Ship product modelling

This paper is a fundamental review of ship product modeling techniques with a focus on determining the state of the art, to identify any shortcomings and propose future directions. The review addresses ship product data representations, product modeling techniques and integration issues, and life phase issues. The most significant development has been the construction of the ship Standard for the Exchange of Product Data (STEP) application protocols. However, difficulty has been observed with respect to the general uptake of the standards, in particular with the application to legacy systems, often resulting in embellishments to the standards and limiting the ability to further exchange the product data. The EXPRESS modeling language is increasingly being superseded by the extensible mark-up language (XML) as a method to map the STEP data, due to its wider support throughout the information technology industry and its more obvious structure and hierarchy. The associated XML files are, however, larger than those produced using the EXPRESS language and make further demands on the already considerable storage required for the ship product model. Seamless integration between legacy applications appears to be difficult to achieve using the current technologies, which often rely on manual interaction for the translation of files. The paper concludes with a discussion of future directions that aim to either solve or alleviate these issues

Comparison of shipbuilding and construction industries from the product structure standpoint

Copyright © 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. The use of building information modelling (BIM) in construction compares to the use of product lifecycle management (PLM) in manufacturing. Previous research has shown that it is possible to improve BIM with the features and the best practices from the PLM approach. This article provides a comparison from the standpoint of the bill of materials (BOM) and product structures. It compares the product beginning of life in both construction and shipbuilding industries. The research then tries to understand the use, form and evolution of product structures and BOM concepts in shipbuilding with the aim of identifying equivalent notions in construction. Research findings demonstrate that similar concepts for structuring information exist in construction; however, the relationship between them is unclear. Further research is therefore required to detail the links identified by the authors and develop an equivalent central structuring backbone as found in PLM platforms

The international ocean transport industry in crisis : assessing the reasons and outlook

Until 1980, the world merchant fleet expanded rapidly in response to thriving seatrade markets. Since then, it has not grown much. The industry did not adjust effectively to periodic global recession, and the fleet's earnings deteriorated as the gap widened between the supply of tonnage and the demand for transport. The unpredictability of seatrade markets and the changing structure of demand for ocean transport complicated shipowners'efforts to retrench and draw up defensive strategies. Advances in ship design and ocean transport technologies allowed shipowners to adjust to the greater need for specialized vessels, but chose to retain their assets and their adoption was expensive. Most shipowners added a few new vessels after 1980, often supported by government subsidies. Government regulations created serious distortions in ocean transport and impeded free market adjustments. The most serious issues the industry faces are a critically overaged fleet and shortage of capital. Becauseof reduced freight earnings, maintenance has been neglected, leading to frequent structural failure. Ship casualties - often with serious envionmental damage - have reached alarming levels. The deteriorating safety record has caused insurance costs to escalate and has provoked calls for stricter liability rules, stringent technical standards, and rigorous inspection. Enforcement would make ocean transport more expensive. To meet expected demand for ocean transport safely and efficiently, a great deal of overaged tonnage must be replaced, maintenance must be improved, and new tonnage has to be added. The estimated cost: almost US$400 billion in constant 1992 prices. But traditional financing, through mortgage lending and government subsidy, is becoming scarce. Leasing or cashflow-based lending are promising alternatives, but they required predictable revenue streams based on long-term freight contracts predicated on cargo-owners'cooperation, which remains doubtful. No effective arrangements have been made to meet the industry's capital requirements, and doubts are more numerous than assurances in the industry. The crisis that has developed is unprecedented.Common Carriers Industry,Ports&Waterways,Transport and Trade Logistics,Water and Industry,Environmental Economics&Policies

The international trading order at the crossroads

As economic theory shows and experience underlines, international trade and the specialization associated herewith is one important source of economic growth, employment creation and technological innovation in participating countries. In awareness of this potential for increasing economic prosperity throughout the world, the architects of the international trading system, which was to emerge from the ashes of World War II, envisaged a framework of rules leading to, and securing, open markets. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which came into being in 1948, laid down such trade rules, basically the principles of non-discrimination and multilateralism in world trade. The aim was not to establish free trade, without any government intervention. What was meant is liberal trade, in which governments may interfere, but using price measures which are transparent and do not rule out competition (i.e. non-prohibitive tariffs rather than quantitative restrictions or subsidies). Adherence by the member countries to the principles of multilateralism and non-discrimination was expected to give rise to the production of an international public good: stability and predictability of trade rules.

A Shipbuilding cost analysis comparison between China, Japan and the United States

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116058/1/39015075438534.pd

Industrial adjustment in Western Europe: Retrospect and prospect

The purpose of this paper is to discuss major factors behind failures and successes in structural adjustment. The analysis includes the experience of four major European countries: France, Italy, the United Kingdom and West Germany. These countries are known for diverging performances. Germany has the highest real per capita income, the lowest inflation, and the strongest currency, while its unemployment rate, though depressing by her own historical standards (8 per cent in 1986 as compared to 1 per cent on average during the sixties), is distinctly below those of the other three countries. On the other side of the spectrum is Italy, but this nation is in fact composed of three economies - a highly developed and rapidly growing one in the north, a very backward one in the south and a dynamic economia somersa almost everywhere. The United Kingdom has become the only oil-rich country in the sample, but probably the one which has been struggling most with micro-economic inefficiencies and the power of interest groups (labour unions in particular) in the economic-political decision process for decades. France has become an industrial and technological leader in a shorter space of time (starting its economic transformation in the late fifties) than any of the other sample countries, but it also was struck by an unparalleled experimentation with socialism during the early eighties.