Increasing engagement with the supply chain to improve the performance of power sector projects

Global and complex supply chains are the norms on capital projects, particularly in the power sector, and better integration of the supply chain is an opportunity to improve project cost, schedule, quality, and safety. In that context, this research wants to identify opportunities that can improve the engagement with the supply chain in power projects and understand the potential of those opportunities to improve the project performance. Based on the review of existent literature and twelve open-ended phone interviews with industry experts representing different stakeholders, eleven opportunities were identified. Opportunities varied from framework agreement with suppliers and modularization to improvements in supplier's contracts and early design freeze. In order to determine the relationship between the opportunities and project performance, a survey was designed, and 30 responses were collected and analyzed. According to the respondents, all opportunities are viable for consideration and have potential to improve project performance, but early involvement of stakeholders, use of standard designs across projects, and better integration of suppliers in Advanced Work Packaging ranked in the top. Overall, the present work provides recommendations that mainly owners and contractors in the power sector can consider in order to improve the engagement with their suppliers. Companies should choose the opportunities that are better for them to implement based on their current involvement with the supply chain, their objectives, and their resources.