplier, who is your primary contact to specify products?
3.81
Home building company owner
3.47
Trade contractors/installers
3.27
Builder’s purchasing manager
3.25
Builder’s construction manager
3
Supply chain network
2.65
Architect/designer
2.44
Builder’s sales managerWhile nearly 47% of builders rated the company owner or
GM as the most infl uential product decision maker, that
role among others on the team was mixed; the infl uence of
construction and purchasing managers, for instance, was
evenly distributed from least to most often, while the role of
design and sales professionals was usually slight. Most likely,
homebuyers given the authority to make product selections
are custom home clients, though overall, consumer infl uence
is one aspect suppliers may want to consider going forward.