In one example of how digital technologies have changed shipbuilding, Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) is piloting several programs to create a digital shipyard, including \u201cdrawingless\u201d plans for the Enterprise CVN-80 aircraft carrier.<\/P><\/p>\n
At the Navy League\u2019s Sea-Air-Space Exposition last May, NNS president Matt Mulherin said that creating an integrated digital shipbuilding environment could generate cost savings of more than 15 percent<\/A> on the new ship.<\/P><\/p>\n Mike Petters, president and CEO at Huntington Ingalls Industries \u2014 the parent company of NNS \u2014 said digital blueprints are key to supporting naval innovation, as well as saving money. <\/P><\/p>\n \u201cIf we are able to successfully do this with representations of the ship \u2014 the compartments, the space, the foundation, or the pump \u2014 when the ship is delivered, that representation is what the sailors will be using when they take care of the ship for the next 50 years.\u201d <\/P> Shipbuilders are following other producers such as industrial machinery makers in digitalizing their work<\/A> to create a standardized, unified, coordinated infrastructure for designing, producing and maintaining ships.<\/P><\/p>\n Prior to the adoption of digital shipbuilding technologies, design and planning workflows in large-scale production projects were separated and contained in discrete, unconnected platforms with limited capabilities. This model prompts a lot of sending of plans back and forth among separate teams to reconcile changes. Not only does this contribute to lengthier production schedules, but it also increases opportunities for mistakes.<\/P><\/p>\n What\u2019s worse, a lack of real-time collaboration limits opportunities for discovery of design options that could improve a ship\u2019s capabilities, accelerate its construction and reduce costs. <\/P><\/p>\n Digital shipbuilding technologies mitigate these issues by uniting innovative planning tools with a singular repository of always-current design data. All ship-related data becomes a single thread of shared knowledge and truth throughout the product lifecycle.<\/P><\/p>\n Now everyone throughout the digital shipyard who works on that project has the information they need, no matter where they are or where the ship is in its lifecycle. And with the extension of the digital shipbuilding platform to all partners, members of the supply chain, and fleet support teams, ship design and building costs become more affordable.<\/P><\/p>\n Aligning suppliers and partners is not a trivial matter. Indeed, a spokesperson for Newport News Shipbuilding told The Virginian-Pilot that it works with a supplier base of 5,000 companies<\/A> in all 50 states. (Newport News Shipbuilding is currently building the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, the first in its class of supercarriers.) <\/P><\/p>\n Over the years, naval architects and marine engineers have become more adept at crunching numbers to determine if their designs will meet performance requirements. But with the help of 3D models, augmented reality<\/A> and predictive analytics<\/A>, digital shipbuilders can now simulate multiple in-field scenarios to improve design specifications even more.<\/P><\/p>\n With this shipbuilding technology, ship builders and ship operators can identify potential problems early and make adjustments quickly. This speeds the completion and effectiveness of any project, whether it\u2019s testing a system for a ship under construction or improving the performance of ships already in use.<\/P><\/p>\n If a ship class needs to be retrofitted for a new application, having a reliable digital record of the class\u2019s design helps engineers and architects more efficiently determine the changes to be made. In addition, they can use advanced simulation technology to identify optimal redesigns given project constraints. <\/P><\/p>\n
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Digital shipbuilding technology is helping total costs of owning new ships throughout their commissions, no matter their assigned duties.<\/span><\/span><\/P>
\nThe digital drawing board and beyond <\/H3>
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By extending the digital shipbuilding platform to all partners, supply chain members and fleet support teams, the costs to design and build ships come down.<\/span><\/span><\/P>
\nPerformance simulation and optimization<\/H3>
\nEver-present digital twins <\/H3>
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