By combining these technologies with the latest capabilities\u2014such as generative design, intelligent design exploration and optimization\u2014at full scale under real operating conditions, designers will be freed of traditional design constraints to engineer innovation and maximize value, as they meet sustainability goals.<\/p>\n
Such digital simulation capabilities enable design engineers to test hundreds of geometric variants to find the best performance for future ships. These simulations would require so much time and resources with physical testing that it would not be possible.<\/p>\n
Improvement focus: cost, speed and certainty<\/h3>\n
The cost of a typical towing tank simulation is $150,000 for a basic calm-water resistance test for one geometry. With digital simulation, designers could do thousands of simulations and possibly test hundreds of different geometries\u2014with the same amount of money and significantly less time.<\/p>\n
Another huge benefit is predictability. As with most innovations, one of the most significant risks is in delivering on the design promise.<\/p>\n
When things go wrong, costs ripple through the supply chain and amount to millions of dollars, including those that accrue to:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Designers: the costs of missing bid-stage targets and underperforming designs
\n\u2022 Shipyards: the penalties and legal battles that will arise when expected design improvements don\u2019t deliver
\n\u2022 Ship owners: the operational costs they will be expecting over the life of the ship
\n\u2022 Everyone: the environmental costs associated with failure to meet sustainability targets<\/p>\n
Until the availability of modern PLM software, these risks slowed the pace of design innovation in the shipping industry.<\/p>\n
PLM solutions can help entice stakeholder interest by making it more efficient, affordable and predictable<\/a> to produce unique, innovate solutions that improve sustainability. For example, with digital simulation, you can:<\/p>\n \u2022 Test multiple factors (hydrodynamics, aerodynamics, propulsion) in one environment For example, Havyard Group ASA<\/a>, a Norwegian ship technology company that delivers product and service within the complete value chain, was approaching a deadline to submit its response to a tender. As is customary, Havyard had to commit to a performance requirement, which in this case, called for the vessel to be able to cruise at 20 knots with minimal fuel consumption. That meant that the lower consumption the company committed to, the greater chance it had of winning the contract. However, if it ultimately failed to deliver on the commitment during sea trials, it would face significant penalties. Due to the short deadline and the fact that it was a tender, towing tank testing was neither possible nor practical.<\/p>\n Using Siemens\u2019 Simcenter portfolio, the project was turned around in less than one week, with three design loops that further improved the design\u2014and inside the ten days available before the deadline.<\/p>\n From a bigger picture perspective, investing in digitalization<\/a> will benefit the future of shipping, whether from an individual company perspective or an industry perspective. In addition to helping speed up the move toward sustainable shipping, other opportunities include the following:<\/p>\n First-to-market breakthroughs:<\/strong> Because the industry has been slower to adopt digitalization<\/a> and innovation for sustainability, there are significant opportunities for first-to-market breakthroughs. One ongoing challenge has been how to design a ballast-free ship<\/a>, but such advances could also happen on a systems level. One wonders, for instance, who will develop the first battery that can power a merchant ship\u2019s transatlantic journey?<\/p>\n Traceability and visibility:<\/strong> As there\u2019s more pressure on sustainable practices within supply chains, the shipping industry will benefit from better visibility and traceability into goods transport. Digitization of data and digitalization of processes<\/a> creates an accurate record of truth that provides a means for measuring outcomes of improvement efforts, identifying the cause of problems quickly for fast correction and tracing responsibility back to singular suppliers.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Obtain a holistic and realistic view of what will happen in real life, unlike traditional methods where you test conditions and components separately
\n\u2022 Get more accurate results\u2014especially for novel designs.<\/p>\nFaster commitments with digital simulation<\/h3>\n
![\"Sustainable](\"http:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2019\/09\/Sustainable-Ship-Design_Future-Ships_Sustainable-Shipping-1.png\" "\\"Sustainable")
<\/span><\/p>\nBuilding a sustainable shipping business<\/h3>\n