The shipbuilding industry in the United States stands at the crossroads of major changes in the global marketplace (1). The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Ship Production Committee Panel 4 (Design / Production Integration) is launching a major project to examine the best computer technology to assist yards to enter this new marketplace. This paper reports on the progress to date and especially the initiating national conference held in May 1992.
The introduction of integrated computer manufacturing in shin production will involve- more than linkage of separate automated ship production processes. It will create major changes from delivery. design through This paper presents the results from a three-part project: (1) a manufacturing literature survey of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) and supporting technologies, National Science (2) a Foundation (NSF)-sponsored Workshop on CIM in ship production, and (3) research and development recommendations to facilitate CIM in ship production.
In the current severely competitive climate that is challenging shipbuilders everywhere, how information is managed is taking on extraordinary importance. Existing computer aided design (CAD) systems have not been focused on the most critical information needs, for example, information to serve marketing. This limitation is the result of concentrating primarily on aspects of design and manufacturing without regard for impact on an overall manufacturing system. In this paper the need to extend CAD systems is identified so that they would more fully provide critical-data to everyone who has to have understanding of a manufacturing system's capability and availability.
The use of Computer Aided Design (CAD) technology in the U.S. Navy and Marine industry has evolved from a drafting based design tool to a 3-Dimensional(3D) product oriented information base, used for design, production and service lift support. One of the most significant enhancements to current CAD technology has been the incorporation or integration of non-graphic attribute information with traditional graphics data. This expanded information base or product model has enabled the marine industry to expand CAD use to include such activities as engineering analysis, production control, and logistics support. While significant savings can be achieved through the exchange of digital product model data between different agents. current graphics based CAD data exchange standards do not support this expanded information content.
The production of large FRP vessels for military missions is underway in shipyards throughout the United States. These vessels. in many cases, can be built to commercial standards using guidelines already in place. These guidelines are developed through interfaces with private industry and experienced production personnel. By binding the builder to a set of military specifications which detail the entire production process the vessel cost of construction is increased.
In October 1989, A Ship Design for Producibility Workshop was held by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) at the David Taylor Research Center (DTRC). The purpose of the workshop was To develop the framework of a plan to integrate producibility concepts and processes into the NAVSEA Ship Design Process. The major recommendations of the workshop included initiatives related to increased training of NAVSEA design engineers in modem ship production concepts, development of producibility design tools and practices for use by NAVSEA design engineers, improved cost models, implementation of produability strategies for ship design process improvements, modification to existing acquisition practices, and improved three-dimensional (3-D) digital data transfer. The workshop was one of NAVSEA s first Total Quality Leadership (TQL) initiatives and was subsequently expanded into the Ship Design, Acquisition and Construction @AC) Process Improvement Project. This paper reports on the major findings and recommendations of the workshop, the near term accomplishments since the workshop, and the long range strategic plan for continuously improving producibility in the Naval Ship Design Process.
The shipbuilding industry in the United States stands at the crossroads of major changes in the global marketplace. The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Ship Production Committee Panel 4 (Design/Production Integration) is launching a major project to examine the best computer technology to assist yards to enter this new marketplace. This paper reports on the progress to date and especially the initiating national conference held in May 1992.
A number of descriptions of systems of performance measurement have been published, and more work has been carried out recently to develop their use for estimating purposes. One of the key problems is that most of the systems described rely on a systematic database which is built up from analysis of a stable production system. Currently such stability is the exception rather than the rule for most shipbuilding companies. The paper reviews the problem, focusing on global measures which can allow overall performance to be assessed, and also on work station performance. It considers the relationship between the global and local measures and proposes a method which would allow performance to be established readily. A method of planning for an improved performance in the future, but during the life of existing contracts is also proposed.
In the mid 1960's the Computer Aided Ship Design and Construction project office, located in the Naval Ship Engineering Center, was chartered to apply computer aiding techniques to all phases of the naval shipbuilding process. After the aerospace industry's success in developing a productive wiring data system and an in-depth NAVSEC sponsored study at three designated naval shipyards of the cabling/wiring flow process during installation design, it was determined that a similar system should be developed for naval ship design and production. Because there are significant differences between wiring an aircraft and wiring a ship, a direct conversion from one application to the other was ruled out. In 1965 the Westinghouse Electric Corporation was selected to develop a system of computer programs for processing the flow of electrical and electronic cabling/wiring information used in ship construction. This system was to address the entire process of installation design of equipment on board any Navy ship. This included, such functions as cable routing, hanger selection, penetration design, planning and estimating supporting documents and the equivalent of all the necessary wiring plans. The C/W System is now being implemented at Norfolk and Long Beach and is scheduled for implementation in the other naval shipyards. This system is the first of what the author hopes will be a large number of computer aided ship design and construction programs to be developed and implemented by the Naval Sea Systems Command. It is expected that by applying these systems deliberately and diligently in an integrated shipyard modernization program, the total benefits of electronic data processing can be obtained, thus producing a better ship faster and at a lower cost.
