A study of delays in procurement of engineered equipment for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects in India: a mixed method research approach

Abstract

The supply chain of the EPC industry operates predominantly in an engineered to order manner. Most of the equipment procured are specially made for the project as per the technical specifications laid in the contract. Due to this the lead time of these equipment are generally higher than products that are ‘out of the shelf’. Any delay in procurement of these equipment can have a cascading effect on the overall construction schedule. There is limited literature available on the procurement in the EPC industry. This paper thus presents a comprehensive review of the existing systems and practices for procurement of engineered equipment in EPC projects in India. The practices are analysed separating them into two segments, i.e. pre-order and post order procurement cycles. An exploratory sequential mixed method of research has been adopted for the purpose by taking inputs from Subject Matter Experts from different industries in the EPC sector. These inputs were in the form of semi structured interviews, which were analysed using the qualitative data analysis package NVIVO 10. A triangulation methodology has been attempted to validate the qualitative data collected. Finally a framework for improving the most significant of the delays in these projects has been presented.