The End of Project Overruns

Abstract

Applying the principles in this book unleashes ingenuity that achieves, solidifies and perpetuates a new performance culture of mutual benefit. In this culture, project teams will prepare their work in task packages and enable workflow necessary to leave inefficiency of time and resource, literally, no place to hide. Project examples will help teams implement the principles that shorten cycle times, eliminate error, improve quality and reduce costs to succeed in meeting project commitments. Emerging Lean enterprise relationships between clients, EPC contractors and their entire supply chain will advance what constitutes the new, market-differentiating performance of individuals, project teams and companies - justifying high levels of trust and inter-organizational efforts to improve.

Client executives will learn to recognize root causes of risk and sources of excellence to mitigate them. Well-developed strategic improvement is often constrained because the traditional way - current means and methods - fit squarely in everyone's comfort zone. By learning to ask the right questions, top-client leadership will soon render overruns from the best traditional systems as "not-good enough" and strive for a new level of excellence. EPC executives will better engage creative voices from their best resources and stakeholders to resolve all concerns and define a unified vision for how to deliver on clients' expectations without overruns during capital project delivery. Lean methods will effectively assure that vision, principles and best expectations are understood and implemented at the workface.

Department, discipline and stakeholder leaders will align and no longer frustrate each other and their clients. They will plan and execute with increased efficiency and effectiveness. Cost reduction will accelerate, retaining only client-valued quality - enabling a nimble response to market opportunities and threats.

Project and program managers will confidently accept intense, market-induced cost and schedule-reduction efforts. They will apply new metrics, measure potential and extract, align and pilot improvements. They will make workface progress transparent to simplify resource balancing, full utilization and workface flow during all project phases. The results will differentiate team members and their project's performance on the world stage.

Project professionals and the skilled labor force will gain confidence to make and keep increasingly difficult commitments and experience thereby increasing opportunity in an organization known for excellence. They will fully engage heart and mind for leaders who expect excellence and they trust to enable and reward best practice performance while they jointly eliminate root causes of problems before they happen.

This book guides readers through each essential role for the transformation to Lean...not just at the lowest levels but of the entire business model and all the supporting processes. Resulting market recognition of sustained excellence of people, their systems and they way they work together will create a market-leading force.

About the Author

Robert M. Patty, P.E., M.B.A., Ph.D., civil engineering, currently serves as an advisor and mentor for company leaders seeking to implement the principles and systems of rapid improvement. He served as a constructability/Lean consultant for PetroCanada, Saudi Aramco and BP and recently, as KBR's constructability technology chief and Lean program manager worldwide. He has personally led implementations on major capital projects in the United States, Canada, Venezuela and Nigeria.

Michael A. Denton, M.S., petroleum engineering, M.S., economics, currently manages the Assurance, Interface, Risk & Management of Change team on Angola LNG, a $9.2 billion project for Chevron Global Technology Services Company. He developed skills and gained experience in petroleum engineering, Lean project management and leadership working for Amoco, BP and Chevron Oil & Gas companies in asset development and delivering major capital projects in Alaska, Kuwait, Korea, Europe, Africa, South America, the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.