CLASS No 8 MODERN SHIPBUILDING PRACTICE AND SHIPYARD LAYOUT & EQUIPMENT

8.1 KEY CONCEPTS:

  • Shipyards should be close to and have access to the open sea, and road and/or rail system should be suitable for delivery of equipment, components and raw materials.
  • Shipyards should also be located where there is adequate educated and trained people.
  • At least one boundary should be adjacent to the water.
  • Shipyards require the following attributes:

- Warehouses and raw materiel storage areas

- Shops to fabricate and assemble parts into sub-assemblies, assemblies and even outfitted blocks

- Building berth and system of transferring ship to water- launchway,
drydock, floating dock

- Pier(s) to secure the ship after launch

  • Goals of facility layout that must be considered are:

- optimizing material and work-in-process inventory

- minimizing buffer storage consistent with uniform flow throughout the yard

- minimizing the number of lifts and reducing the distance material and interim products must be transferred.

  • Block Construction and Advanced Outfitting require greater lift capacity cranes. 200T Whirleys and 1000 T+ Gantrys.
  • Most U.S. shipyards have been in existence for many years and are constrained by existing plant boundaries and layout.
  • Both steel and ship throughput are important criteria. To be internationally competitive, a shipyard requires a minimum of 60,000 tons of steel and 4 ships per year.

COURSE NOTES:

  • Papers on shipyard layout and equipment
  • TTS and IMG Equipment Catalog Sheets
  • PDF file: shipyard_layout.pdf (19Mb) (text only)

CLASS No 9 MODERN SHIPBUILDING PRACTICE

KEY CONCEPTS:

  • Modern shipbuilding practices are not new, they have been around for 20+ years.
  • The key today is to integrate and implement them in a way that improves productivity and delivery time.
  • Most world class shipbuilders use the Block Construction, Zone Outfitting approach.
  • Successful world class shipbuilders have developed the approach into a stabilized flow of information, material and people.
  • The most important factor is the organization of the work. This includes:

- The development of a Shipbuilding Policy and use of Build Strategies

- Technical documentation format suitable for direct use by Production

- Use of work stations and work station documentation and planning

- Highly trained workers

- Decision making/planning delegated to appropriate level

- Early involvement of Production in the design process

- Concurrent development of product and process design

  • The major difference in large shipbuilding is the approach to block erection. U.S. shipyards typically handle 200 to 400 ton blocks. This means that they can have up to 160 blocks to erect on the building berth. World class shipyards all construct GRAND BLOCKS which weigh 1000 to 2000 tons. They are either lifted onto the building berth by 1000+ton Gantry Cranes or moved into place by transported and/or elevators.
  • The shipbuilding process consists of fabricating raw material into ship parts and assembling them, along with purchased equipment and components (interim products) to produce the finished product, namely the ship
  • All shipyards have the same basic processes

COURSE NOTES:

  • PDF file: shipbuilding_practice.pdf

CLASS No 10 DESIGN FOR PRODUCTION

10.1 KEY CONCEPTS:

  • All design should be prepared to suit a shipyard's facilities and preferred production methods
  • It has been necessary to develop the DFX approaches because designers have not stepped up to this responsibility
  • X covers, Production, Manufacturability, Maintainability, Assembly, Cost.
  • DFP takes into account production methods and techniques that reduce the product work content, but still meet the specified design requirements and quality
  • DFP must be incorporated into a design from the start
  • Traditional engineering leaves it up to another department, such as Production or Manufacturing Engineering to develop the technical documentation required by the Production workers. This is an un-necessary duplication of effort and is a non-value added task that takes time
  • An objective of the new (relatively) Concurrent Engineering approach is to accommodate DFP by bringing all the necessary people together right from day one on a project
  • The time to influence the cost of a product is during the early stages. After the design has been develop in concept most of the opportunity to positively affect cost is gone
  • World class ship designers know how their shipyard builds ships and designs accordingly. U.S. ship designers usually do not consider this and the designs may or may not be efficiently built in their facilities. More U.S. shipbuilders have taken steps to remedy this situation through the use of the Build Strategy approach
  • Engineering should be prepared and transmitted to the users in a way that best suits block construction, advanced and zone outfitting

