NGEE ANN POLYTECHNIC

MARINE & OFFHSORE TECHNOLOGY

DESIGN FOR PRODUCTION

1.0 GENERAL

The approach to design for production involves the integration of design and
production by bringing teams of engineers and designers from different disciplines
working together to consider all elements of the product life-cycle from design through
delivery, including quality, cost, purchasing, planning, material control and other
factors. The aim is to reduce production cost and improve productivity. The CADCAM
system can be used to integrate the design and production to achieve a more
streamlined and productive design for production. The system allows the engineering
staff to improve design to suit the production methods and facilities of the shipyard and
provide information of material, planning and operating stages of construction.

Some of the techniques used in design for production integrated with CADCAM
system are:
 Standardisation
 Design based on available shipyard facilities
 Hull structural design to facilitate outfitting

2.0 TECHNIQUES USED IN DESIGN FOR PRODUCTION INTEGRATED

WITH CADCAM SYSTEM

2.1 Standardisation
Standardisation in shipbuilding as applied in several steps, beginning with elementary
components, assembled units, and ultimately a complete ship design. Since the
shipbuilding market is likely to continue to be characterised by varying and individual
product requirements, a standard ship series may not be feasible. Consequently, efforts
at design standardisation should be concentrated at the component, subassembly, block,
and outfit unit levels.
Shipbuilding standards may be classified in two groups. These are basic standards and
standard drawings. See Fig 2.1.1
The basic standards include material standards and engineering standards. Material
standards cover raw material such as steel grades; basic component such as steel plates
and sections; standard fittings such as valves, hatches, doors and ladders and standard
units such as drawing symbols and conventions.
Engineering standards cover design, production engineering and inspection. Design
standards include item such as stiffener profiles, brackets and plate edge preparation
types. Production engineering standards describe the procedure of production work
such as cutting, bending and welding. Inspection standards detail procedures for
accuracy control, testing and inspection.
Standard drawings show typical sub-assemblies and outfit units that may be used
directly on new designs or as guidance in preparing new drawings based on standard
approach. Fig 2.1.2 is an e.g. of standard drawing for a structural assembly.

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2.2 Design Based On Available Shipyard Facilities

Detail information of the yard layout, workshops and machines are to make available to
the engineering staff. The availability of this information at the computer would allow
the designer to quickly ascertain the capabilities of a particular machine or the
constraints of a workshop. For example, the facilities information would indicate the
cranage available, the types of transport possible, floor area available, size of doors and
openings, etc. In the preparation of plate nesting, the designer could easily access
information on the flame-cutting machine and would organise the nesting to take
maximum advantage of the machine.
In essence, all the production design of the ship take maximum advantage of the yard
facilities and machine and to be incorporated those information in the design.

2.3 Hull Structural Design To Facilitate Outfitting

Modern shipbuilding technology employs integrated hull construction, outfitting, and

painting to improve productivity. The outfit work is to be carried out at the earliest
stage to reduce costs and make work much easier. Consequently, many hull features
and block boundaries may be determined in consideration of outfit convenience. The
following are same methods applied to hull structure and block to facilitate outfitting.
 Block joints for engine room double bottom blocks are located above the grating
level, so that fitting can progress in these congested region to the fullest extent
before hull erection, and space does have to be reserved adjacent to block joints for
access during erection welding. See Fig 2.3.1.
 As much as practical, blocks, particular for engine room flats, are to be positioned
for right up to facilitate outfitting on deck. Blocks are placed upside down to
facilitate downhand outfitting on ceilings. See Fig 2.3.2.
 To facilitate fitting pipe penetrations on-block, shelf plates (portions of bulkheads
or decks) are provided. See Fig 2.3.3.
 Beams with less depth are used to facilitate fitting pipe runs since man-hours saved
more than compensate for the thicker beam plates required, as compared to those
for beams designed only from a strength viewpoint. Also small tanks for equipment
are designed to be independent of hull structure. See Fig 2.3.4.

3.0 CADCAM

A CADCAM system for shipbuilding is a combination of hardware and software where

the user interacts this system through the computer terminal, designing for production
from start to finish, while coordinating with the complete shipbuilding system. Such a
system is shown in Fig 3.0. Information from the design and production functions is
available and transmitted via a common centre database, which may include a 3D-

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product model. Applying the CAD features, the designer may construct a geometric
model, perform engineering analyses, produce drawings and work instructions.
Employing the CAM functions, the user creates numerical control (NC) instructions,
controls robots, performs process planning for the entire construction process, and
coordinates with a shipyard management system. Purchasing and material control are
also coordinated through the common database.
There are many integrated ship design CADCAM programs. TRIBON is the most
widely used system in large shipyards worldwide.

Numerical Control (NC): It implies control of a machine by means of a programmed

tape or computer file on which are recorded, the data needed to permit the machine to
automatically perform a task. Can be used to control cutting of plate, bending of pipe,
bending of frame, forming of plate.

Nesting: The individual parts have various shapes and for production purposes there is
a need to arrange these parts in such a way so that they may be cut from a rectangular
plate with the minimum amount of scrap. See Fig 3.1.

Applications of CADCAM include the following:

 Create direct numerical control (DNC) data for use as instruction for flame cutting
machine for marking and cutting of plates and stiffeners
 Perform interactive nesting or automated nesting for ship parts with sequential
numbering.
 Provide pin-jig data for assembly of curved hull panels. A table of pin-jig heights
could be generated.
 Provide information on shell plate development.
 Create bending templates.
 Provide painting areas and required paint quantity calculations for selected
assemblies.
 Provide weights and centre of gravity (CG) data of assemblies for lifting and
transport purposes.
 Provide pipe bending sketches or isometrics with material lists.
 Provide bending data presented as tables or as direct file input to NC bending
machine.
 Provide cable length requirements and cable installation information.
 Provide robot interface for cutting and welding of plates, stiffeners, pipe.
 Provide welding data, precise weld path, weld sequences, calculate weld parameters,
select weld processes.

Advantages and benefits derived from the use of CADCAM system.

 Improved design team access. Design data entered in the CAD system could
readily be called up on terminals for review by team members.
 Increased productivity. Much redundant work could be eliminated by relying on
model libraries for such items as background arrangements, standard details, and
equipment models.

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 Development of production work drawing and information. As soon as a CAD
model was developed and interference checked, it could be used for extraction of
construction drawings. Full production information and material needed to support
a particular work operation could be obtained.
 Improved interference checking. The CAD systems could control modeled object
at all points in space, and detect interference at all levels.
 Improved computer-aided manufacturing. The product model can be used to
prepare databases, which in turn provide instructions to shop machinery for
marking, cutting, and bending of plates, sections and pipes.

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Ref: 1. Richard Lee Storch (Author), Colin P. Hammon (Author),
Howard McRaven Bunch (Author), and Richard C. Moore
(Author), (Second Edition in 1995), Ship Production, United
States of America, Cornell Maritime Press
2. D. J. Eyres (Author) and G. J. Bruce (Author), (7th Edition in
2012), Ship Construction, UK, Elsevier Ltd