Building blocks for capital projects: “Yet ‘platforming’ principles are being applied successfully even here. The companies involved treat a series of projects - sometimes lasting for five or ten years - as a portfolio, not as a series of individual schemes. The resulting shortened lead times, smaller inventories, and lower engineering, operating, and maintenance expenses are cutting the cost of the projects by as much as 30 percent, representing, in some cases, hundreds of millions of dollars. Furthermore, the uniform interfaces presented to operators promote safety by minimizing the risk of confusion.”

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