Capex Project Management

Executing projects is like conducting an orchestra. Various inputs, resources, equipment, decisions and corrective actions have to be brought together at the right place and the right time throughout the life of a project.

Unfortunately, uncertainties get in the way. Tasks take longer, vendors don’t deliver on time, technical glitches happen, requirements change and so on. As these uncertainties unfold, even the most carefully prepared plans go awry. Execution priorities become unclear (which tasks to do first) and unsynchronized (every department, every person starts prioritizing their tasks differently). Consequently, a project is mostly waiting for something or the other.

For example

• Waiting for resources because they have been assigned to other tasks.
• Waiting for specifications, approvals, materials, etc., because the supporting resources that were supposed to supply or obtain them were busy elsewhere.
• Waiting for issues to get resolved because experts are firefighting other issues.
• Waiting for decisions because managers have too much on their plates
• Waiting for all feeding legs of the project to come together at integration points.

As these wait times accumulate, projects become late, firefighting starts, and resources are pulled in multiple directions at once. Priorities keep changing and people are forced to multitask. Managers’ ability to control outcomes is compromised and they often suffer a near-total loss of control. They cannot predict when a project will finish because holdups keep happening; and they don’t know how much capacity is really needed because no matter how many resources they provide, resources are still overloaded while projects continue to run late.

The net impact is that projects take much longer than they should, deliver less scope than originally planned, and are costlier than they need to be. In addition, resources are less productive than they might be.

Some of the common issues we see in a typical large Capex Project environment include the following:

• Planning phase normally does not have a plan
• From time to time Local decisions are made without considering its global impact
• Design, Drawings iterations create “one sided shocks”
• Long lead time (LT) items are planned but short LT items are either not on plan or timelines are optimistic
• Priorities of most tasks in the execution phase is Urgent, Most Urgent and “Do it here and now” – decibel level resolution is a common approach
• Big items/tasks are waiting for the small ones
• Measurements drive behaviour – most progress is measured in volumetric basis and not time – many times a contractor gets paid after the designated volume is consumed and we notice the project is still not over.

What new directions could we look at?

• Primarily focus on early completion of project
• Provide adequate protection against uncertainties
• Ensure safety and quality of execution for full scope and within budget
• Does not warrant any additional investments
• Create a Win-Win situation for all stake-holders including EPC / Other contractors
• Complement existing initiatives taken by the Management
• Help to keep focus on right tasks with right priorities
• Drive the behaviour with simple & right measurements