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White Paper

Integrated Product Development in Shipbuilding

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21st Century Mandate for Global Shipbuilding: Build A Collaborative Design, Visualisation and Manufacturing Environment
Abstract
Shipbuilders across the globe are facing a number of strategic pressures, including a mandate to deliver ships within shorter timescales, increasing complexity and modularity in ship design, and more restrictive environmental laws, not to mention the on-going demand to lower initial build and operating costs. One effective strategy being used by leading shipbuilders to solve these issues is to collaborate more closely with partners throughout the supply chain. Today, fully secure partnering environments connecting customers, shipyards and sub-contractors are a common feature of modern naval shipbuilding, and are now an emerging trend in the commercial shipbuilding market as well. This paper discusses the key collaborative capabilities that are required for shipbuilders to meet todays complex design and build challenges of both naval and commercial shipbuilders. It presents the benefits to shipbuilders of adopting a collaborative design, visualisation and manufacturing environment, and illustrates this solution through detailed case studies from a number of leading naval and commercial shipbuilders.

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1. Introduction: Need To Integrate Collaboration and Development Tools Across The Supply Chain
Todays highly advanced product development solutions such as 3D CAD (computer-aided design), enterprise data management, and enterprise visualisation tools, are commonly being deployed within a single shipbuilding organisation for effective design and build. The next logical step is for shipbuilding firms to integrate these tools across their supply chain, to gain even greater process efficiencies and cost-savings. However, when considering supply chain and whole ship integration across multiple organisations, there are a host of issues preventing the effective integration of these tools. In particular, these roadblocks include:
The complexities of information exchange between shipyards and

GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS CAD PLM DMU TCO A&D IP ITAR LPD OEM IGES STEP DXF 3DXML BOM SSN SSBN Computer-Aided Design Product Lifecycle Management Digital Mockup Total Cost Of Ownership Aerospace & Defense Intellectual Property International Traffic In Arms Regulations Landing platform dock Original equipment manufacturer International Graphics Exchange Specification Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data Data Exchange Format XML file structure supporting 3D data Bill(s) of materials Ship Submersible Nuclear Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear

sub-contractors, and the need for defined and effective workflows

The potential range of information to be managed, such as

CAD documents, manufacturing instructions, work packages, operating manuals, and in-service support considerations
The creation and management of differing configurations of

this information
Compliance tracking with customer requirements

This paper focuses on the business advantages that can be gained by addressing the process- and technology-related issues generated by implementing a single, integrated 3D digital mock-up (DMU) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system across shipbuilding partnerships. The paper includes a discussion of key issues and their implications, as well as options available today to manage and resolve these issues.

2. Industry Overview
Because naval and commercial shipbuilding industries have distinct characteristics, their current situations will be considered separately. Well start with the issues facing naval shipbuilding.
2.1 Naval Shipbuilding

Naval shipbuilders not only face significant pressure from their government customers to reduce initial build costs, but also the emerging consideration of through life costs. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a key topic being discussed with the same urgency as the provision of state-of-the-art naval weapons systems.

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Within each major geography there are local perspectives that influence the relationships between government customers and shipbuilders. Below is an overview of the dynamics within each major global territory.
USA

US Navy programs are mainly awarded to US shipyards, and just

two companies own the six shipyards that control over 70% of all naval shipbuilding
Shipyards are mainly focused on US Navy programs. Commercial shipbuilding is small business relative to the size of the industry in Europe and Asia-Pacific Major equipment makers work with both US and overseas yards
Europe

At the same time, an increasing number of countries not only want access to state-of-the-art ship technologies, but also want the ability to build ships themselves. Russia and China have been collaborating using traditional communication methods for some time, and they, in addition to major European yards, are being encouraged by customers in other countries to advance down this road of technology transfer. These countries include:
India Pakistan Malaysia Singapore Brazil Venezuela

Most European naval shipyards service both domestic and

export markets
Most European naval programs attempt to be pan-European,

not only to share costs, but also to leverage greater collaboration capabilities
Individual alliances are created for export business Major European naval equipment makers are involved in

In striving to meet these requirements, shipbuilders are driving a number of groundbreaking developments across global shipbuilding, including the consolidation of the market through business mergers in the USA, the development of joint ventures in Europe, and the formation of complex global alliances and partnerships.
2.2 Commercial Shipbuilding

worldwide programs

Global trade about 90% of which is carried by sea grew by 8.9% in 2006, according to the International Monetary Fund. The publishing of this statistic is a major influence on shipbuilding spending and is a leading indicator, since ship procurement lead times are quite long. For instance, in 2000, there was a growing excess of shipbuilding capacity in the commercial market, causing a forecast slump in orders, but there has since been a reversal in trends. It should be noted that there is still some over-capacity in production. This combination of growing demand with slight over-capacity is putting enormous pressure on yards to find ways to win new orders. In addition, commercial shipping operators now have to comply with increasing environmental controls, such as eliminating single-hulled crude carriers, as well as controlling the cleaning and flushing of tanks to avoid pollution, fire and accidental spillage. These considerations add increasing levels of complexity to the design and build, driving up costs and time-to-commissioning, which are at odds with the markets requirement for cheaper and quicker ship procurement.

