EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Shipyard State of the Art (SOA) Report has been developed in support of
the U.S. Navy MARITECH Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise (ASE) program. Three
shipyard production-related Major Initiative Panels were chartered by the
Executive Control Board of the National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) to
produce this SOA annual report. The panels included Shipyard Production Process
Technologies (SP-16); Welding Technologies (SP-7); and Surface Preparation and
Coating Technologies (SP-3). A team of representatives from U.S. shipyards and
the Navy Manufacturing Technology Program Centers of Excellence worked together
to produce the report, which focuses on shipyard production processes and
related technologies. Government and industry groups may use the report as a
basis for comparing current practices with SOA practices. The SOA report also
strives to improve the U.S. industry in a manner that is consistent with the
mission and vision of the MARITECH ASE program, as described below.
The U.S. Navy has worked with industry, the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency, the Maritime Administration, and the U.S. Coast Guard to
develop the MARITECH ASE program. This program is strategically structured to
place industry in such a position so as to control its own destiny. The
shipbuilding industry strongly endorses this new program. The Executive
Control Board of the NSRP took the lead in forming the collaborative
organizational structure required to develop and administer a landmark,
industry-wide strategic, research and development investment plan on a
cost-share basis with government, funded by the U.S. Navy's MARITECH ASE
program. Participation in MARITECH ASE is open and accessible to the entire
maritime industry.
MISSION: The mission of MARITECH ASE
and the NSRP is to manage and focus national shipbuilding research and
development funding on technologies which reduce the cost of warships to the
U.S. Navy and foster U.S. international shipbuilding competitiveness.
VISION: Industry has developed a consensus vision for U.S.
shipbuilding as a common frame of reference for collaborative, coordinated
research and development. By 2006 and through the collaborative development of
product and process improvements, the U.S. shipbuilding industry will become a
robust, self-sufficient industry that:
- Is recognized as able to build ships as efficiently and cost
effectively as world competitive shipyards, and has captured a
significantly increased share of commercial markets.
- Has significantly reduced the cost of ships to the U.S. Navy; adjusted
to the substantial reduction in military construction; and preserved the
infrastructure support which the U.S. Navy shipbuilding needs for the
foreseeable future.
- Continues to be characterized by customer satisfaction, safety,
quality, environmental compliance, and increasingly lean cost and cycle
time.
The SOA report is purposely structured to highlight production processes.
It is divided into three chapters, one for each of the participating panels.
Each Discrete Process write-up provides an Introduction; a State of the
Industry; a State of the Art; a State of Related Industry; an Enabling
Technologies; and a Manufacturing Strategies section. The MARITECH ASE
Strategic Investment Plan Sub-initiatives; Product Control; Industrial
Engineering; Outfit Fabrication/ Installation/Test; Structural
Fabrication/Subassembly/Assembly and Erection; Production Control; and
Surface Preparation and Coatings were used as a guide for SOA process
selection. The development team recognized the need to prioritize the area
of report development due to the broad scope of shipyard production
processes.
