Digital Shipbuilding
There is a lot of hype at the moment about digital ship building and digital twins in ship design, but it's not new.
3D models of ships have been around for decades, it's just the hype that is new. Some companies that are promoting it as new are at least 20 years behind. Augmented reality is the new game changer and most ship building specific software is not ready for it yet. Mechanical CAD is.
With over 30 years experience in design and 3D modelling of ship structures and systems, we have developed a hybrid workflow that is fast, efficient and robust.
Ship building specific 3D design software is expensive, and the modelling process is labour intensive and lacking in flexibility. We have seen it fail in production environments and cause significant and costly production delays. We have seen production staff literally standing around a computer taking measurements from a CAD model because the drawings were so poorly presented.
We use 3D mechanical CAD in combination with the Maxsurf Suite and Autocad because we can work faster, produce better drawings, undertake analysis, and model every aspect of the design, all while maintaining a link to the Maxsurf model. Shipbuilding specific programs cannot do this. They rely on importing models from other systems creating a parametric disconnect in the model.
The truth is that for high speed passenger ferry and workboat structure, 2D drawings are all that are needed for efficient production. However with the correct workflow, a hybrid 3D structural drawing package can be produced in less time and with superior drawings that are targeted, clear, and aligned with the build sequence. The real value of 3D design is most significant in the detailing of mechanical components and piping, but this is where the ship building specific software is the weakest. The irony is that many designers that promote the need for a full 3D digital twin do not provide pipe spools or machinery drawings.
This is why we use a proprietary hybrid 2D & 3D workflow. Our mix of 2D drawings and 3D models across both structure and machinery is a drawing set that is concise and easy to interpret, and at a much lower design cost, with no requirement for your production staff to waste time trying to navigate a model to find a dimension. This is not just our opinion. There are a number of yards, especially in the super yacht segment, that have chosen a 3D mechanical CAD workflow.
The truth is that for high speed passenger ferry and workboat structure, 2D drawings are all that are needed for efficient production. However with the correct workflow, a hybrid 3D structural drawing package can be produced in less time and with superior drawings that are targeted, clear, and aligned with the build sequence. The real value of 3D design is most significant in the detailing of mechanical components and piping, but this is where the ship building specific software is the weakest. The irony is that many designers that promote the need for a full 3D digital twin do not provide pipe spools or machinery drawings.
This is why we use a proprietary hybrid 2D & 3D workflow. Our mix of 2D drawings and 3D models across both structure and machinery is a drawing set that is concise and easy to interpret, and at a much lower design cost, with no requirement for your production staff to waste time trying to navigate a model to find a dimension. This is not just our opinion. There are a number of yards, especially in the super yacht segment, that have chosen a 3D mechanical CAD workflow.