Project Controls Archives

From Innovation to Execution: Delivering SMRs at Scale- SMR & Advanced Reactor 2026 | May 11–12 | Austin, Texas

May 7, 2026/in Conference, Nuclear, Project Controls, Project Management, SMR/by Elnaz Khaleghi

PTAG is proud to be a Silver Sponsor of SMR & Advanced Reactor 2026, taking place May 11–12 in Austin, Texas.

As SMRs move from concept to deployment, the industry’s biggest challenge is no longer technology. It is execution at scale.

At PTAG, we work alongside SMR developers, utilities, and EPC partners to improve project certainty through integrated delivery, stronger controls, and workforce readiness.

In addition to sponsoring the event, PTAG will lead a fireside chat:

“Ensuring Project Success: Scaling SMRs Through Advanced Project Delivery and Workforce Transformation”

The discussion will explore how the industry can address the key risks facing advanced nuclear programs, including cost and schedule performance, labor constraints, productivity challenges, and the need for earlier workforce development.

PTAG representatives Michael Dubreuil, Nick Revelas, Andrew Dewey, and Michael McBean will be participating throughout the event.

We look forward to connecting with industry leaders to discuss what it will take to deliver SMRs successfully and at scale.

PTAG at CNA 2026: Driving Project Delivery Excellence, Industry Collaboration, and Future Talent

April 22, 2026/in Conference, Nuclear, Project Controls, Project Management, Waste Management/by Elnaz Khaleghi

PTAG is pleased to be a sponsor of the Canadian Nuclear Association (CNA) Conference & Trade Show 2026, taking place April 28–30 at the Rogers Centre in Ottawa. This event brings together leaders and stakeholders shaping the future of nuclear energy in Canada.

As nuclear continues to play a critical role in Canada’s clean energy strategy, the industry is experiencing significant investment across refurbishment, new build, and emerging technologies such as small modular reactors. Delivering these complex projects requires strong governance, integrated project controls, and disciplined execution to ensure predictable outcomes.

As part of our contribution to CNA 2026, Michael Dubreuil, Managing Partner at PTAG, will be speaking on the Seasons Stage in a featured session titled “How Collaborative Project Models Are Shaping Nuclear Megaproject Outcomes” on April 29 from 11:15 to 12:00 EST.

In collaboration with the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, this session will explore how collaborative contracting and advanced delivery models are helping align stakeholders, improve risk management, and strengthen outcomes across complex nuclear projects. Using Canada’s Deep Geological Repository (DGR) program as a reference point, the discussion will highlight key principles such as early integration, shared governance, transparency, and joint accountability. Attendees will gain practical insight into how these approaches can enhance predictability, resilience, and public confidence.

PTAG is also proud to support the next generation of industry professionals as a sponsor of the Student Talent Collider at CNA 2026, in collaboration with Ontario Tech University. This initiative creates a dedicated space for students and recent graduates to connect directly with industry leaders, fostering meaningful conversations, mentorship opportunities, and real-world insight into careers in the nuclear sector. By supporting programs like the Talent Collider, PTAG continues to invest in building a strong, future-ready workforce.

We invite you to visit PTAG at Booth #228 to connect with our team and learn more about how we support successful outcomes across Canada’s nuclear landscape.

For more information about CNA 2026, visit: https://conference.cna.ca/

PTAG at the AACE International Conference & Expo 2025 – Anaheim , California | June 15-17

June 9, 2025/in Conference, Project Controls, Project Management/by Elnaz Khaleghi

At PTAG, our people are actively engaged in the conversations shaping the future of project delivery.

We’re proud to share that Jim Welsh and Victor Saavedra will represent PTAG at the AACE International Conference & Expo 2025 — a premier global event for professionals in cost engineering, total cost management, and project controls.

Whether it’s exchanging insights, tackling project challenges, or exploring new opportunities for collaboration, Jim and Victor are looking forward to connecting with fellow industry leaders.

Foresight and PTAG Webinar recap : Accelerate your major construction project delivery with AI – April 25, 2024

May 2, 2024/in Best Practice, Digital Transformation, Project Controls, Webinars/by Elnaz Khaleghi

During this webinar hosted by Tom Smedley (Foresight) and Patrick Dubreuil (PTAG), participants explored how AI, machine learning, and natural language processing can revolutionize construction project management. The session, focused on addressing common challenges like delays and cost overruns, was held on April 25, 2024, drawing a diverse audience of industry professionals eager to leverage technology for better outcomes.

PTAG leverages AI tools by blending it with our deep expertise in project controls and project management, ensuring a secure project context-centric approach to handling project complexities. By integrating the benefits of AI with the contextual expertise the PTAG team brings, enhances decision-making through predictive analytics and performance insights. This combination leads to improved project delivery by enhancing schedule adherence and optimizing resource allocation. By focusing on client-specific needs and outcomes, PTAG ensures that tools like Foresight not only support but also drive superior project performance and efficiency. This strategic combination underscores PTAG’s commitment to innovation and excellence in project management.

