De-risking through Collaboration
Wrench Talk
Why Capital Projects Fail,
It’s Not Engineering.It’s Execution
In this episode of Wrench Talk, industry experts Coleridge Shelley , Stephen Petch, Sajith Nair , and Chimbu Vazhoor share practical insights from decades of EPC project experience. They discuss why capital projects face delays, and how disconnected systems limit visibility—while exploring how integrated project management can improve execution and project predictability.
Key Topics Covered
Many capital projects fail due to poor coordination, fragmented planning, and late visibility into risks. When teams work in silos, issues remain hidden until they impact cost, schedule, and project delivery.
Project schedules may look accurate, but execution depends on deliverables, approvals, and materials. When updates happen manually or late, the schedule stops reflecting the real progress on site.
Construction teams often reach site without drawings, permits, materials, or equipment ready. Without proper work packaging and readiness checks, crews wait instead of executing productive work.
Engineering, procurement, and construction are deeply connected. When these phases operate in isolation, delays in one stage silently disrupt downstream activities and slow overall project progress.
Project information is scattered across spreadsheets, emails, ERP systems, and scheduling tools. This fragmentation creates coordination gaps and prevents teams from identifying issues early.
Traditional project management tools focus on schedules and reports rather than real deliverables and field readiness, making it difficult for teams to see the true status of execution.
Featured Practitioners
Chimbu Vazhoor
- 25 years of industry experience
- Roles in Project Controls, Contracts, Estimation & Business Strategy, AI and digital transformation
- Oil & Gas | New-Energy | Infrastructure | Marine
- UK | Middle-East | APAC
Coleridge Shelley
- 35 years of industry experience
- Roles in Digital transformation, Operations & Project Management
- Water & Wastewater | Oil & Gas | Power | Petrochemical | Sugar
- India | Europe | Middle East | APAC
Sajith Nair
- 34 years of industry experience
- Roles in Project Controls, Planning, Estimation & Project Management
- Oil & Gas | Power | Petrochemicals | Refining | Infrastructure
- India | Middle-East
Stephen Petch
- 34 years of industry experience
- Roles in Project Management | Project Control | Quality | Procurement | Contracts
- Mining & Metal | Petrochemical | Infrastructure | Building | Materials Handling
- Canada | Australia | South America | South Africa | Ghana