COURSE NOTES:

  • Paper, "DESIGN FOR PRODUCTION IN BASIC DESIGN," by T. Lamb
  • Paper, "ENGINEERING FOR SHIP PRODUCTION," by T. Lamb
  • PDF file: design_for_production.pdf

CLASS No 11 GROUP TECHNOLOGY & WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

11.1 KEY CONCEPTS:

  • GT is not new
  • Has only had limited application in shipyards
  • Typical uses have been structural part variety reduction and development of pipe piece families
  • Many shipyards say they use it but they only think so as they use Work Breakdown Structures, classification and coding. This is not GT
  • GT is necessary if a shipyard wants to utilize automated pipe shop, Computer Aided Process Planning and/or robotics
  • However, GT is not for everyone. It should not be used unless a clear understanding of why they need it
  • Many people need a classification and coding system but not GT
  • Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) have been used for many years in many industries
  • WBSs are a convenient method to show desired tasks and/or processes to be used to build a product.
  • A WBS can be Custom, Group Technology or Standard based. Custom is when the product and its components are all different and no attempt is made to group the tasks or processes. GT based is when, even though the end products may be different the tasks or processes can be group into similar categories based on work requirements. Standard based is when the product is completely made up of standard components in the same way every time.
  • A Product Breakdown Structure is a graphic representation of an indented Bill of Material, where the indentations reflect the order in which the components are assembled.
  • The term Product-oriented Work Breakdown Structure (PWBS) refers to the specific case where the product, work and organization are combined into a system to address a specific industrial product, like ships.
  • The concept was introduced into U.S. shipbuilding by the IHI Technology Transfer in 1982 by the NSRP Report "Product-oriented Work Breakdown Structure."
  • Since then most U.S. shipbuilders have adopted the concept to some level, but not to the extent or the way that the report described. In fact the report is confusing in many ways and has caused implementers considerable trouble.
  • A PWBS can be one of the most important tools in a shipyard’s attempt to improve it’s performance. This is because when it is developed correctly and applied to assist in the integration of the many systems in a shipyard, the benefits are significant.
  • Some shipyards develop a more detailed breakdown in the form of an Interim Product Catalog. The catalog can range from a few basic interim product types to a very comprehensive catalog of all parts through to erection. It can also identify work stations and processes used to manufacture the interim products as well as manhour budget and manning.

COURSE NOTES:

  • Paper, "GROUP TECHNOLOGY IN SHIPBUILDING," by T. Lamb
  • A Proposed Shipbuilding Product Work Breakdown System and Its Use
  • D&P Generic Product-oriented Work Breakdown Structure
  • PDF file: group_tech.pdf

CLASS NUMBER 12 PLANNING, SCHEDULING, PRODUCTION AND MATERIAL CONTROL

12.1 PLANNING

  • Planning focuses on the future; what is to be accomplished and how.
  • The planning function includes those managerial activities that determine objectives for the future and the appropriate means for achieving those objectives.
  • Planning occurs at all levels in an organization
  • The are three levels of planning, Strategic, Tactical and Detailed (Operational)
  • Top management handles the Strategic Planning, Middle management handles the Tactical Planning and the Detailed Planning is handled at the lowest appropriate level in the organization
  • Production planning is a mix of Tactical and Detailed planning

12.2 SCHEDULING

  • Scheduling also focuses on the future, but on when the activities must be performed.
  • Scheduling is sometimes considered a part (an important part) of Planning
  • Operating schedules start at the top of an organization in the form of the integrating "MASTER SCHEDULE" and cascade downward to each department, section, group and team.
  • Operating schedules range from the simple to the complex, each being suitable for specific applications. Point to point schedules are suitable for tasks to be performed in sequence. Overlap or parallel schedules are suitable for tasks that must be performed at the same time or portions of the same time. Finally, network schedules are suitable for complex tasks where both sequence and overlap approaches are needed.
  • PERT/CPM is the best known network scheduling approach
  • A GANT Chart is a graphic scheduling technique. It can be used for the simple sequence or overlap tasks or be an outcome of the PERT system once the network has been developed. This is important because many people can follow the Gant Charts but have trouble following the network chart.

