Interface-management process for managing risks in complex capital projects

Extremely large, complex projects with numerous geographically distributed stakeholders experience substantial risks related to the interfaces among stakeholders. This is particularly true during project definition and design, where despite discrete deliverables across the interfaces, decisions require some iteration. Managing interfaces has become feasible with the advent of internet and electronic product and process-management systems to the extent that full-time interface-management (IM) positions exist in practice. However, IM lacks formal structure, integration with critical-path-method scheduling, and methods to identify high-risk interface points (IPs). Throughout this paper, a graph-based algorithm is developed to identify key IPs in the network of IPs in a capital project. Furthermore, a new approach is discussed to link the key IPs to the interface milestones to identify schedule-related risks and mitigate their adverse impact. The functionality of the proposed algorithms is demonstrated in an offshore model project. The contributions of this paper provide foundational material for further research in IM.