Energy-efficient through-life smart design, manufacturing and operation of ships in an industry 4.0 environment

Energy efficiency is an important factor in the marine industry to help reduce manufacturing and operational costs as well as the impact on the environment. In the face of global competition and cost-effectiveness, ship builders and operators today require a major overhaul in the entire ship design, manufacturing and operation process to achieve these goals. This paper highlights smart design, manufacturing and operation as the way forward in an industry 4.0 (i4) era from designing for better energy efficiency to more intelligent ships and smart operation through-life. The paper (i) draws parallels between ship design, manufacturing and operation processes, (ii) identifies key challenges facing such a temporal (lifecycle) as opposed to spatial (mass) products, (iii) proposes a closed-loop ship lifecycle framework and (iv) outlines potential future directions in smart design, manufacturing and operation of ships in an industry 4.0 value chain so as to achieve more energy-efficient vessels. Through computational intelligence and cyber-physical integration, we envision that industry 4.0 can revolutionise ship design, manufacturing and operations in a smart product through-life process in the near future

Sustainability challenges and how Industry 4.0 technologies can address them: a case study of a shipbuilding supply chain

The shipbuilding industry is under significant economic pressure and in need of more efficient solutions to secure economically sustainable operations. It is also challenged by social issues and the need for a greener maritime industry is critical. Accordingly, the shipbuilding industry is pressured across all three dimensions of sustainability. This paper aims to identify the sustainability challenges in shipbuilding supply chains and explore how Industry 4.0 technologies can impact the sustainability of shipbuilding. This is achieved through a case study of a shipbuilding supply chain, which results in the identification of its primary sustainability challenges. Further, this work proposes a set of nine digital solutions to support sustainable operations in shipbuilding as the paper’s primary contribution. This lays the foundation for further empirical research on sustainability and digitalization in shipbuilding, while for practice the paper provides enhanced insight into how Industry 4.0 technologies can be adopted in shipbuilding supply chains.acceptedVersio

A review of miniaturised Non-Destructive Testing technologies for in-situ inspections

Non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques have become attractive trends of product manufacturing, installation and post-maintenance in the aerospace, automotive and manufacturing industry, because of its benefits such as cost saving, easy to use and high efficiency etc. With the industrial products becoming large-scale, high integration and complication, developing the NDT miniaturisation technique for in-situ inspections is highly demanded and becoming an inevitable trend. However, in-situ inspection using NDT have been limited by a number of factors, such as the heavy weight, large size or complex structure etc. This paper aims to systematically identify and analyse the current state-of-the-art of NDT miniaturisation techniques in research and innovation, and discuss the challenge and prospect of miniaturisation of the commonly used NDT techniques

Evolutionary Computation Automated Design of Ship Hull Forms for the Industry 4.0 Era

As the marine industry moves towards the industry 4.0 era, the role of automated smart design is becoming increasingly significant. This offers an ability to produce highly customisable design and to integrate with the product-lifecycle process such as digitalised ship production and ship operations to in an efficient process. Currently, the hull form optimisation process is performed manually using `trial-and-error' approach, which is not efficient. Focusing on automated smart design, this paper introduces a hybrid evolutionary algorithm and morphing (HEAM). It works by mapping the entire hull form (phenotype) into a chromosome (genotype), which allows global shape modification using a novel 2D morphing method. By combining this 2D morphing and Genetic Algorithm (GA), it enables optimal hull designs to be produced more rapidly with no user intervention

TOWARD SHIPBUILDING 4.0 - AN INDUSTRY 4.0 CHANGING THE FACE OF THE SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY

The Shipbuilding 4.0 at the principles of the Industry 4.0 will transform the design, manufacturing, operation, shipping, services, production systems, maintenance and value chains in the all aspects of the shipbuilding industry. Over the last few years, the fourth industrial revolution has spread in almost all industries. The whole world is talking about Industry 4.0 which has increased implication in the manufacturing process and the future of the work. The impact of the Shipbuilding 4.0 will be significant. In the past, shipbuilding industry where continuously improved with new machines, software and new implemented organizational restructuring. In today shipbuilding industry, there are three main problems that are considered; production efficiency, the ship safety, cost efficiency and energy conservation and environmental protection. In order to create new value, the ship must become a Smart Ship capable of “thinking”, and to be produced in Smart Shipbuilding Process. The aim of this article is a review of the present academic and industrial progress of this new industrial revolution wave in the shipbuilding sector called Shipbuilding 4.0 (Shipping 4.0, Maritime 4.0, Shipyard 4.0). Reviewed publications were analyzed different topics and level of improvements in the industrial aspects of the society. The implementation of the Shipbuilding 4.0 in the shipbuilding industry, presents the future, creating new value in the process, creating new demands with reduction in production and operational cost while increasing production efficiency

