Digital twin technology drives shipyards forward

Siemens will provide the digital backbone for HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, creating a unified data environment to manage the entire vessel build process as a single digital flow across global shipyard facilities. 

“The selection of Siemens Xcelerator represents an important milestone in advancing HD KSOE’s digital shipbuilding strategy,” said Taejin Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Digital Innovation Office, HD Hyundai.

“By establishing an integrated digital platform that ensures consistency from design through production, we aim to address long-standing data discontinuity challenges and create a more structured and collaborative shipbuilding environment.”

Digital backbone

The initiative aims to eliminate data discontinuities between design and production while strengthening collaboration and execution of increasingly complex programmes.

Based on the Siemens Xcelerator open digital business platform, the Integrated Platform for Ship Design-Production Consistency will establish a continuous digital thread from concept through production.

Real-time connectivity across CAD, PLM, digital manufacturing, automation and simulation will enable shipyard planning, construction and modification to be validated virtually before physical execution, improving quality and reducing errors.

HD Hyundai will also deploy digital twin technology, including Siemens’ Digital Twin Composer, to build an industrial metaverse environment supporting model-based engineering, reinforcement learning and “physical AI” applications.

The phased rollout begins in 2026, with operational vessel integration targeted from 2028, spanning commercial vessels and specialised ships.