Integrating supply chain and critical chain concepts in engineer–procure–construct projects

The present practice of Engineer–Procure–Construct (EPC) projects in the engineering and construction industry receives many criticisms and requires improvement. This paper examines the nature and characteristics of EPC projects with special interest in project procurement management. An enhanced framework for procurement is proposed by coupling the concepts of Supply Chain Management and Critical Chain Project Management, with the latter drawing ideas from the Theory of Constraints. The proposed framework broadly embraces three streams of approaches, namely, cultural, process and technological. Special attention is given to a systems approach of buffer management as a mechanism to improve the management of uncertainty in procurement.