Proposal for the determination of technological parameters for design rationalization of a shipbuilding production program

Abstract

In today’s competitive shipbuilding market where shipyards are barely able to survive, it is necessary to analyze newer and better methods of integrating ship design and production in order to reduce costs and increase profit. The traditional approach of naval architects in ship design includes creating a design which satisfies the requests and expectations of the owner as well as being in compliance with classification society requirements and other pertinent rules and regulations. The “design for production” concept represents a major step towards reducing ship production costs, while simultaneously complying with the previously mentioned design requirements. Competition between shipyards has become global, and simply concentrating efforts on satisfactory ship design without considering the constraints of production early in the design process is risky. Therefore, the aim of this article includes, along with suggestions for naval architects on how to implement the “design for production” concept, an explanation for determining the technological parameters for rationalization of the designs of a shipbuilding production program. The design for production example that was researched in this work includes analyzing the design variations and structural configurations of a shipbuilding production program; determining the technological parameters for design rationalization in compliance with production facilities; and finally creating future design guidelines to be used by naval architects on new vessel designs.