Shipbuilding Technology and Education (1996) / Chapter Skim
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Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions and Recommendations
Pages 92-99
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From page 92... ...
However,U.S. shipbuilders currently lag behind in the four major categories of technology that this committee examined: • business-process technologies -- the principal "up front" management pro cesses and other management activities, notably technologies for prelimi nary design, bidding, estimating, and sourcing, that are linked to the mar keting capabilities of shipbuilders; • system technologies -- the engineering systems, such as process engineer ing and computer-aided design and manufacturing, that support shipyard operations; • shipyard production processes technology -- the methods used in fabricat ing, assembling, erecting, and outfitting vessels; and • new materials and new product technologies -- the innovations, including new designs and new components, that meet particular market needs; Relative to these four categories of technology, as they are commercially applied, U.S.
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From page 93... ...
Having been absent from the commercial markets for large ships for many years, U.S. yards do not understand customers well, do not have libraries of product designs, and are unaccustomed to rapid, accurate parametric cost estimating based on recent commercial ship production.
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From page 94... ...
Improving the basic layout and material flows to international standards will be difficult and will require a high degree of process simulation to minimize capital costs while improving process flow and unit cost. Such process simulation technology now has many other applications, but it must be adapted for commercial shipbuilding so that yards can reprocess their work flows within financial constraints.
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From page 95... ...
Continued support for shipyard production and design technology improvements is desirable, but it will have a modest effect unless there is an innovation that will capture customers or substantially reduce cost. In short, the MARITECH program should be allowed to run its course.
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From page 96... ...
Deep involvement of NA&ME faculty members with the industry in trying to help it become competitive is not apparent. When other industries were seriously challenged by international competition, the faculty of related schools made efforts that were not purely technical but were also designed to bring about both technical and economic improvements in process engineering, tooling, material processing, and the like.
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From page 97... ...
Plans also need to include reasonably good estimates of capital expenditures and their timing, the risks of achieving success in different market segments, and of the likely levels of yard manpower, which almost certainly will be substantially lower than the manpower levels required for construction of military ships. Detailed plans may be more than a single yard can afford.
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From page 98... ...
MARAD should be more aggressive as an informed commentator on efforts required by the industry to become internationally competitive. MARAD can also help by collecting general market information, much like the departments of Commerce or Labor, but success will depend on individual shipbuilders understanding their target market segments to a depth well beyond that achievable by MARAD.
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From page 99... ...
Universities, with their multiple disciplines, led by the naval architects and marine engineers who justifiably lay claim to being good systems thinkers, should be able to seize the problem that U.S. shipbuilders face, understand what it will take to create a healthy industry, and reach as far afield as needed to understand the cultures, political motivations, and economic infrastructures of international competitors.
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