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Through Optimum Use and Innovation of Welding and Joining Technologies
Improving Global Quality of Life
board approximately 60 delivered or ordered frigates and corvettes, which have been designed accordance
to the MEKO concept.
Another air versus sea transport development is the Theatre Support Vessel (TSV), designed and
manufactured by Incat Tasmania Ltd, in Australia, is a vital part of the US Army’s plans for transportation.
This new high speed catamaran vessel will greatly enhance intra-theatre deployment and logistics support
for Army units world-wide. The TSV planned capabilities- speed (over 40 knots), capacity (1,250 tons) and
flexibility (shallow) draft, lightweight aluminium construction, streamlined hull shapes - will provide the
Army with a new and potent capability for rapidly responding to crisis situations anywhere in the world.
Another Combat Ship, the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), is built with Austal Trimaran Technology, by Austal
Ships in Henderson in Australia. Austal is the designer and builder of the General Dynamics LCS. A lightweight
aluminium construction for the US Navy, it utilises the inherent advantages of the trimaran, large cargo bay,
high payloads, flexible layout, shallow draft, manoeuvrability, high speed in a seaway, resulting in improved
crew comfort and aviation capabilities, to enable a new breed of surface combatant for near shore duties.
9.8.3
Innovative shipbuilding
The maritime industry world-wide, became a highly innovative sector, with a large variety of shipyards
focusing on standard, special and complicated vessels. The European shipbuilding industry in particular,
building the most complicated ships and is also a source of maritime innovation. Most yards have succeeded
to have full order portfolios for the coming years. There is some movement to introduce more production
automation also among the middle size and smaller shipyards, a dominating part of the total shipbuilding
industry. One can observe an interesting development in these yards. They receive orders for not one single
ship, but for a number of identical vessels. Outsourcing of production to low labour cost countries is for
different reasons not an ideal solution. In the boom period in European shipbuilding, the characteristics of
the smaller shipyards will become effective: they are flexible, able to commit for special features and they
can deliver. Series production of high quality production of smaller ships can proceed. This means that their
programmes are aiming at streamlining the whole shipbuilding process.
9.8.4
Integrated shop floor technology
Welding and cutting robots in production are important tools in the continuing process of automation and
are now considered as well known and well established production systems for the large shipyards in Japan,
North-Korea, China and Europe. For the middle size shipyards, without experience in automated production
systems, the transfer from old-fashioned arc welding technology to robot welding and cutting systems
is a difficult decision. Management will further discuss the return on the investment in automation and
robotisation for their production. We can be sure that the situation and decisions in each yard depend very
much on the company’s culture and even the country’s culture. One can try to identify the major problems
in the efficiency of the steel fabrication process as mentioned below:
Out-of-date assembly processes established in order to compensate for the lack of flexibility in
the workforce and equipment, resulting in limited square meter output, complicated logistics,
exaggerated accumulation of inaccuracies and low resource utilisation due to frequent job
mobilisation.
Extraordinary level of variability in product and facility quality state, resulting in accuracy in planning
data input and thus insufficiency in planning accuracy leading to inappropriate resource spending
and subsequently managerial frustration.
Inflexible top down management structures combined with out-of-date human motivation
ideologies, resulting in reduced flexibility in the work force, inappropriate resource utilisation and
insufficient learning effect.
9
Needs and challenges of major industry sectors for future applications
