Finnish shipyards invest in IT

Both Kvaerner Masa-Yards and Aker Finnyards have embarked on substantial information technology investments. Masa-Yards has acquired a 3D CAD system for basic ship design from the Spanish supplier Sener Ingeneria y Sistemas. Its Foran 50 software will be tailored to meet the customer? demands and once in place, it will be used at 140 work stations at its shipyards in Turku and Helsinki. The total renewal cost is FIM20 million (about $3 million), which includes both hardware and software as well as research and development programs. The system will allow all departments to work on-line on a single 3D model using the same software. Masa-Yards officials say this is probably the first time a cruise ship builder has such a capability in basic design. On September 10 Aker Yards began using the Internet-based ShipyardXchange purchasing system at its yards in Norway and Germany. It says it will introduce it at Aker Finnyards in Rauma soon. The intention is to streamline the purchasing process and to facilitate communication between buyers and sellers. It is not meant to be an electronic product catalogue.