Global by Design

By David Einstein
Photographs by Pablo Bartholomew/Getty Corporate Assignment

Whether it’s a liquefied natural gas facility in Australia, an aluminum smelter in Iceland, or a power plant in Arizona, Bechtel’s big industrial projects these days tend to have one thing in common: much of the engineering is performed by the company’s fast-growing office in New Delhi, India.

In fact, the office handles about half of the detailed design work (and sometimes more) on most projects for the Power, Mining & Metals, and Oil, Gas & Chemicals business units. It also provides procurement and construction support to projects worldwide.

By virtue of its location thousands of miles from other Bechtel offices, New Delhi gives the company the ability to work on a project around the clock. For example, when engineers at Power headquarters in Frederick, Maryland, are going to sleep, the staff in New Delhi is starting its day.

“New Delhi is a critical part of our global execution strategy,” says Ed Richardson, who heads up engineering at Bechtel. “Half of our revenue comes from outside the United States, and to compete in a global marketplace, we must be able to work on projects in multiple offices.” Bechtel India began life in April 1994 when a core of personnel from Bechtel London set up an office in a New Delhi hotel suite. But if its size was small, its goal was big— to develop a high-value, multidiscipline center supporting projects worldwide. Within eight months, the fast-growing operation moved to an office in the city’s central business district. The following year it moved again to its present location in the New Delhi suburb of Gurgaon, where it now occupies two low-rise office buildings a few minutes’ walk apart.

By the end of 1996, the New Delhi office boasted more than 270 employees and was working on a number of major projects, among them the big Jamnagar refinery and petrochemical complex in Gujarat, western India, a power plant in England, and an international airport in Dubai.

Starting in the late 1990s, Bechtel experienced a surge in new business in the power sector, and New Delhi played a key role. Over the past six years, New Delhi engineers have worked on nearly two dozen power plants in the UK, Mexico, Turkey, Australia, the United States, and elsewhere.

Today, the New Delhi office boasts close to 600 workers—more than 400 of them engineers drawn from throughout the country. By the end of 2005, the number of engineers is expected to hit 600 as the office gears up for a number of new projects, including a big gas development expansion in Abu Dhabi. That’s in addition to a number of current projects, including LNG processing plants in Australia and Equatorial Guinea, an aluminum smelter in Iceland, a carbon anodes plant in Norway, an oil recovery project in Algeria, and power projects in Wisconsin and Arizona.

“Because of New Delhi’s long history with multiple global business units, the engineers there are very familiar with the work, so they’re able to take on a high percentage of technical content,” says Richardson. “And we have high confidence that when they do, it will be a first-class project. The level of energy and technical competence of the New Delhi engineers is outstanding, and they’re very passionate about their work.”

Engineers in New Delhi use 3D computer modeling, state-of-the-art collaborative software, and a high-speed, high-capacity network to work seamlessly with other Bechtel offices. “We also align our efforts to ensure that responsibilities and authority are clearly defined,” says General Manager Laxman Odedra.

“We normally have two, three, or four places executing work on the same project, so good communication is crucial,” says Odedra. “Our people are highly trained and motivated, and they’re taught to communicate well through performance-based leadership training.”

The New Delhi office uses a variety of globe-shrinking communications tools, including extensive video conferencing. There’s also plenty of face-to-face communication—New Delhi provides construction, field engineering, and start-up support to projects worldwide. “It helps the project understand our work, and it lets our guys see the results,” says Odedra.

New Delhi is just one of a number of Bechtel design centers that handle engineering for projects worldwide. The Power business unit has its main center in Frederick, Maryland; Oil, Gas & Chemicals does engineering in Houston and London; and Mining & Metals has its centers in Montreal and Brisbane.

The New Delhi office also helps projects around the world by procuring goods and services from vendors in India, and this year the office began providing craftworkers from India’s labor force. For example, some 120 Indian workers are currently helping build the Equatorial Guinea LNG project.

No Bechtel operation would be complete without a strong commitment to Six Sigma, and New Delhi is no exception. Everyone there has had training in the data-driven approach to process improvement, and the office boasts a Six Sigma black belt, a master black belt, and 15 champions, along with 75 yellow belts and nine green belts.

Six Sigma has led to a number of process improvements. For example, a New Delhi team found ways to reduce dramatically the number of engineers who must travel to other design centers for front-end work, as well as the time they must spend at the centers before returning to India.

It all adds up to success—which is what happens, says Odedra, when you combine good people, efficient work processes, and the latest technology.

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