RT-440 Cross-Industry lessons to advance capital project delivery
Launched: 2026 (Kickoff at the CII ARC, 2026) - Expected Completion: 2028 (with a one-year initial phase to be extended based on success of the first year)
Research Questions and Objective
Investigate how other industry segments engineer and execute projects and products with the goal of identifying opportunities for step change in planning, engineering, and execution of capital projects.
Question: What are the core principles and practices adopted for project and product engineering and production/execution in key industry segments (including but not limited to aerospace, automotive, shipbuilding, commercial construction, and military projects) that can be translated to the unique requirements and constraints of heavy industrial capital projects?
Background
CII members desire to identify ways to drive step changes in the industry by looking at how different industry segments structure their business and production processes.
Hypothesis
Capital projects can achieve improved predictability, scalability, and performance by adopting product-oriented, industrialized production principles from adjacent industries—when those principles are properly translated to the capital project context.
(Expected) Outcomes
Cross-industry cases (using primary data rather than literature review only) published as cases are completes (2+ in year 1, and 2+ on year two)
Paper with strategies and insights for the capital projects industry
Presentations that CII can use to position these ideas in events across different segments
Scope
Dimension | Included | Not Included + Notes |
|---|---|---|
Industry Segments (served by results) | Heavy and Light Industrial, Buildings, Infrastructure | All segments are considered initially. Those best aligned with specific approaches will be identified as part of the work. |
Industry segments to be explored | Six segments in Year 1 (list to confirm). Industrialized construction reframed as industrial buildings and architecture. Year 2 deep dives selected via an applicability framework. (Updated 10/26/26) |
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Relation to CII past research | Shipbuilding research How new concepts integrate/connect to CII practices? | Detailed workflows on how concepts work with CII practices |
Technology awareness scope | TBD | This is not a project about management software or specific IT topics. |
Core concepts (potential) | Productization, Modularization, Standardization, governance models, delivery models, supply chain integration (each of which may become a dimension of the project), Configurators (parametric models), DfMA. | Product Interim Database (past research) |
Production System Boundaries | “Production system” boundary to be defined at the 11/20/26 workshop. |
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Unit of analysis | Industry segment: product or project (e.g., F150 project) |
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Validation |
| Quantitative validation of the impact of proposed approaches |
Methodology
Step | Data/Inputs | Analysis/Methods | Results | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Year 1 |
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| 2 | Scoping and Industry Selection | Lit. Review Interviews (AI and traditional) | Selection criteria TBD Selection method TBD | Selected segments (1-3) OR is it products/projects? Guiding questions |
| 3 | Segment exploration | Selected segments/products or projects (?) Guiding questions Interviews Walkthroughs? Segment exploration template (segment, strategies, why used, how long) | Case study methodology TBD Qualitative analysis / tagging method TBD | Context qualifiers Enablers/inhibitors Productization / Production methods Barriers
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| 4 | Definition of Production System Framework | Initial cases | Workshop (process TBD) | Framework to guide the data collection phase |
| 5 | Cross-segments / cross-case analysis | Individual segment data Production system framework | Method to identify impact on capital projects TBD Diffusion characterization criteria and methods TBD
| Production method with highest potential for capital projects Necessary changes Short publications (by case of segment) Summary matrix for all segments Characterize diffusion potential across CII segments |
| 6 | Synthesis | Step 5 outcomes |
| Document with short overview per industry segments (or alternatively by production system aspect). |
| 7 | Yea 2 |
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| 8 | Deeper Case Study | Selection criteria Initial case studies Additional data Data collection framework |
| Deeper case Studies |
| 9 | TBS | TBD |
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| 10 | Framework Development | TBD |
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Milestones
Kickoff meeting: July 2026
Research Forum: April 2027 (Austin, TX)
Year one papers: August 2027
Final report outline: January 2028
Final presentation: July 2028
Roster
See the official roster on the RT webpage at the CII website