Royal Navy Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF)

Asia Pacific

Global alliances are common within A-P shipbuilding New Chinese yards are emerging, with rapid growth and funding

from the Chinese Navy

Overall, however, the naval portion of shipbuilding in A-P is not

Finally, collaboration between naval organizations and local commercial yards is growing in importance, as emerging navies prefer to award contracts to their own commercial yards, either through national, economic motivation or because their traditional naval shipbuilders have no capacity to build wide ships such as aircraft carriers or LPDs (landing platform docks). Thus, the trend toward extending naval collaboration to commercial yards is gaining momentum.

nearly as significant as it is for yards in Europe and the US

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To address some of these pressures, it is our perception that the current inclination toward risk sharing and collaborative design and supply agreements throughout the supply chain will accelerate. A view of the future may be glimpsed from what is now occuring in the global aerospace industry. Indeed, partnerships between customers, shipyards and sub-contractors are now an emerging theme in the commercial market.
2.3 Global Collaborative Partnerships

3. Collaborative Environments
3.1 Collaboration Interfaces

The preceding section highlights the globalization of the naval and commercial shipbuilding industries and shows that collaborative development and build is an emerging theme. Both these themes provide an opportunity to expand market share and tap into geographical regions where core competencies can be leveraged for competitive differentiation. While this trend offers great growth potential, it also brings to the forefront a host of problems, which the industry avoided when the design and shipbuilding process was domestic. For shipyards to fully embrace collaborative practices, they need to make substantial changes to their businesses and product development processes. The following section outlines the challenges that must be addressed to achieve effective, yet fully secure collaborative environments.

Distributed shipbuilding collaboration is difficult to implement given the complexities of current ship designs and shipbuilding design processes. This fact is especially evident as more business functions become engaged earlier in ship development in order to reduce timeto-market and meet cost-reduction objectives. Todays prevalent collaboration environment is multi-enterprise and multi-organization, characterized by differing levels of user sophistication and globally distributed information storage. Given that all manufacturers, of whatever discipline, have unique processes and unique challenges with extended collaboration, the following diagram represents the typical, semi-formal sneaker network that exists for many manufacturers. This graphic illustrates the many internal and external collaboration interfaces including globally distributed (domestic and international) customers, suppliers and partners that their business practice demands. Before attempting any activity to define processes or acquire new technologys, companies must first assess and analyze their unique collaboration parameters.

SUPPLIER SUPPLIER

RISK-SHARE PARTNER DISTRIBUTED MANUFACTURING

SUBCONTRACTOR

Preferred Parts Approved Vendors

FTP Requirements Design Feedback Parts Lists BoMs Changes Models Drawings Simulations
DESIGN SUBCONTRACTOR PROCUREMENT

Feasibility Feedback Tooling Designs Work Instructions NC Programs

MANAGEMENT

DISTRIBUTED MANUFACTURING

ENGINEERING

SneakerNet

LOGISTICS

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

Tech Pubs Field Notices As-Maintained BOM Customer Concerns Failure Reports User, Service Manuals

Courier Email
COMMERCIAL DOD

RISK-SHARE PARTNER SUPPLIER

Proposals Concepts Requirements Market Requirements Brochures, Data Sheets

WBS, DOW, IMP, IMS, Cost Risk, EV, Requirements

GOVERNMENT

Figure 1: The current chaotic shipbuilding collaboration situation often called the Sneaker Network

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3.2 Key Requirements

Effective collaborative partnerships for virtually every industry are based on common understandings of some key requirements, such as:
Sharing data in a secure controlled environment Protecting Intellectual Property (IP), yet providing enough detail

for partners in design, purchasing and build to each add value in the supply chain
Engineers, designers and supply chain partners working 24x7 to

