The development of networks between engineering contractors and their clients: the special case of partnering

This paper sets out to show how partnering arrangements between engineering contractors in process plant contracting and their process industry clients have led to increasing collaborative contributions at the ‘front end’ of capital asset formation. Partnering arrangements are seen here as formalised long-term contracts between process plant contractors and their clients, intended to apply to engineering and other services in major capital projects over a number of years. While research does not appear to have been affected to a significant extent, partners seem to be interacting increasingly on process development and design. One outcome of partnering is to increase the contractors' involvement in their clients' overall business objectives. As a result of this change in the character of their services, contractors are more inclined to seek opportunities to improve plant efficiency, rather than following given specifications. This interaction of entities with a different focus and, to some extent, different skills is a potential source of innovation which to date has not been realised to any great extent.