Top 4 Challenges EPCs Face—and How to Solve Them

Engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) projects represent some of the most complex undertakings in the industrial sector. From power plants and refineries to manufacturing facilities and infrastructure projects, these large-scale initiatives demand precise coordination across multiple disciplines, often spanning continents and involving hundreds of suppliers.

In this high-pressure environment, effective logistics management isn’t just a support function—it’s a critical success factor that can make or break a project.

Based on extensive experience supporting EPC projects worldwide, there are four main fundamental challenges that consistently impact project outcomes. More importantly, there are proven strategies to address them. This guide explores each challenge in depth and provides actionable solutions to help safely deliver on time and on budget.

Challenge 1: Meeting aggressive project schedules

EPC projects tend to run on razor-thin timelines with interdependent tasks across engineering, procurement, and construction phases.

A single delay—such as late material delivery or equipment availability—can ripple through the schedule, jeopardizing milestones and triggering costly penalties. Freight tied to the critical path is especially high-risk because any delay can stall the entire project.

Consider a gas turbine destined for a power plant—its late arrival doesn’t just delay turbine installation; it can halt electrical work, control systems integration, and ultimately plant commissioning. The ripple effects multiply quickly. Construction crews sit idle. Scheduled windows close. And liquidated damages accumulate, sometimes reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars per day.

The challenge intensifies when you factor in the global nature of EPC supply chains. Major equipment often originates from specialized manufacturers located thousands of miles from the project site. Ocean freight, customs clearance, overland transport, and final positioning all present potential challenges. A single misstep—whether it’s port congestion, documentation errors, or equipment unavailability—can derail months of planning.

The solution

Meeting aggressive EPC schedules requires a logistics approach built on four pillars: visibility, flexibility, proactive management, and collaboration.

Real-time shipment visibility

Transparent and up to date shipment data enables teams to align freight movements with construction milestones and identify potential issues while there’s still time to respond.

Flexible transportation solutions

When critical path items face delays, having immediate access to expedited transport options—air freight, dedicated trucking, or multimodal solutions—can prevent schedule slippage. The key is having these alternatives ready to activate, rather than scrambling to arrange them in crisis mode.

Predictive analytics and proactive planning

By analyzing historical data, weather patterns, port performance, and carrier reliability, logistics teams can anticipate disruptions and adjust routing or timing before delays materialize. This might mean rerouting shipments away from congested ports, booking capacity during peak seasons well in advance, or building buffer time into high-risk segments.

Collaborate on sequencing

Regular coordination meetings where all involved parties review upcoming deliveries against construction readiness prevent the common scenario of materials arriving too early (creating storage and handling issues) or too late (causing schedule delays).

Challenge 2: Maintaining safety and regulatory compliance

EPC sites are inherently high-risk environments. Heavy equipment operates continuously. Hazardous materials require specialized handling. Multiple contractors work in close proximity. Oversized loads carefully navigate through active construction zones. In these complex settings, poor logistics planning doesn’t just create inefficiency—it creates danger.

The consequences of safety failures extend far beyond immediate accidents. Non-compliance with strict regulatory frameworks risks fines, delays, liquidated damages, intense scrutiny from oversight agencies, and reputational damage. All this can cause insurance premiums to skyrocket, but most critically, people can be seriously injured or killed.

Mission-critical freight compounds these challenges. Consider the logistics of delivering a 150-ton transformer to a greenfield site in a rural area. The route may involve dirt roads that weren’t designed for such loads, passage through residential areas with strict noise and traffic ordinances, or navigation around overhead utilities. One miscalculation in route planning or load securing can result in equipment damage, road destruction, or worse.

The solution

Safety-first logistics requires specialized expertise, rigorous protocols, and unwavering attention to detail.

Specialized handling and secure transport

Oversized or overweight loads require specialized flatbed trailers, escort vehicles, and operators trained in heavy-haul transport. Hazardous materials need carriers certified for such cargo, with proper containment systems and emergency response capabilities. Route surveys should be conducted in advance to identify clearance issues, road weight limits, and potential hazards.

Integrated compliance and safety checks at every stage

Verify all shipments meet international shipping regulations, carriers maintain proper certifications, packaging meets handling requirements, and documentation is complete and accurate. For hazardous materials, this means ensuring proper classification, labeling, and manifesting—not just for regulatory compliance, but for the safety of everyone handling the shipment.

Onsite logistics coordination

Designated delivery windows prevent multiple large shipments from arriving simultaneously. Clear staging areas keep materials organized and accessible without creating obstacles. Traffic management plans route delivery vehicles away from active work zones. Unloading procedures should be planned and communicated before trucks arrive, to ensure the right equipment and personnel are ready.

