Starting with the assumption that engineering is predictable leads to the conclusion that the problem is the engineers. They need to learn to predict better. Engineers are sent to project management school and return claiming they need more people to do all the new paperwork. Being generous and naive, management gives them the extra people. Then, management stands back and observes outcomes.
Projects experience the same delays that they experienced in the past.
The fundamental flaw in this perspective is that duration of any individual engineering task is actually highly uncertain. It has to be, because you have never done exactly the same thing before. If you schedule a downstream activity on the basis of the average duration of the preceding activity, you will always be disappointed. The preceding activity will virtually never be completed at the expected time. Sometimes it will be ready early, and will have to wait for the next activity.