One approach to standardization of data is to insist that all data received is mastered in one format, putting the onus on the subcontractors and partners to either solve the problem or bear the cost of converting the data from their tool of choice to the master format. In some industries this approach has been applied and, to a degree, is working. Aerospace has tried this strategy with a measurable degree of success, though it is not entirely infallible, as the recent experience by one major airplane manufacturer will attest. However, within the shipbuilding industry, given the diversity of technology tools in use, the complexity of alliances and partnerships, and associated costs, such an approach is unrealistic, particularly as many of the costs for these toolsets, especially in naval programmes, are programme-specific. Directly as a result of this problem, a major European naval shipbuilder recently spent thousands of man hours re-keying a partners design data because the format was unable to be translated into their manufacturing process system. A major concern for shipbuilders when creating collaborative development environments will be the security of their data when sharing it with partners. This is addressed more generally in the following section (Intellectual Property), but one example here is illustrative of a growing norm for European naval yards. Today, a simple and frequently used collaboration tool is a 3D digital mock-up, which potentially removes the need for the yard to extract traditional and costly drawings and documents for supply to the customer. While all the necessary data is available digitally in the mock-up, still, the yard does not want to provide the partner with uncontrolled access to it. Today, there are powerful tools that shrinkwrap the mock-up, so no matter what the original CAD format, the data can be made available in a collaboration environment using advanced visualisation tools that are format-agnostic. This method provides controlled access to rich images that can be manipulated, disassembled and investigated, but without access to the CAD data itself. Using a collaboration environment not only enables secure access control, but also provides product stakeholders with 24-hour access to the latest configuration-managed information. This data availability is key to working with partners or customers who may be separated by time zones. By sharing product data through web-enabled clients and lightweight visualisation tools, you can extend the collaboration environment deep into the design and manufacturing process, allowing not only the partners to share data, but the whole business. This requirement is often neglected in global commercial discussions due to insufficient knowledge or awareness. The penalties of neglect are unexpected extra costs, which may jeopardize the whole benefit of the collaboration.

support the entire shipbuilding process globally

Ensuring secure, appropriate access to the right information at

the right time, allowing for the different process requirements between partners and suppliers
Ensuring a comprehensive understanding of customer

requirements and tracking of fulfilment

Complying with government and international standards,

information management standards, export control requirements, ITAR, etc.

Handling through-life support requirements

Historically, many attempts have been made to support these requirements, often in discrete areas of a business, and often in a disparate way, resulting in poor connections and haphazard process agreements between the various technology toolsets and business units. What has changed today is that the wealth of information that defines a ship can now be generated in an electronic form, thereby making data storage, management and retrieval efficient and effective compared to manual re-keying or re-creation of data for differing purposes. The following paragraphs draw out some observations about the key requirements, mentioned above, for building successful collaborative shipbuilding partnerships.
3.2 (a) Data Sharing in a Secure Environment

Having to deal in heterogeneous data formats creates a significant technology challenge for designers and engineers in shipbuilding product development. Consider the enormous investment in time and money trying to solve the problem of exchanging CAD data through international standards such as IGES and STEP, or de facto standards such as DXF and emerging standards like 3DXML. While the industry is still some way from the seamless exchange of CAD data, great strides have been made with standardized electronic documents, word recognition, PDF file formats, visualisation standards, and so forth.

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3.2 (b) Protecting Intellectual Property

In following this collaborative route, shipbuilders face significant challenges in ensuring the security of sensitive information. While the need for external collaboration has increased dramatically, the required internal process and infrastructure improvements have not kept pace in reducing the risk of inadvertent disclosure. Governmental agencies, commercial and military contractors, and sub-contractors have heightened needs for secure data management of intellectual property (IP). These organizations need complete confidence that only the data they want to expose is visible, that its vaulted in a secure system, and that the necessary controls are in place to manage the individual access rights and viewing privileges. The need for IP protection is critical because outsourcing partners need to be as directly integrated into product development process as the co-worker in the next cubicle. Yet these partners may well become competitors on the next project. A key example of this is seen when European naval yards are collaborating with navies from emerging countries. Traditionally, the European yards would build and deliver a completed ship. However, today, the client countries want to expand their technological capability, which often results in the lead vessel being built in Europe, while others in the class are built locally with the aid of what is now popularly known as technology transfer. Today, these ships are now delivered as fully digital 3D models, incorporating immense amounts of IP locked into both the CAD data and the systems managing that data. In this scenario, the European yard needs to ensure its IP is protected. The challenge is to achieve two conflicting aims: the first is to make enough information available to enable the vessels to be built. The second is to not reveal core IP which potentially could allow the partner to develop a technological competitive advantage and become a competitor. Given these new collaboration requirements and paradigms, shipbuilders need to elevate their process competency and capability for secure data management. This goal is achieved by installing robust process definition of the various forms of secure collaboration and the adoption of a technology solution for automation. Given the myriad interfaces and interconnections for collaboration, the use of manual, paper-based and human intervention for data management is obsolete. Bottom line: a secure collaboration capability must address three fundamental concerns:
To control intellectual property know where it is, and what it is To control people know who they are, what they can see, and to

