A short list of three shipbuilding software solution providers are bidding to become the next generation Computer-Aided Design and Product Lifecycle Management software for Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME). The short listed candidates include ShipConstructor Software Inc., Victoria, B.C., Canada, (SSI), the UK's AVEVA Marine and France's Dassault Systemes.

Each of the companies' software solutions will be put through a rigorous fourmonth evaluation by DSME and graded in all areas of the shipbuilding and offshore design process.

For its bid, SSI has teamed with one of the world's largest CAD software developers, Autodesk Inc., San Rafael, Calif., and one of Korea's foremost experts in CAD/PLM, Nova Solution Corp.

"The success of this team is a clear sign that ShipConstructor's best-of-breed approach to shipbuilding and offshore solutions is forcing a change in the industry. The importance of working together with outside resources has been underestimated in the past by large companies. However, they are learning that nobody can exist in a vacuum, and working efficiently with your many partners is just as important as having a state-ofthe-art shipbuilding solution - ShipConstructor provides both," says SSI CEO RolfOetter.

"We believe that this tailored approach is one of the reasons why DSME has invited us to participate in the second phase of this evaluation," adds SSI CTO Darren Larkins.

DSME specializes in complex vessels such as drill ships, offshore platforms, drilling rigs, floating oil production units, submarines, and destroyers.

The competition for the contract will be very stiff. AVEVA Marine says its solutions are used by 43 out of the top 50 shipyards in the world. One of those shipyards is Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI). AVEVA Marine recently signed a $3 million contract with SHI to extend its subscription for AVEVA Engineering, Design and Lifecycle Management solutions, which will be implemented in Samsung's Marine Engineering Offshore Operations.

The flagship brand of Dassault Systemes is CATIA PLM solution, it is used by such notable shipuilders as Germany's Meyer Werft, China's Yantai Raffles Shipyard, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in the U.S. and Japan's Universal Shipbuilders Corp.

OFFSHORE-SPECIFIC FEATURES

Meanwhile, Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, Ala., has released the newest version of its next-generation SmartMarine 3D design solution with expanded offshore capabilities. SmartMarine 3D 2009, a key component of Intergraph's multidiscipline SmartMarine Enterprise portfolio, provides all the software capabilities needed to design and build an offshore platform or ship from process design to fabrication to operations and maintenance.

Intergraph says SmartMarine 3D 2009 reduces engineering man- hours, improves design quality and consistency, increases data integrity and improves cross-discipline collaboration.

Some of the new offshore-specific features in SmartMarine 3D 2009 :

* Rule-Based Joints - that govern joint behavior. For example, a parametric gap between incoming members is denned as part of the rule-based joint. This gap is then maintained by the software as the incoming members change.

* Built-Up Members - that are defined and modified as a single member, but are actually composed of multiple plates that can be independently fabricated.

* Advanced Plate Systems - are parametric rule-driven plates that in combination define complex nodal connections. The Advanced Plate Systems update automatically as the incoming members change. The whole nodal connection can be placed in the catalog for later reuse.

* Automated Detailing - that trims bounded parts (such as tube), places endcuts, places chamfers and places welds and weld bevels automatically based on customizable rules.

Copyright Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation May 2009

(c) 2009 Marine Log. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

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