Ship owners across industry segments have one thing in common – the need for more advanced ships. Naval contractors are looking for smaller, more sophisticated vessels. Commercial cargo ship owners, on the other hand, want to go bigger for increased capacity. Offshore drilling companies require highly specialized vessels, while cruise ship and yacht owners are asking for high-tech vessels and a memorable passenger’s experience.
Ships are among the most complicated machines to build, and the demand for increasingly sophisticated vessels has added layers of complexity to the shipbuilding process. As it is, shipbuilders’ operations are already highly complex. Shipbuilders face pricing concerns from ship owners as they look to reduce their total cost of ownership due to regulatory and economic factors. Most contracts – even government ones – now come with fixed budgets and delivery dates.
That’s not all. Building ships requires a coordinated effort with globally distributed suppliers. The industry itself is a diverse and complex ecosystem of interconnected owners, shipyards, suppliers, classification agencies and regulatory bodies. This equates to a large amount of people who need to exchange information and work together throughout a vessel’s lifecycle.
In the face of all these challenges, shipbuilders are aware of the need to increase efficiency in their operations. However, they are often constrained by manual processes. Until today, many shipyards still get by with the help of Excel spreadsheets as well as lists and 2D drawings. In the past, this approach may have been acceptable, but today’s environment is less forgiving.
So how can shipbuilders move forward?