The mechanism to achieve these objectives is to implement a process and technology framework that defines the collaboration communities, a process structure, the vehicles for collaboration, and the underlying, enabling technology. Successful, fully collaborative shipbuilders are deploying technology solutions that enable discrete data management, where content is classified according to export control and ITAR standards, and access is electronically administrated and controlled with full traceability, auditing and reporting.
3.2 (c) Change and Configuration Management

Todays complex, global, 24x7 business operations are driving the need for a well-defined and orderly process for controlling change-to-ship configurations, from conception to retirement. The difficulties that engineers and designers encounter in finding accurate change-related documentation including the recording of a proposed change, the impending impact of the change, and the complete change history all leave shipbuilders open to repeating mistakes. Added to this, problems managing configurations including synchronizing engineering and manufacturing Bills of Materials (BOMs), coordinating multiple-disciplinary content, and communicating change effectivity lead directly to quality and cost problems. An effective Change and Configuration Management process will allow shipbuilders to:
Increase innovation by freeing up valuable engineering time, Improve product quality by allowing quality improvements early

in the product lifecycle,

Reduce product cost by allowing manufacturers to plan and

prepare for effective changes to product configurations, thus minimizing product inventory, and
Improve time-to-market by minimizing downtime due to

incomplete change documentation.

3.2 (d) Requirements Capture and Management

Two issues that are related, yet often neglected in project-oriented, naval collaborations, are Requirements Capture and Management, and the downstream value of the reuse of designs to meet these requirements. Very often, partnerships will expend huge efforts to win a contract, only to subsequently be forced to throw away the valuable initial design data because it was never managed against the customer requirements in such a way that it could be reused when requirements changed.

control their access and viewing privileges

To define all viable collaboration scenarios, and configure

security solutions consistent with these paradigms

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Requirements Capture and Management is about identifying and prioritizing customer requirements, deriving technical requirements, and verifying that those requirements are met by the product design. Requirements are often managed in Microsoft Word or Excel files disconnected both from product design data and the rest of the design team. This archaic data storage method leads to poor communication of customer requirements to partners, an inability to verify that designs meet customer needs, and an inability to trace designs back to requirements leading to poor decision-making during change assessment, as well as difficulties implementing product reuse strategies. Shipbuilders should seek to manage requirements integrally with product data, and to establish traceability between all levels of requirements and the design data that describes the implementation and testing of those requirements.
3.2 (e) Compliance

These demands are forcing shipbuilders to rethink how they author, manage, publish and deliver information. Traditional tools and approaches within the technical publications environment have been outpaced by the expanding media formats in which customers require information to be provided in. As a result, the technical publications process has become a bottleneck in many ship delivery processes, impacting acceptance, customer satisfaction and through life support. A solution is required that enables shipbuilders to:
Develop their designs and associated documentation concurrently Enable technical writers, contractors and suppliers to

collaboratively create and manage a single source of publication content that can be used and easily reused across all required media formats
Automatically configure and deliver personalized publications to

Shipbuilders now face countless environmental regulations, including those from EU member states (RoHS, WEEE, REACH, EuP). In addition, there are several significant requirements, mainly affecting naval shipbuilders, on export control requirements and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). These directives can profoundly impact the way ships are developed, by requiring development of new capabilities, including tracking hazardous materials in components used in their products, designing products for easier recycle-ability, and ensuring that designers specify only compliant components in their designs. This compliance mandate can impact a broad range of business processes from design to support to product end-of-life. It also impacts cost and time-to-launch. Shipbuilders need comprehensive, up-to-the-minute views that enable smart and informed decisions throughout the extended enterprise. Compliance solutions should enable intelligent component selection by designers ensuring compliance from the beginning of the design process. In addition, any solution must enable users to document that the entire development process - not just the final ship meets applicable standards. This important step often requires detailed, multi-language, multi-format compliance documentation ready for delivery promptly when requested by a regulatory body.
3.2 (f) Through Life Support

