New Age Technology & EPC

Now that the EPC industry is finally catching up to digital technology, we are just beginning to incorporate a plethora of exciting innovations into the project management process. These include drone-driven monitoring and Artificial Intelligence. Many companies wonder: how do cutting-edge technologies fit into our space? How can EPC organizations benefit from emergent technologies? Is the excitement justified?

Yes, it is justified, especially in construction-heavy projects. But there’s a caveat. 

Technology is an aid, not a miracle cure. It should be used intelligently, along with other changes at the organizational level in terms of the work process, work culture, approach to planning and execution, and other big and small changes that will together resolve the problems faced by EPC companies. Regardless of technology, the foundation (on which the entire project management process rests) must be strong, with or without new technologies. That has not changed. What foundation? Clear definition of the scope, good (and proactive) planning, an efficient method of measuring & monitoring progress, a reliable way to collect and share project status information, a smooth way to collaborate among stakeholders. These are the cornerstones of successful project management. If these cornerstones are not in place, you cannot leverage all these new emerging trends and technologies. 

The age of Data

Consider: if your data repository isn’t based on accurate historical data, what is the point of having all the new technologies? Without reliable data, what you plan and forecast will not be realistic. 

In the same vein, you could easily miss the AI bus just because you don’t have enough data to analyze. If you don’t have enough data to analyze, you won’t be able to implement corrective action-taking. So being able to manage (i.e., capture, store, access, analyze and communicate) your data effectively should be the first step when it comes to leveraging new technologies. 

For example, these days there’s a lot of talk about how drones “see” construction, meaning that people are using drones to monitor construction work on the site. They use image processing systems like 3-D cameras//? and so on, hooked up to the drones. Now, you could have the best tool to capture the “actual” status of work, and yes, that means you don’t need to put in a lot of manual effort to know the status at the site, which is great, but is only one part of the equation.

We have seen projects getting delayed even after using drones to monitor things at the construction phase. During the design phase, if the required drawings are not available, statutory approvals are not available, materials are not available, the workforce required for construction was not planned, etc., then construction delays are likely. As boring as it sounds, new technology is not a shortcut to everything, despite the hype. The reality is, there’s simply no point in having a very efficient system to monitor your construction unless the planning was done properly, and the execution – which you are monitoring – is going on as planned, drone or no drone. 

The role of new tech

The reality is this: if you have planned well, you can be hopeful that particular work will get done. The work will get executed only when you have the latest revision of approved drawings, have all the materials received and accepted for installing, have manpower and machinery mobilized at the site, have all the preceding sequential activities completed and have necessary permits received from concerned authorities. That is why you need to understand your requirements for each of these activities and plan in detail. This is where advanced work packages evolved; you plan for a package, then monitor the package against the plan and document it and make it available in the right mix for the stakeholders in real-time. This is where technology is aiding the project managers. 

In conclusion, it is great that EPC projects are opening to new technologies like drones and AI. Used right, and in conjunction with cross-functional digitization across the entire project planning, execution and monitoring process, such tools could very well be the final piece of the puzzle for the Project Managers to arrest schedule slippages.