Yachting Consult Engineering

Shipyards belong to one of the oldest traditional sectors of Europe. The shipyards specialised in the building of ships with a length up to + 50 m, such as (motor) yachts, round trip boats, tugs, fishing vessels. Work boats and ferries typically fall in the SME class (25 250 employees). In the shipbuilding sector competitiveness is increasingly determined by the ability to reduce time to market, lower costs and improve production flexibility on an ongoing basis. Computer aided engineering (CAE) is a technology (approach) with a high added value, which has only been introduced/implemented into the SME shipbuilding sector to a limited level (< 50%) and to a limited extent. The main causes are: 1) the knowledge gap/lack of technical expertise of CAD, CAM and in particular CAE systems; 2) the way of implementation of said systems and; 3) reservation (caution) for change. The opportunity to be taken advantage of for the small shipyards is to join forces with experts on naval computer aided design, engineering and manufacturing (CAD/CAE/CAM), collaborative engineering software development and management of change, in order to enhance the efficiency and flexibility of the shipbuilding process by collaborative engineering of hull, interior and piping. The overall RTD goals of the project are: 1) implementation/integration of the concept of collaborative engineering (hull' interior and piping) into the existing CAE tools; 2) extension of existing CAE tools for the small shipyards market and; 3)development of an implementation methodology for l and 2. The specific industrial objectives/targets and expected achievements for the shipyards: Linssen Yachts. Skipasmidastodm. Estaleiros Navais do Mondego, Pendennis and FBM Marine are: 1) a reduction of the lead time by at least 25%, a reduction of the shipbuilding labour costs by at least 20 %; 2) an increase of the flexibility of the shipbuilding process and;%3) an improvement of the quality of the ship and of the shipbuilding process. The potential benefits for the involved shipyards amount to 3 - 5 MECU per year and the potential economic benefits arc 90 - 150 MECU/year Europe widc. It is expected that within 6 months after the project the beta version of the developed CAE tools is available for the involved (small) shipyards. Further, it is the expectation that within 12 months the betaversion of the CAE tools as well as the implementation methodology and training courses are transformed into marketable products and services and are introduced in the building processes of the shipyards. The listed objectives of the proposed project refer to the priority areas: 1.1.2.S. 1.1.1.M, 1.1.4.M, 1.5.1.S and 3.B. I of the of the IMT Workprogramme. Moreover, the project is in accordance with the Maritime Industry R&D Masterplan (tasks: 1.1.1, 1.1.5, 1.1.6 and I. 1.7.) and in accordance with the policy of the European Commission s as described in the paper: Towards a New Shipbuilding Policy.