address the unique and specific needs of every customer A specific example of this, in practice, is the naval interest in the cost of in-service support. This cost, added to the initial capital cost, is the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) that naval procurement contracts are increasingly seeking to minimise. Having access to the as-built data whilst in service can considerably reduce the length of any potential maintenance and refit time by enabling component availability and location to be best matched to the vessels operational plan. When preparing for repair or component replacement, using an onboard installation of the digital model and visualisation tools, the crew can analyse work sequences, access and withdrawal paths using a true and accurate 3D visualisation of the vessel. Accurately identifying the exact components and other resources required enables planning and sourcing prior to docking and a quicker return to active service. Refits to update propulsion and weapons systems on an operational vessel contribute significantly to out-of-service time and related costs. This activity is not necessarily carried out by the original yard that built and commissioned the vessel. As a result, unnecessary cost and downtime is incurred when surveying the vessel because the as-built data is not readily available. International standards, such as S1000D, have gained momentum because they resolve these gaps by connecting downstream publications with native content. S1000D enables design and content reuse and provides a mechanism for Change Management integration. Managing maintenance and repair processes using capabilities that are inherently connected to the source data means less errors, greater efficiency, and higher levels of interoperability. By maintaining a full 3D digital model of the vessel, collaborative work studies can be carried out with the proposed prime refit contractor, partners and suppliers well in advance of the vessel being taken out of service.

Lastly, there are the opposing challenges between the partnership and the end user. Partners are tasked to do the job as quickly as possible at the lowest cost, yet still accommodate last-minute design changes. The end user wants the ships design fully documented with all components configuration managed, so they will have an as-built view of the ship to better support, and lower the cost, of in-service maintenance and through life support. This requirement adds additional cost and time to the shipyards activity, often with no additional budget to fund it.

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4. Examples of Integrated Shipbuilding Approaches

The above section outlines a requirement for an integrated approach across organisations, where collaboratively managing digital design and content is the key element for successful shipbuilding partnerships. PTC, a global leader in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, has been focusing on global shipbuilding processes to drive this approach and to prioritize R & D efforts, while keeping as much commonality as possible with other vertical market segments. Below is an abstract of this process-centric methodology. Figure 2 highlights the processes that need to be defined and implemented. Few shipbuilders, however, have developed their product development systems and processes to achieve all of the objectives outlined below. Most of these shipbuilders have decided which of these requirements offer the most compelling return on investment from their next collaborative partnership, and have incrementally developed their abilities.

Product Development Processes

Concept Design Functional Design Spatial Integration Manufacturing & Assembly
Portfolio Management Standards Compliance (Regulator y)

Trials & Commission

In-Ser vice Suppor t

Management

P r o p o s a l R e s p o ns e Requirements Capture & Auditing

C o nc e p t D e v e l o p m e nt S ys t e m D e s i g n Change & Configuration Management

Variant Design

En g i n e e r i n g

Detailed Design Ve r i f i c a t i o n & Va l i d a t i o n Design Outsourcing Component & Supplier Management Manufacturing Outsourcing Manufacturing Process Management

Contract Management

Manufacturing
S e r vi c e P r o g r a m M a n a g e m e n t Te c h n i c a l P u b l i c a t i o n s

Ser vice

Equipment Management P e r fo r m a n c e A n a l y s i s

Figure 2: The PTC Process Landscape for Shipbuilding

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PTCs approach is to offer a process-centric Product Development System or PDS with a single platform database in which to store and retrieve information, as well as the ability to implement processes and workflows. This solution relies on a pure Web (Internet) infrastructure, with one integral data model that is interoperable with other company systems.

As consultant and technology provider to many of the worlds shipbuilders, PTC has a comprehensive understanding of these challenges faced and how best to overcome them. Examples of some of these integrated best practice approaches are provided below.

SUPPLIER

SUPPLIER

OUTSOURCED OUTSOURCED MANUFACTURING MANUFACTURING

SUPPLIER

Preferred Parts Approved Vendors

Feasibility Feedback Tooling Designs Work Instructions NC Programs

OUTSOURCED MANUFACTURING

Custom Configurations Logistics Documentation

Requirements Design Feedback Parts Lists BoMs Changes

PROCUREMENT

MANUFACTURING

SERVICE ENGINEERING

Models Drawings Simulations

Customer Concerns Failure Notices User, Service Manuals Training Guides Parts Catalogs
SALES MARKETING

LOCAL DESIGN PARTNER CAPTIVE ODC

OFFSHORE DESIGN PARTNER

CUSTOMERS CUSTOMERS CLASSIFICATION SOCIETIES

Concepts Requirements Market Requirements Brochures, Data Sheets

Figure 3: The PTC Product Development System for Shipbuilding

Proposals Customer Requirements

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4.1 Information Management Backbone

