Page 385 - Practical Design Ships and Floating Structures

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Comparing the shipbuilding industry with others, which often in the public opinion are considered as
technology pushers, one fundamental difference becomes apparent. Taking complexity of the product
and time to market as parameters the following Figure 1 illustrates the problem.

POWER STATION
ER STATION
.- / PROCESS \
AIRPLANE
<TIMETOMARKET > /
CARS < THECHALLENGE 1
/
n- CARS-\
c COMPLEXITY
I

Figure 1: The Shipbuilding Challenge Figure 2: The Scalable Production Simulation Model

The high complexity of a modem Post Panmax container carrier, fully automated and with low crew,
or a large cruise vessel compares easily with that of a modem airliner or a large thermal power station.
However looking at the acceptable time to market the difference becomes evident: Time to market in
shipbuilding is minimal and driven by the owners competitive demands always decreasing.
The gap between the two curves - complexity and time to market - is as I call it the shipbuilding
challenge.
This challenge leads to the highest demands in concurrent engineering, design for production,
distributed manufacturing and in innovative project control and management systems. Prototypes are
not allowed. The prototype is the product. Zero Fault methods and processes are a necessity ('right first
time').

2 INNOVATIVE IT-SOLUTIONS
Whereas in the past the production of ships was a relatively sequential chain of individual events at
formally separate locations this is no longer possible in today's highly competitive market for various
reasons:
First and most important the clients have no time and want the product fast.
Second and for the shipbuilder more important - the shorter the building period the shorter
is the use of the very costly production facility and hence the resulting cost to the owner.
Simultaneous Engineering and Production (SEP) can be an answer but it is not enough. If the product
definition phase - traditionally called design - is considered to be the first instance of generating of
production related information, then it is obvious where and when the dialogue with production must
start. Such dialogue however is meaningless if it is based on sketchy drawings and vague descriptions.
This means innovative production methods require innovative early design Le. product definition tools,
based on consistent PDT.
Some years back the slogan "Design in Seven Days" (D7D) appeared. D7D means product definition
from initial idea to basic structural lay out including global FEM analysis and production scheduling in
seven working days. Today many researchers are trying to solve the underlying ambitions demand.
The link to production is simulation. Simulation in this context is the description of the total
manufacturing process including the resources and operations necessary for assembling, machining,
manufacturing and inspecting the product. This demands sufficient information about the product
structure and its components in order to enable the modelling of fabrication sequences and their