Transcript Document
THE IMPACT MEGA PROJECTS
HAVE ON IN-PLANT
PROJECT EXECUTION
Paul G Williams
19 June 2013
Houston, TX
INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
Owners in today’s chemical and hydrocarbon process
industries have aggressive expansion plans
Incorporates additional yearly capital spending and
several mega-scale expansions
Resurgence driven by low energy costs –contributes
to over 50% of production cost for most facilities
BACKGROUND
Major expansions, new facilities and increased
maintenance are draining available engineering,
construction and fabrication resources
Mega projects draw resources from small in-plant projects
and plant based technical/operational organizations
Large projects also suffer from lack of skilled
resources from project management level to craft
worker
BACKGROUND
Problem deepens when project drivers are defined by
business goals to achieve completion date during
high price cycles
Forces organizations to implement
execution strategies without
understanding complications that
would occur (compared to
conventional execution)
Example: the fast track execution
Requires level of organizational maturity and rigid and
detailed planning from early project phase to completion
PROJECT IMPACT
Plant based project resources must plan and manage
projects out of range of their experience level
Concepts are similar
Volume of data & complex interfaces is overwhelming
Traditional decision-making processes /communication
lines not structured to address management’s need for
decision-making details required on mega projects
PROJECT IMPACT
Plant based practice of going to local alliance
contractors does not always work
Typically focus on small, in-plant, project workload and do
an excellent job
When overstretched, they struggle to execute quality
deliverables in a timely manner
Pricing is also an issue
REALIT Y
Resources experienced in planning /executing
complex projects tend to cost 12% to 17% more per
man hour than plant-based counterparts
Large-sized projects warrant experienced team
members
Typically comes with high price
Needs to be planned for accordingly
OPPORTUNIT Y
Good time to become a Project Manager (PM) from a
demand standpoint
PITFALLS
Unfavorable time to become a PM from
a guidance standpoint
Minimal mentorship
Thrown into a plant-based PM role soon after being hired
No time for honing skills through execution of various
day-to-day roles /responsibilities
Expected to manage with 1 - 3 years experience rather
than 10–15 year maturation process that once existed
Can be excellent plant-based project PMs, but with
limited “battle wounds” and lessons learned, may
have difficulty being successful on major projects
TRENDS
Owners sometimes hire Project Management
Contractors (PMC) as Owner representatives
Not always a successful tactic
They believe this addresses lack of owner personnel in key
project positions
PMCs are usually EPC contractors who are unfamiliar with
Owner role
ADDRESSING THE ISSUE
Effectively executing mega-scale project in a plantbased environment can be achieved
As in any project, planning is key
Knowing what skills are available
Identifying gaps that exist
Understanding what drives our projects
Identifying how success is measured
These plans will NOT look similar to those of 10
years ago!
ADDRESSING THE ISSUE
Innovative methodologies need to be developed to
allow execution of projects in resource-constrained
environments
Innovative contract strategies are required to capture best
available resources
Pricing realities need to be built into baselines
Realistic schedules are necessary to communicate
achievable results
Validated cost estimates are required to assure cost
expectations are able to be met
Resource plans need to be better defined (but may not
match traditional organization charts)
CONTACT INFORMATION
Stephen L. Cabano
Pathfinder, LLC
[email protected]
www.pathfinderinc.com
Corporate Office
11 Allison Drive
Cherry Hill, NJ 08003
P: (856) 424 – 7100
F: (856) 424 – 6414
Calgary
Cherry Hill
Gulf-Coast Office
16225 Park Ten Place
Suite 500
Houston, TX 77084
P: (281) 292 – 5655
F: (281) 419 – 9977
Houston
Mexico City