A major warship alliance selected PTCs Windchill platform to control programme information and to streamline business processes. This information management backbone will play a vital role in the design, manufacture and in-service support of two new warships for a major navy. The system provides controlled access to data in multiple formats so as to link national and international product stakeholders. The PTC solution also provides workflow collaboration, with a single point of reference for the evolving product definition across the entire programme. This solution is designed to support thousands of users across the programme stakeholders. It consolidates a truly unified view of the programme, handling wide-ranging data between different partners and the sponsoring government department, and will support thousands of enterprise stakeholders in a long lifecycle project.
4.2 Configuration & Change Management

The requirements for the SDE were complex and extensive. Challenges in other projects, such as data accuracy and configuration management, had led to excessive cost and time delays in achieving even elementary levels of system integration. With these past issues in mind, the SDE was designed to provide control over many of the issues addressed earlier in this paper, including:
Secure data management and exchange Support-managed collaboration between PCO, MOD, suppliers

and UK Navy
Real-time data access and information-sharing Workflow capabilities to deliver the right data at the right time to

the right people

Product configuration management and control through all

phases of lifecycle, from outline design to decommissioning

Advanced visualisation capabilities on every desktop for easy

BAE Systems, the UK MoD Defence Procurement Agency, along with its suppliers and the UK Royal Navy, are today working together within a Shared Data Environment (SDE) to collaborate on the design and build of Britains next generation Type 45 Anti-Air Warfare Destroyers.

understanding of information
The Through Life Information Management (TLIM) capability

of the SDE has been designed to meet MOD requirements for a Contractor Integrated Technical Information Service (CITIS)
Based on Commercially Off The Shelf (COTS) software applications Integration of different software applications across the

organisation Of the eight eventual vessels, two ships the HMS Daring and Dauntless are already launched, with a third underway.
4.3 Evolving to Full 3D Digital Design

DCNS is one of the biggest naval shipyards in Europe, able to design, build and maintain any kind of warship, from patrol vessels to nuclear submarines (SSN and SSBN) to aircraft carriers, as well as integrating related weapon systems. _
Type 45 Destroyer

DCNS has been implementing PLM technologies since the early 1980s. In the late 1990s, full 3D design supporting comprehensive 3D digital mock-up, as well as electronic document management, was deployed for all new projects. The first fully 3D-designed warship in Europe (Sawari II) was put in service in 2002. Sawari II is a 4600-ton Lafayette-class frigate. For the first time ever, a vessels entire data was viewable in 3D and accessible in a secure PLM environment. Other highlights of the project include:
11 design sites simultaneously working on a single digital

The SDE was developed to allow secure data exchange and collaboration between the Type 45 Prime Contract Office and the customers and partners in the Type 45 Project extended enterprise. The Type 45 SDE is one of the first collaborative environments to support new collaboration protocols, as defined by the UK MoD SMART procurement initiative.

definition of the vessel

Fully digital model containing over 200,000 objects 220 PTC design stations 500 PLM data management stations, providing secure access to

data and related documentation

7 interconnected PTC data vaults

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Benefits of this full 3D modeling approach within the first program involved:
Improved and standardised design methods Standard, shared processes applied across the extended company

the basis for all future DCNS projects

Allocation of design and manufacturing workload across the

various DCNS sites

Security and control of all product information Ability to evaluate ergonomics and simulate maintenance and

assembly/dismantling operations, ensuring better performance optimization and closer compliance with specifications, leading to increased client satisfaction, reduced risks, and lower costs
Optimization of preproduction control procedures (geometric

interference, routing of cables)

Shorter lead times and reduced manufacturing costs, with

Sawari II Frigate

improved quality
Project completed at or under budget (15% reduction in overall

It is important to note that these benefits were delivered from the outset of this first fully digital programme. Subsequent programmes have continued to build off these same improvements.
4.4 3D Design with Project Plan Management

project cost)
17% reduction in production hours spent on hull and structure 30% time-reduction for running cable 70% reduction in piping rework Considerable reduction in paper usage, since data is gathered

directly from the digital model at the construction site

Elimination of small-scale wood and plastic models of technical

China Ship Research & Design Centre1 (CSDC) was founded in 1961 and is an important subordinate research Institute of China Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Corporation. CSDC is a core scientific research institution in the field of national defence, taking charge of Chinas ship design, research and development. During its 40 years, this prominent shipbuilder has developed thousands of ships for both domestic and overseas customers, and created many pioneering examples of ship design. The China Research & Design Centre project vision is focused on enterprise-wide adoption of PLM technology as a mechanism to digitize its design and management processes. To this end, CSDC used PTCs Windchill software to centralise all ship development data and make it easily accessible by all levels of staff for retrieval and reference. This data access significantly enhanced the reusability of design data during model ship development. As a result, the progress of model ship design could be automatically monitored, and by closely integrating with the ships parallel design system based on PTCs CADDS 5 shipbuilding design software, CSDC achieved an effective combination of ship 3D design and project plan management. After deploying PTCs Windchill, CSDC also achieved significant improvements in key business metrics in its R &D department.

