Mobilizing the skills of specialist firms to reduce costs and enhance performance in the European construction industry: two case studies

Analyses are made of procurement strategies capable of leading to cost reduction and higher quality through the contribution of specialized firms. An exploration is made of the literature concerning the procurement of manufactured goods and progress by analysing two case studies: the East Bridge of the Storebælt link and the Grand Canal Maritime bridge. Both these projects adopted procurement systems that led to a learning process capable of enhancing performance and reducing overall costs. It is evident that the success of learning-oriented procurement strategies relies on two major conditions. First, the client's tender must be issued with an open design demanding an active contribution from the firms involved in the construction process. Second, the firms bidding for the job must be able to manage two distinct sets of skills: the technical skills relating to a specific production process and the ability to connect these skills to the client's needs through a co-design process, or what is known as the strategic intermediation function.