This is the recap video recording of the webinar, which was originally recorded on April 25, 2024

Want access to past webinars? Please visit: http://www.ptaginc.com/webinars

Stay tuned for future webinars and industry updates from PTAG!

Best Practices Webinar: Accelerate your Major Construction Project Delivery with AI

April 11, 2024/in Best Practice, Project Controls, Project Management, Webinars/by Elnaz Khaleghi

See a demo of how AI can help you execute projects faster

If your construction teams are suffering from delays and cost overruns on major projects, there is a solution. By applying AI, machine learning and natural language processing to project schedule data, you can unleash predictive insights about delay risks and work prioritization.

Join Foresight and PTAG on April 25,2024 at 11 am (EST) as we discuss best practices for how AI can improve your planning, execution, and risk recognition.

We’ll demonstrate how unlock the hidden value in your Oracle Primavera P6 and Microsoft Project data, including how to:

· Identify Priorities and Set Action Plans

· Collaborate with Diverse Stakeholders

· Recognize Risks and Bottlenecks

· Learn from Past Projects

· Enhance Schedule Reporting and Visibility

Attendees are eligible for a complimentary AI-enabled schedule health check!

See for yourself how quick and easy it is to overcome the shortcomings of legacy scheduling software.

15th Annual Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) North American Conference

September 19, 2023/in Conference, Events, Project Controls/by Elnaz Khaleghi

Advanced Work Packaging with the emphasis on the “A”

PTAG is proud to be a Platinum Sponsor for the 15^th Annual Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) North American Conference in Houston, Texas, on October 10 and 11, 2023.

This Conference is supported by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) and promises to be an insightful gathering of industry leaders and experts.

Come network with industry leaders. Historically owners, EPC, and contractors have constituted approximately 70% of the total attendees.

Some of the biggest global constructors, engineers and technology providers attend this conference.

This Year’s Program

This year’s conference promises to be bigger than ever with the following categories being covered:

AWP with the Emphasis on “A”
Breaking Research
Case Study
Data, Data, Data
Leveraging Technologies
Next Gen Project Delivery
People, People, People
Reducing Waste & Decarbonization

Big Names, Outstanding Network

PTAG’s Michael Dubreuil, Bruce Burwell, Keith Henson and Michael Mcbean are honored to be presenting in the following sessions:

Tuesday, October 10th, 11:30 am

Using the Big Room as a Tactical Command Centre for Field-based Planning Collaboration on Brownfield Projects

Speakers: Keith Henson & Michael McBean

Keith Henson

Michael McBean

Tuesday, October 10th , 3 pm

Next Gen Project Delivery

Speaker: Michael Dubreuil

Wednesday, October 11th , 10:30 am

Culture Change Through Adoption of Collaborative Behaviour

Speakers: Bruce Burwell – PTAG & Amy Cameron – OPG

Wednesday, October 11th , 11:30 am

Next Gen Project Delivery – A Deeper Dive

Speakers: Michael Dubreuil – PTAG, Fernando Espana – Construct-X, Mark Childerson – Garner, John Strickland – Collaborative Flow, LLC & James Choo – PPI

Who Should Attend?

Reach out to us ahead of time and let us know if you will be there. Hope to see many of you there!

Important Lessons learned from Modularization

March 16, 2023/in Best Practice, Project Controls, Project Management/by Elnaz Khaleghi

Modularization entails the large-scale transfer of stick-build construction effort from the jobsite to one or more local or distant fabrication shops/yards to exploit one or more strategic advantages. However, the construction industry has been slow to achieve high levels of modularization. It has reached a ceiling regarding the percentage of stick-built work hours being exported offsite. The research effort led to the development of five distinct solution elements:

Business case process
Execution plan differences
Critical success factors
Standardization strategy
Modularization maximization enablers

PTAG has industry-specific teams ready to address the question of what changes or adaptations in traditional project work processes are required to create an optimal environment for broader and more effective use of modularization. For successful modularization to occur, substantial owner involvement must occur early. The scope of research limited this team’s work to the industrial sector; however, its research findings may apply equally well to the commercial and infrastructure project sectors.

The following figure shows the lessons learned for Front End Planning, Engineering, Contracts and Procurement, Fabrication, Transportation, Site installation, and Staffing.

Planning For Modularization

January 31, 2023/in Best Practice, Project Controls, Project Management/by Elnaz Khaleghi

Planning for modularization is the evaluation and determination of offsite construction in the front end planning phase to achieve specific strategic objectives and improve the project outcomes. The process includes developing a business case and execution strategy for large-scale transfer of stick-built construction effort from the job site to fabrication shops or yards.