12.3 PRODUCTION CONTROL

  • Production Control consists of the continuous adjustments which are required to accomplish the plan and infers the existence of (1) an information system by which the actual state of the activities is compared to the planned state and (2) the existence of a feed back system by which adjustments can be made into the production planning stage
  • Production Control depends upon processing adequate amounts of accurate and timely information regarding the current status of the production plan; the work in process; inventories; human, facility and material resources; and requirements projections.
  • Production Control begins with techniques for organizing and conceptualizing information about the plan and the current status of events in pursuing the plan.
  • In some shipyards, Production Control is responsible for the issuance of the work packages and material release documents. If the shipyard Engineering Department does not prepare the technical documentation in a form that is directly usable by the Production Department and the shipyard does not have a Production Engineering Department, the Production Control Department will need to prepare the work sketches that go with the Work Packages.
  • Tools used by Production Control include Inventory Modeling, Queuing Theory, Material & Resource Planning, and PERT/CPM
  • Production Control and Material Control are so closely intertwined that many companies combine them

12.4 MATERIAL CONTROL

  • Material Control (MC) is often called Materials Management
  • MC starts with a Bill of Material for a given product, usually developed by Engineering and manipulated by Production Planning to sort into required sequencing and delivery dates
  • MC then involves procuring, receiving, wharehousing, handling, delivering within the shipyard, plus all the information management required for the successful operation of all the above activities.
  • MC tools include inventory control and Material Requirements Planning, sometimes referred to as MRPI
  • Very few U.S. shipyards use the MC system described in the handout. They prefer to use MRPI or MRPII (Material and Resource Planning) systems.
  • Again, Material Control and Production Control are so closely intertwined that many companies combine them, especially if they use MRPII which can handle both inan integrated database

COURSE NOTES:

  • PDFfile : planning_scheduling.pdf
  • Chapter 10 - Program Management, PERT/CPM
  • Planning non-repetitive Production: PERT
  • Drawing Schedule
  • Specification and Special Material Schedule
  • SHIP PRODUCTION, Chapter VII, Section 4 - Production Control
  • Product-oriented Material Management and Peripheral Systems
  • "The Elements of Material Control are:"
  • Critical path model of Material Lead Times
  • Paper, "BUILD STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT," by J. Clark and T. Lamb
  • Paper, "CE or not CE? That is the Question," By T. Lamb

CLASS No13 CAD/CAM APPLICATIONS & SIMULATION BASED DESIGN

I. KEY CONCEPTS:

  • Computers were introduced to ship design in the early 1960's
  • Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering calculations were the early applications
  • Computer application to hull fairing started about 1963
  • N/C machine tools introduced in U.S. in 1954
  • British Oxygen developed N/C Burning Machine in 1959
  • Computer applications move in two directions - CAD and CAM
  • There are both generic and industry specific CAD/CAM systems
  • By 1985 integrated CAD/CAM Shipbuilding systems are available
  • Improvements since then have been in user friendliness and modeling
  • Today there are a number of shipbuilding specific 3D modeling, integrated CAD/CAM systems available to shipbuilders
  • U.S. Navy has been at the forefront of Simulation Based Design
  • Robotics is next frontier although it may not be realised by U.S. shipyards because of their low throughput

COURSE NOTES:

  • Paper, "CAD/CAM Chapter from new SD&C Book," by J. Ross
  • PDF file: CADCAMCIM.pdf

