A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO TURNKEY IMPLEMENTATION

Holistic means emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts. Turnkey has become a hot topic in the transportation industry lately; a successful turnkey contract benefits everyone - the contractor, the contracting agency and the public at large. With a turnkey implementation, the contracting agency passes the reponsibility for project, technical, schedule and cost management to the turnkey contractor. With these added risks comes the potential for greater rewards, if the contractor adapts to the new role. Unfortunately, all project participants may be tempted to manage and implement the turnkey project in the same manner as a traditional capital project. This paper recommends a paradigm shift from the traditional contract implementation. In order to maximize success on a turnkey project, the contractor needs to retain detailed knowledge of the project components while gaining an understanding of how to manage the project on a holistic level - as a whole, not an aggregate of system parts.