Analysis and Strategic Measures to Avert Project Cost and Schedule Overruns in the Mineral Processing Projects : A Technology Provider’s Perspective
Chattopadhyay, Sourav (2024)
2024
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024051712845
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024051712845
Tiivistelmä
The world needs minerals, and as the shift to decarbonization and energy transition accelerates, minerals such as copper, lithium, cobalt, gold, and others may see enormous growth in demand. As the world’s supply chains strive to meet the rising demands, the mining industry finds itself in the limelight, required to deliver the commodities in a sustainable manner that is acceptable to the stakeholders. Mineral Processing projects require capital investments. In recent years, several mineral processing projects have been impacted during the execution phase, potentially leading to cost and schedule overruns, resulting in financial losses.
The case company in this thesis, a Finnish multinational organization, provides leading technology solutions, equipment, and services to the mineral processing industries that experienced cost and schedule overruns in their recent EPS and EPC projects. This thesis aims to identify the areas of weakness and make recommendations for improvements to avert cost and schedule overruns in the minerals processing projects executed by the case firm.
The thesis work followed the applied research approach to identify the business challenge. A current state analysis was conducted to analyze the case company’s existing processes and performance in their recent EPS and EPC projects. The current state analysis revealed four key weaknesses contributing to cost and schedule overruns, such as inaccurate cost estimations, changes in project scope during implementation, design errors in certain disciplines, and lack of earned value analysis. An intensive literature study was performed to collect ideas for resolving this weakness. The outcome of this thesis is recommendations based on the findings of the current state analysis, ideas found in the literature, and discussion with different stakeholders through the co-creation process. The improvement proposal was validated with the decision-makers in the case company, and future actions were recommended.
The case company in this thesis, a Finnish multinational organization, provides leading technology solutions, equipment, and services to the mineral processing industries that experienced cost and schedule overruns in their recent EPS and EPC projects. This thesis aims to identify the areas of weakness and make recommendations for improvements to avert cost and schedule overruns in the minerals processing projects executed by the case firm.
The thesis work followed the applied research approach to identify the business challenge. A current state analysis was conducted to analyze the case company’s existing processes and performance in their recent EPS and EPC projects. The current state analysis revealed four key weaknesses contributing to cost and schedule overruns, such as inaccurate cost estimations, changes in project scope during implementation, design errors in certain disciplines, and lack of earned value analysis. An intensive literature study was performed to collect ideas for resolving this weakness. The outcome of this thesis is recommendations based on the findings of the current state analysis, ideas found in the literature, and discussion with different stakeholders through the co-creation process. The improvement proposal was validated with the decision-makers in the case company, and future actions were recommended.