CLASS No 14 SHIPYARD ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT

I. KEY CONCEPTS:

  • Shipbuilding is an old traditional industry and its organization and management are very traditional
  • Relationship between management and workers is adversarial
  • Shipyards have been slow to introduce new organization types and management approaches
  • There is a general lack of trust in shipyards
  • Today people expect more than the traditional approach to management
  • Companies can no longer consider themselves as closed systems. They are impacted by their immediate external environment as well as the global environment
  • Different levels of management require different skills and focus
  • A managers task has changed from the traditional, directing, organizing, controlling to coaching, supporting, facilitating, advising
  • Management 101 describes normal organization types. Today flexibility in organization is essential
  • The biggest problem in traditional management is communication between themselves and to their subordinates.
  • Re-engineering a company and the use of Concurrent Engineering offer the best hope for companies struggling to survive
  • U.S. shipyards should use Concurrent Engineering, as well as the Shipbuilding Policy and Build Strategy approach, as they can all assist them to better plan, communicate and perform their work. Work organization is where U.S. shipyards are weak, compared to world class shipbuilders

COURSE NOTES:

  • Paper, "SHIPYARD MANAGEMENT - THE OPERATION OF A MAN-MACHINE SYSTEM," by Mack-Forlist
  • Paper, "ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT FOR ZONE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS," by T. Lamb
  • PDF file: Shipyd_mgt.pdf

Shipyard Layout

Shipbuilding practices and the layout of the shipyards have developed over a long period of time as both the ships being built and the production technology have changed. The shipyard layouts also had to suit the natural environments in which they were placed. Shipyards should be close to and have deep water access to the open sea, and land or sea access for delivery of equipment, components and raw material.

Most shipyards are located on river banks or the shores of bays, protected from the open sea. The method of moving the ship from land to the water depended on tide and shipyard configuration. Drydocks (Graving Docks) were used for building ships as early as the 16th century in Venice and for the building of the Royal Navy's large ships of the line in the 18th century. Side launching of ships goes back to iniquity with two famous side launched ships being Cleopatra's Barge and Brunell's GREAT EASTERN. Nearer home, most of the Gulf coast shipyards use the side launch method. End launching is equally old and until the modern development of drydocks for shipbuilding, which started in the 1960's, was the most common approaches used by the world's shipbuilders. Launching by floating dock and ship elevators is a relatively recent (since 1970's) development.

The natural land topography found along river banks influenced the shipyard layout. Where there were steep hills or rocky cliffs, shipyards were squeezed onto the banks or shore and stretched along them to provide the needed land area, as shown in Figure 1.1. It also developed as some shipyards grew to multiple berths, sometimes as many as 4 to 8. This layout is called by various names, such as wide and lateral. It is easy to see that material flow was not ideal, especially as shipbuilding adopted large block construction. Many of the U.S. World War II shipyards were of this type with over 20 slipways. A current example of this type is the Avondale shipyard in New Orleans, as shown in Figure 1.2, which has the additional problem of having to transport the structural blocks up to and over the Mississippi river levee.

Over time other industries, and housing developed around these shipyards and as ships increased in size, the shipyards were constrained by their surroundings. Figure 1.3 is a current layout of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in Nagasaki, and it can be seen that they had to literally "move mountains" to develop it into a suitable facility to build modern ships. However, many shipbuilders found it necessary to develop entirely new shipbuilding facilities in the 1960's, including Mitsubishi and many others in Japan, Gothenburg Shipbuilding in Sweden, Odense Steel Shipyard in Denmark, and even Litton in the U.S. These shipyards tended to select their sites without natural constraints, so that the best shape could be used.

The "new" shipyards were developed to best suit the planned building process and an alternative layout was developed. This was based on straight continuous flow of material and the two classic cases are the B&W shipyard in Copenhagen (Figure 1.4) and the Arendal Shipyard in Sweden (Figure 1.5). This layout is called deep, straight flow or narrow type. The B&W shipyard used part of its existing shipyard for the steel preparation and fabrication and was not a "true" straight line flow. However the Arendal shipyard was designed from the start as a continuous straight line flow layout, as shown in Figure 1.6. It also utilized the "ship extrusion" approach. It is sad to say that both shipyards are closed.