areas (operations centre, machine-monitoring room, navigation bridge), replaced by total-immersion virtual reality digital models, which uses headsets or stereoscopic screens for project review, ergonomics studies, and client approval
Ability to pool resources within the extended company Improved teamwork with industrial partners and subcontractors Access to a high-performance marketing and client-

communication tool, utilising the digital model

Design review and direct approval by DCNS and its client, based

on the digital model of the vessel

Highly effective business and marketing tool

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4.5 Collaborative Data Environment

MHI Kobe Shipyard2 launched a joint development project with Wartsila Switzerland Ltd. to create a new marine diesel engine. The project implemented a collaborative data environment for all affected groups to more easily share the correct version of the various designs. With this project, MHI Kobe Shipyard saw a significant reduction in product development cycle times. Data visualization, concurrent engineering, and frontloading of the product development effort have helped MHI Kobe to expand and grow its expertise and better meet customer needs. Overall, it achieved its goal of cutting the development cycle time and cost by half.
4.6 Technology Transfer

In 2005, DCNS and a Spanish partner, Navantia, were awarded a contract with the Indian Government to provide six diesel submarines, all of which were to be built locally in India. The objective of this arrangement was to transfer the technology to India, as the Indian Navys goal eventually is to modify the designs themselves and build their own ships. The deliverable from the DCNS and Navantia partnership was to supply the local yard with a Technical Data Package, which gives a consistent, accurate and comprehensive 3D model of the ship, including all COS (Construction Order Specifications) and POS (Purchase Order Specification), plus other relevant production and testing documents for the yard. The system also provides a workflow-controlled feedback mechanism. Starting from scratch, a PTC Windchill-based solution was created and deployed in less than one year to support this process and contract. With this technology, DCNS, Navantia and their other partners and customers (yard and navy) can rely on consistent data and share information seamlessly. The next step will enable the Indian Navy to propose and develop alternative solutions or designs to better fit their local purchasing constraints. An interesting aspect of this case study is that four major collaborating parties were involved: two design partners contracting with two customers (a local shipyard and a Navy Department). In addition, there were many component suppliers also involved in the design (propulsion, combat systems, weapons, etc.). This kind of technology transfer is increasingly popular for many countries, and this illustration demonstrates that it can be deployed successfully.

Astute Class Submarine

4.7 Virtual Reality Improves Productivity and Build Time

BAE Systems Submarine Solutions3 (BAE) is the prime contractor to build the Astute Class nuclear submarines, considered the most sophisticated and complex ever built in the United Kingdom. BAE was tasked with building three Astute Class nuclear submarines, the first of which launched on June 8, 2007. To accelerate the development process, BAE focused on using a Visual Reality (VR) system in product development, instead of creating physical prototypes. The VR system had to be easily accessible both to the CAD / IT professionals, as well as to welders and pipe fitters who would physically build the submarine. For design, BAE used PTCs CADDS 5 shipbuilding solution, a familiar tool that enables groups of engineers to work simultaneously on design, validation, and machining of the same assemblies. For the VR system, they commissioned PTCs partner, Virtalis, to integrate the PTC DIVISION MockUp solution with Virtalis Virtual Reality tools. In the 3D stereoscopic theatre, this solution is able to expose potential clashes between submarine components and assemblies, so that a redesign can be performed prior to the build. The use of advanced visualization tools enables all those working on the vessel to view the 3D virtual models in accessible cabins, locally positioned on gantries surrounding the boat. This provided a direct replacement for expensive physical models.

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The solution is delivering significant time-to-market benefits, including:

The elimination of time, effort and money spent on physical

prototypes
An increase in design/build productivity Real-time access to virtual models and related engineering data Significantly faster upload time of 3D models for BAE engineers Elimination of time spent by users visiting design departments Full access to the VR solution by non-CAD / IT users A coveted BAE Systems Submarines Chairmans Bronze award for

project excellence
4.8 Change Management Process Reduces Design Errors

Wuchang Shipyard4 , founded in 1934, is a subsidiary of the China Shipbuilding Industrial Corporation. It is one of Chinas largest and most modern shipyards, with capabilities to design, build and repair various types of ships for military and commercial use. A PTC customer for nearly a decade, Wuchang Shipyard recently completed its implementation of the PTC Shipbuilding Solution. This installation is expected to bring about revolutionary changes in their business processes, particularly in the way product data is managed. The shipyard uses PTCs Windchill ProjectLink as a collaborative tool for the R & D, manufacturing and production departments, enabling concurrent engineering, thus shortening product design lead-time and accelerating time-to-market. Windchill PDMLink the data management component of the PTC Shipbuilding Solution consolidates what used to be scattered islands of information, controlling the typically chaotic product change management processes, and increasing productivity and preventing costly design errors. The broad functional application set of CADDS 5 is used for ship design and 3D modeling, enabling users to reference each others evolving designs, while facilitating concurrent engineering. The PTC Shipbuilding Solution allows project managers to better control and resolve problems earlier in the development cycle.
4.9 Integrated Data Environment

