Coming together with technology

As yards move into the next Millennium the desire of shipbuilders – faced with an increasingly competitive market – is to increase efficiency and productivity. One prime aspect that will need attention is the prospect of developing separate CAD systems into fully integrated management systems.

Many shipyards currently employ a wide variety of methods ranging from specific and limited sub-systems through in-house developed CAD/CAM software. However, the future is unlikely to reside in either of these extremes for yards which wish to continue in business. Although development of in-house systems led to a sharp improvement in productivity at yards such as Japan`s Hitachi Zosen Ariake facility some 20 years ago, these are no longer at the leading edge of technology.

For such yards the choice is limited; either they invest in the re-development of their own in-house software or they buy in a shrink-wrapped solution. Some yards have consistently amended different parts of their systems, while others have opted to purchase various programs intended to meet a specific need.

However, a major challenge is to decide on the best strategy for implementation of a CAD/CIM system. Despite the varying claims by different manufacturers few, if any shipbuilders, are likely to try implementing a system from a single manufacturer to meet all their requirements. While this may be a possibility in the future it will take some time for software manufacturers to develop the ultimate, all-encompassing solution.

Notes Kockums Computer Systems: “There is a need to allow the use of different software systems within one integrated platform to meet a particular yard`s needs. Although we want to develop Tribon to be the leading system, and try to compete as much as possible we also see places where our system is linked with that of other companies.”

According to Sener the main reasons behind the need to develop integrated systems are that delivery times are now much shorter, while the amount of engineering work has increased considerably. In addition all yards, especially those in developed countries, have, in many cases dramatically reduced their core staff.