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McKinsey Major Project Delivery

We bring an independent perspective to our clients that is aligned with their goals and unencumbered by competing interests of the numerous stakeholders involved with large capital projects. This distinct focus on successful economic delivery mitigates many frequent problems that lead to cost overruns or schedule delays on 90 percent of major projects, according to our research. Our teams—representing a unique combination of strategic advisors and senior practitioners with decades of hands-on experience—work alongside clients to create value and impact that other traditional project participants may miss or ignore.

Our work on more than $1.2 trillion in capital projects over the last decade has generated significant and lasting value for clients worldwide.

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What We Do

McKinsey’s business acumen, on-the-ground experience, and comprehensive knowledge of functional topics—such as organizational effectiveness, lean execution, supply-chain management, and risk management—uniquely positions us to support all entities involved in major projects, public- and private-sector project owners, investors, and contractors. We partner with clients across all aspects of project design and delivery and distressed project turnaround.

FEATURED EXPERTS

Filipe Barbosa

Senior Partner, Houston

Olivier Legrand

Senior Partner, Singapore

Filippo Rossi

Senior Partner, Paris

Project Delivery Expertise

Project Value Improvement

Procurement and Contracting

Project Execution and Assurance

Distressed-Project Turnaround

EXAMPLES OF OUR WORK

Identified $2 billion in savings opportunities for a megaproject operated by a large, state-owned railway system through project scrubbing and optimization techniques
Reduced costs by 10 percent and time by 10 to 25 percent for a large highway operator undertaking a $2.6 billion infrastructure project through process streamlining, optimization, and improved performance management
Reduced the schedule by 42 percent and costs by 10 percent for a new highway tunnel project through the application of lean construction principles and improved contractor management

FEATURED INSIGHTS

Article

Why the time is right to reinvent capital-project delivery

– What could your business achieve if your large capital projects were 30 to 50 percent faster and cheaper? The opportunity is more... real than you think.
Article

Collaborative contracting: Moving from pilot to scale-up

– Despite the early successes of collaborative-contract adopters, the industry remains hesitant. Five steps can help project owners... better envision the transition toward more collaborative approaches.
Report

Australia’s infrastructure innovation imperative

– For 30 years, Australia has helped lead innovation in infrastructure planning, financing, and delivery. New challenges now create... a need for change in prioritisation, design, and productivity.
Report - McKinsey Global Institute

Reinventing construction through a productivity revolution

– To transform the sector, action is needed in seven areas or through broader adoption of mass-production approaches.

New at McKinsey Blog

Blog Post

McKinsey launches new Sustainable Materials Hub to accelerate the net-zero transition across value chains

– Companies utilizing steel, cement, and more have pledged to reach net zero—but face major challenges. Our new hub will meet the urgency and promise of the moment.

FEATURED CAPABILITIES

We have proven management approaches and proprietary tools that support project owners, designers, and contractors:

Control Tower

A McKinsey proprietary tool used to develop business cases aligned with owners' long-term strategic objectives. It enables rapid and effective decision making by performing analyses of the progress, economics, and risk associated with the project.

McKinsey Investment Readiness Assessment (MIRA)

A McKinsey proprietary stage-gate tool that evaluates five dimensions of a megaproject—technical issues, execution requirements, market factors, political and regulatory concerns, and organizational capabilities—against five readiness criteria—degree of project definition, degree of project optimization, quality of risk assessment, maturity of planning for the next stage, and adequacy of resources—to ensure readiness for funding the next stage of development.

Related

McKinsey Capital Project Ventures

We partner with project owners and investors to pair capital with commercially viable infrastructure projects.