Shipbuilding 4.0 Index Approaching Supply Chain

The shipbuilding industry shows a special interest in adapting to the changes proposed by the industry 4.0. This article bets on the development of an index that indicates the current situation considering that supply chain is a key factor in any type of change, and at the same time it serves as a control tool in the implementation of improvements. The proposed indices provide a first definition of the paradigm or paradigms that best fit the supply chain in order to improve its sustainability and a second definition, regarding the key enabling technologies for Industry 4.0. The values obtained put shipbuilding on the road to industry 4.0 while suggesting categorized planning of technologies

The Influence of Water Quality on the Structural Development of Vessels: Smart Dimensioning Process

In fact, it is pivotal the development, use, and management of the best and most suitable coatings to be supplied to vessels—especially those designed for long journeys; not only to increase their stability and safety but also to minimize their maintenance cost. In this regard, it should be also considering the function, the vessel typology and its routes, as well as the quality of the waters by which it will navigate. Topics that are critical to promote a better dimensioning process of vessels. Thus, the present chapter, via an extensive literature review articulated with practical approaches, aims to define relevant directions for vessels structural development processes regarding the water quality (sea or river waters), where they will outline their routes. Therefore, the study looks for a relationship between the vessels structural coating design process and the quality of the water where they navigate. Moreover, such a process not only will optimize/minimize the costs with the periodic maintenance of the vessels linings, but also to relate it with its routes—contributing to the revitalization of their structural dimensioning

A contextual account of digital servitization through autonomous solutions : Aligning a digital servitization process and a maritime service ecosystem transformation to autonomous shipping

This study focuses on digital servitization (DS) through autonomous solutions by building on a service ecosystems perspective. The rise of autonomous solutions exemplifies the ongoing digitalization and societal transformation and therefore integrative theoretical perspectives are needed to complement the dominant focal actor perspective in extant DS research. The study presents a longitudinal case of a solution provider's DS process to demonstrate how transformation towards autonomous shipping was driven in the maritime sector. An empirically enriched framework communicates DS process as aligned changes in value propositions, resource configurations and institutional arrangements within the service ecosystem. The study offers academic contributions and practical implications on managing DS through autonomous solutions as a strategic reorientation of a firm in the multi-level context of service ecosystem transformation.© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Trends of Digital Transformation in the Shipbuilding Sector

The new paradigms of Industry 4.0 force all the industrial sectors to face a deep digital transformation in order to be on the edge in a competitive and globalized scenario. Following this trend, the shipbuilding industry has to establish its own path to adapt itself to the digital era. This chapter aims to explore this challenge and give an outlook on the multiple transformative technologies that are involved. For that reason, a case of study is presented as a starting point, in which the digital technologies that can be applied are easily recognized. A social network analysis (SNA) is developed among these key enabling technologies (KETs), in order to stress their correlations and links. As a result, artificial intelligence (AI) can be highlighted as a support to the other technologies, such as vertical integration of naval production systems (e.g., connectivity, Internet of things, collaborative robotics, etc.), horizontal integration of value networks (e.g., cybersecurity, diversification, etc.), and life cycle reengineering (e.g., drones, 3D printing (3DP), virtual and augmented reality, remote sensing networks, robotics, etc.)

Hybrid Evolutionary Shape Manipulation for Efficient Hull Form Design Optimisation

‘Eco-friendly shipping’ and fuel efficiency are gaining much attention in the maritime industry due to increasingly stringent environmental regulations and volatile fuel prices. The shape of hull affects the overall performance in efficiency and stability of ships. Despite the advantages of simulation-based design, the application of a formal optimisation process in actual ship design work is limited. A hybrid approach which integrates a morphing technique into a multi-objective genetic algorithm to automate and optimise the hull form design is developed. It is envisioned that the proposed hybrid approach will improve the hydrodynamic performance as well as overall efficiency of the design process