Relevance of modeling and simulation in the management of engineering projects

Project management is one of the most important and poorly understood areas of management. Delays and cost overruns are common in projects such as construction, power generation, defense, software, product development, etc. Project management is affected by problems relating to costing and scheduling. Changes in the design of customer creates costly ripple effects which in turn lead to delay and disruption throughout an entire organization. In most cases, errors made earlier in engineering projects are discovered close to the end which may require costly rework, expediting, overtime, hiring, schedule slippage or reductions in project scope or quality. Poor profitability, loss of market share and reputation, increased turnover of management and workforce, lower productivity and higher costs are some of the effects of such errors. Other consequences include divisive and costly ligation between customers and contractors over responsibility for overruns and delays. This paper describes in brief, the relevance of modeling and simulation in the management of engineering projects with a case study in the oil and gas industry. Key words: Engineering management, modeling, project management, simulation applications, facility management.