In order to achieve higher, more successful levels of modularization, industry and project
leaders should be attentive to the five different elements of the solution, as illustrated in the following picture:

Business case process
Execution plan differences
Critical success factors
Standardization strategy
Modularization maximization enablers

The modularization business case process should be applied at the earliest opportunity. Project teams should consider the modular approach the “default” approach in order to
allow the advancement of modularization in the industry

Industry-wide barriers continue to challenge the broad-based achievement of high levels of modularization. There are ten maximization enablers to act as counter-measures to these challenges and to accelerate modularization across the industry.

At PTAG, our industry-specific teams are ready to implement modularization on your project to enhance various aspects of project management, including time, cost, safety, quality, and productivity.

Lessons Learned Program (LLP)

November 15, 2022/in Best Practice, Project Controls, Project Management/by Elnaz Khaleghi

Lessons Learned (LL) is knowledge gained from experience, successful or otherwise, to improve future performance. Each company should develop a Lessons Learned Program (LLP) to promote success and achievement. The Lessons Learned Program involves the people, processes, and tools that support an organization’s collection, analysis, and implementation of validated lessons learned. People possess organizational knowledge. The procedures must be structured to allow people to collect, analyze, and share knowledge easily.

Overall, Lessons Learned Programs are essential to the construction industry. The key to achieving an effective and sustainable Lessons Learned Program is the degree of continuing commitment and leadership from the organization’s top management. Lessons Learned will become even more critical as employees age and retire and turnover increases. Additionally, globalization also increases the need for LLPs to ensure that an organization is able to address critical issues such as culture, language, distance, and diversity.

Every organization should move forward in developing or improving a lessons learned program.
Leadership, top-level and tactical, is the essential prerequisite for the success of these programs.
Organizations should become “teaching” organizations rather than organizations that only collect or learn from the past in an ad hoc or passive manner.
Organizations should adopt an active implementation strategy to ensure that lessons are used.
Although technology is vital in developing and using the Lessons Learned Program, the importance of organizational culture should not be underestimated.
The quality of lessons learned is more important than the quantity of lessons in the database.
Both owners and contractors can benefit from lessons learned programs. Necessarily, the captured lessons learned will be focused on different areas based on the organization’s business needs.

There are three main components to the Lessons Learned Program (LLP):

The collection involves gathering data and information on the experiences of individuals and teams in the organization. Collection can occur at multiple stages of project execution.
Analysis can be performed by a team or a subject matter expert (SME). This step is necessary to ensure the information gathered is relevant, correct, and easily understood.
Implementation can involve changes in practices and procedures or changes in the project execution. Lessons learned should be implemented quickly to ensure they are helpful for the organization.

PTAG has industry-specific teams ready to manage and organize this knowledge to benefit your organization in the form of a reduction of total project cost and/or reduction of project schedule.

Implementation Planning Model

November 1, 2022/in Best Practice, Project Controls, Project Management/by Elnaz Khaleghi

Once a new opportunity is identified, and an implementation path is laid out, the implementation process will result in the need for change. The implementation of new or improved practices is the driver for change management. Organizations face many challenges in overcoming barriers that come up during the implementation of new practices. An Implementation Champion will drive the implementation process with support and resources from upper management. Organizations face many challenges in overcoming barriers when implementing new procedures.

PTAG helps you to have a clear perspective on the overall stages required for the entire implementation process. A well-designed implementation plan will guide an organization to a successful outcome.

Follow steps that begin with needs analysis and end with implementation and benchmarking.

Stage 1: Needs Analysis – The Needs Analysis lays out the case for implementing a new practice. This case will need to be presented to both management and critical staff, so a compelling argument is required as an output of this stage.
Stage 2: Management Buy-In – The management buy-in will be based on the Needs Analysis developed in Stage 1.
Stage 3: Establish Steps – The Implementation Planning Model establishes four critical steps that will be followed during the implementation process. The third stage in the overall process requires one to understand these steps and develop an approximate schedule for the implementation process.
Stage 4: Adapt Matrix – In this stage, the implementation team must take the specifics within the Implementation Matrix and adapt the generic elements with organization specifics that address the unique requirements of the current implementation task.
Stage 5: Develop Plan – In this stage, the team will translate the details from Stage 4 into a plan that meets the specific organization’s requirements.
Stage 6: Communicate Plan – This stage requires the team to communicate the proposed implementation plan to both management and the proposed test group.
Stage 7: Perform Change Audit – The implementation team will perform a Change Audit that evaluates the readiness of the organization to undertake the implementation process.
Stage 8: Implement Tasks/Plan – The implementation team will now follow the tasks laid out in the implementation plan for each step of the implementation process. Each step in the process has a set of three to five tasks that are critical for success in that step.
Stage 9: Perform Step Evaluations – In conjunction with Stage 8, the implementation team will perform evaluations during each step of the implementation process to determine if the process is achieving the required goals.
Stage 10: Benchmark – The final stage in the implementation process is to benchmark the new practice internally and externally.