Risk mitigation strategies

Risk mitigation should include thorough carrier vetting (reviewing safety records, equipment maintenance programs, and driver qualifications), contingency planning for potential incidents, and insurance coverage appropriate to the cargo value and risk profile. For projects in remote or undeveloped areas, special attention must be paid to final-mile routing requirements. Working with local agencies to understand ordinances can prevent costly delays and safety incidents.

Challenge 3: Managing supply chain complexity

Every EPC project is unique. While the core processes of engineering, procurement, and construction remain consistent, each project features distinct specifications, locations, timelines, and challenges. This uniqueness creates profound supply chain complexity that can overwhelm even experienced teams.

Consider the variables at play: dozens or hundreds of suppliers across multiple countries, each with different lead times and reliability profiles; constantly evolving engineering drawings that trigger equipment changes; weather events that disrupt construction schedules and shift material timing; fluctuating crew availability that accelerates or delays installation readiness; regulatory changes that impact permitting or import requirements.

This dynamic environment makes traditional supply chain approaches inadequate. Static plans created during project initiation quickly become obsolete. And limited visibility into freight movement means problems are discovered too late to be solved effectively. The result is often a reactive approach that creates cost overruns, schedule pressure, and frustrated stakeholders.

The solution

Managing EPC supply chain complexity requires the ability to provide consistent visibility, processes, and expertise even as project conditions shift.

Consistent visibility and reporting

Create a single source of truth across all inbound shipments. An advanced transportation management system (TMS), like the C.H. Robinson customer platform, consolidates data from multiple carriers, modes, and regions, presenting project managers with clear, current information on every shipment, enabling data-driven decision-making rather than reactive crisis management.

Experienced teams with scalable contingency plans

Seasoned logistics professionals who specialize in EPC projects understand the common failure points and have developed playbooks for rapid response without extensive deliberation. 

Proactive escalation protocols

Rather than waiting for shipments to be late, effective providers monitor leading indicators—production delays, port congestion, carrier capacity constraints—and escalate potential issues while there’s still time to implement solutions. This might mean switching carriers, changing modes, or adjusting delivery sequences.

Visibility and proactive supplier management

By integrating with suppliers’ systems or requiring regular status updates, project teams can gain visibility into the entire order-to-delivery cycle, not just the transportation segment. Use technology and a TMS to monitor inbound orders, consolidate shipments, and optimize modes. Proactive auditing and compliance tracking can help identify issues early, minimize variability, and reduce costly last-minute expedites.

Challenge 4: Controlling costs in a volatile environment

EPC projects face a perfect storm of cost pressures. Long timelines mean projects planned during favorable economic conditions may be executed during downturns—or vice versa. Global sourcing exposes projects to currency fluctuations, regulatory shifts, and tariff changes. Not to mention, transportation markets experience their own volatility, with capacity constraints and rate increases during peak periods.

These variables create significant budget risk. A project that looked financially viable during planning can quickly become marginal or even unprofitable.

The challenge intensifies when balancing cost control against schedule imperatives. While standard ocean freight is economical, it may not be fast enough for critical path items. While consolidated shipments reduce per-unit costs, they may delay delivery of items needed sooner. While domestic suppliers may cost more, they could reduce lead times and eliminate import complexity. These trade-offs require sophisticated analysis and judgment.

The solution

Cost control in EPC logistics requires balancing multiple objectives: maintaining budget discipline, ensuring schedule adherence, all while meeting quality and safety standards.

Customs expertise and advanced technology

Experienced customs brokers can classify goods correctly, apply available duty reductions or exemptions, and ensure documentation meets all requirements—preventing costly delays and penalties.

Optimized routing and mode selection

For critical path items, paying a premium for faster, more reliable transportation may be the most cost-effective choice when considering the potential costs of delays. For non-critical items, slower, less expensive options make sense. The key is having accurate data on which items truly drive schedule risk and which have flexibility. Many projects overuse expedited shipping because everything feels urgent. Data-driven prioritization enables teams to focus on premium services where they matter most.

Data-driven insights

By analyzing past projects, teams can see which suppliers consistently require expedited shipping, which routes encounter delays, and which commodities face lead time variability. These insights enable better planning in future projects—perhaps leading to different supplier choices, building in longer lead times, or arranging backup capacity.

Successful EPC projects don’t happen by accident

EPC logistics presents formidable challenges, but they’re not insurmountable. By understanding the core issues, project teams can dramatically improve outcomes.

The common thread across all these solutions is the value of collaboration with logistics providers that genuinely understand EPC projects. This isn’t about finding the cheapest freight rate or the fastest transit time in isolation—it’s about working with teams that understand how logistics integrates with engineering and construction, know what it takes to balance multiple objectives simultaneously, and can bring both sophisticated technology and hard-won experience to the table.

By addressing these four fundamental challenges with comprehensive strategies, your organization can deliver projects that meet schedule commitments, maintain exemplary safety records, stay within budget, and exceed stakeholder expectations.

For personalized support and tailored logistics solutions, connect with our experts to ensure your next EPC project is a success.