Transforming the Industry: Making the Case for AWP as a Standard (Best) Practice

When properly implemented, AWP supports substantial project performance improvement. AWP implementation depends on the accomplishments of three prerequisites during the implementation process: (RS319-1, p. 7)

1. Process adherence to prescribed AWP guidelines
2. Organizational alignment within the project management team on AWP deliverables
3. Contract integration of AWP procedures among key project participants

Prior research by RT-272 conceptualized three incremental levels of AWP implementation maturity, and the Maturity Model characterizes these stages in terms of work processes and required capabilities, recommending a stepwise progression through the levels to achieve full AWP benefits. (RS319-1, p. 21)

1. AWP Early Stages
2. AWP Effectiveness
3. AWP Business Transformation

Companies have introduced AWP for the first time, possibly on a pilot project. Companies have adopted prescribed guidelines and procedures, either to test their effectiveness for limited portions of the project or to fulfill a stakeholder requirement to adopt AWP. A potential barrier at this stage is top management commitment, so a key point is that AWP adoption is initially a top-down process that is expected to generate aversion to change.  (RS319-1, p. 28)

AWP becomes part of the project strategy at this stage of maturity, including part of major stakeholder’s contracts, aligning payment and control activities with the various engineering and construction deliverables. Companies achieve major performance improvements, consistently bringing down budget and schedule estimates.
(RS3109-1, p. 29)

Organizations within this group have acquired substantial AWP maturity and have mastered and implemented AWP procedures across multiple projects at once. For example, organizations as this level of maturity have: (RS319-1, p. 30)

• Project Setup and Execution – Written practices and procedures, change management systems, engineering and construction work packages, scheduling, and progress measurement are all in-place.
• Construction Focused – Well thought out CWP (construction work plan), materials delivery dates integrated into schedule, and effective construction input during FEP are all in-place.
• Integrated Date Systems – Statusing systems, constraint analysis, checkout and startup practices, and IWP (installation work packages) are all in-place.

RT-319 developed a list of AWP lessons learned (IR319-2, p. 22). The five most frequently occurring AWP lessons learned are:

1. Include AWP in contracts
2. Involve key project participants early on in the project
3. Fully adhere and commit to prescribed guidelines and procedures
4. Use IT integration
5. Structure IWPs by discipline

IR319-2, Validating Advanced Work Packaging as a Best Practice

This resource presents detailed descriptions of AWP adoptions at various levels of maturity and within different project contexts. These are provided to support any organizations planning their own implementations and as a supplement to the detailed guidance in IR272-2.