US Navy Cruiser Group

5. Conclusion
The shipbuilding industry is among the oldest enterprises on this planet. A famous navigator 250 years ago said a ship was the place to find all the knowledge and technology that humanity has ever created6. Today, this statement is still true. In the last 30 years, the industry has been changing dramatically. In the past, all parts and components of a ship were designed and manufactured by the yard. Today, the shipyard is not only responsible for managing a vast, global organization involving many outsourced design and manufacturing partners, but also must assume the role of a systems integrator and lead designer. This trend toward global collaboration is, even now, becoming more important as:
The globalization of worldwide manufacturing is not only driving

the demand for more ships, but also determining how they are designed and built.
The current geopolitical situation is advancing the development

The US Navy Cruiser Modernization Programme Office5 is responsible for lifecycle management of the US Navys active Cruiser fleet. Primary business activities include planning and management of ship availabilities to perform needed upgrades and maintenance in port. The US Navy needed an Integrated Data Environment (IDE) to enable collaboration and management for the ship availability planning process. The US Navy now manages critical project documents in a shared collaborative environment, and have improved the management and communication of specific project-related information.

of new navy fleets, while spurring development of local naval shipbuilding capabilities.
Naval and commercial yards are under even greater pressure to

reduce costs and accelerate time-to-launch. As a result of these trends, the ability to collaborate with partners and suppliers globally at Internet speed will become a prerequisite for future success in the industry.

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No doubt, shipbuilding is moving to a digital, virtual, global enterprise. The huge volumes of data, information, and documentation required to design, build, operate and maintain such complex systems, combined with cost, security and IP constraints, are driving the need for a secure collaboration environment. The case study examples in this paper illustrate how progressive business leaders are combining state-of-the-art CAD technology with Product Data Management (PDM) capabilities, including DMU, Configuration and Change Management, S1000D-compliant Documentation Management, and 24x7 collaboration capabilities. This technology is available today through a number of PLM vendors. Uniquely, PTC is able to implement not only the total PDS concept, but also due to its modular nature and openness of its system to incrementally deploy tailored systems that successively address priority requirements to maximise return on investment in a PLM solution. Implementing such a technology was once a long journey with many roadblocks. But technology is no longer the big issue. After many years of working closely with the largest and most demanding shipbuilders worldwide, PTC understands that the key factors for success are to gain executive management commitment and adopt a processcentric approach. Finally, when it comes to any successful endeavour, never neglect the human factor, and strive to:
Think large Start small Be brave

6. About the Authors

Marc Donoghue is Director Product Management CPG at PTC. He is responsible for the overall development and future direction of the PTCs CADDS 5 & Optegra software product lines. Steve Blakeway, Product Manager at PTC, is responsible for the development and direction of shipbuilding applications within the CADDS 5 & Optegra product lines. Philippe Barbarin, PTCs Sales Business Development Manager, is responsible for gathering European shipbuilders requirements and translating them into specifications for PTC R&D. For the last 10 years, Mr Barbarin has also been managing a complex implementation of PTC products at a major European Naval Shipbuilder.

7. Bibliography
[1] China Ship Research & Design Centre. Press release 31/7/ 07. www.ptc.com [2] MHI Kobe Shipyard. Press Release 28 / 6 / 06. www.ptc.com [3] BAE Systems Submarine Solutions. Customer Success. www.ptc.com [4] Wuchang Shipyard. Press Release 21/ 6 / 05. www.ptc.com [5] The US Navy Cruiser Modernization Programme. Customer Success. www.ptc.com [6] Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811) in Voyage autour du monde

To learn more about PTCs solutions and experience with the worlds top shipbuilding companies, please visit www.ptc.com or contact your local PTC representative.

2009 Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC). All rights reserved. Information described herein is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a guarantee, commitment, condition or offer by PTC. PTC, the PTC logo, Windchill, ProjectLink, PDMLink, CADDS 5, and all PTC product names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of PTC and/ or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All other product or company names are property of their respective owners.

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