Automating Ship Assembly Planning and Simulation

First Marine International, in their latest benchmarking study of the global shipbuilding industry, identified production preparation as one of the key items preventing U.S. shipbuilders from reaching world quality status. These problems are partially caused by a lack of standardized tools to support and automate production planning operations. Simulation tools offer a powerful method to analyze production capabilities, resources, and provide feedback to planners on optimizing assembly planning and sequencing. However, use of simulations is limited due to the long set-up times and steep learning curve. The team will investigate the possibility of automating the creation of a simulation model from an existing assemply planning program. Standardized resource models which describe shipyard facilities, along with the assembly structures definitions extracted from product model data will be used as inputs into a discrete event simulator. The resource model will be rules driven, modular and customizable, enabling work packages to be created at one site and rapidly modified to reflect the work environment at another site. The platforms used will be open and interoperable in order to encourage industry collaboration.