Page 17: of Marine News Magazine (October 2020)

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ers, who clearly acknowledge the risks, would share in some

What are some of the most impactful changes you’ve of the risks, the resulting costs of programs would go down.

observed in the shipbuilding business over the course

Affordability will remain a key discriminator in terms of your career? What sort of changes do you expect of competition. All shipyards are keenly aware of this. It we’ll see in the years ahead?

Perhaps the most impactful change our industry has seen drives our business decisions because it is directly linked to over the years is the increase in automation on both commer- our ability to win new business. Every shipyard has a “vi- cial and government vessels. Trends in technology during ability” line drawn that balances the costs of the business the past several decades has been tremendous. Particularly in against the revenue stream of the programs. If it is all in the area of automation. Sensor technology, information and balance, life is good. If it is not, not so good.

systems control and monitoring capability, improvements in We shipbuilders are a special breed. We thrive on chal- the bandwidth of data streaming through transitioning from lenges. We have tough skin because this business demands serial to ? ber optics to name just a few. All of this technology it. There is no other business that I am aware of that has so has introduced the capability to reduce manning aboard ves- many moving parts that have to be known, and paid atten- sels, improve the ability to manage propulsion and machin- tion to from start to ? nish. The typical construction win- ery conditions and predict with certain accuracy the need dow from design through construction and delivery can for machinery and equipment overhaul and repair. These take three to ? ve years involving some 80-plus different trends add great value to the owners because the technol- professional and trade disciplines, all of which has to come ogy enables improvements in operational availability and together culminating in a ? nished product we all can be extends the potential service life of the platforms we build. proud to have been a part of. That is what motivates me.

The introduction of this capability has led to a huge up- That is what motivates our team here at Halter Marine. swing in automation of all shipboard systems. And that has driven the costs of these vessels proportionately.

The resulting increase in upfront costs of employing these systems can sometimes be dif? cult to swallow for our customers. We have experienced cases where a customer will use “historical” information from previous or similar platforms to establish an expected price for a new vessel they desire. But they often times overlook the fact that the vendors selling systems and components are staying with the times by introducing these new automation features in their products. That drives up the costs for the equipment and systems. And it also drives up the shipbuilder’s costs be- cause it requires more cables to connect and integrate these systems aboard the vessels. The costs associated with the systems engineering, functional and detail design as well as the planning and production time, test and commissioning efforts increase as well. Adding complexity and capability to platforms introduces risk, especially on ? rst of class designs.

Another trend we have seen over the decades is the un- willingness of some customers to share in program risks.

As a new program is introduced, the entire value stream is fraught with risk. Risk that has to be recognized, captured and monetized and factored into the overall program plan.

Risks are captured and various risk mitigation activities are assigned. These risks are linked to the program plans and schedules and are tied to the ? nancials. When done right, most risks are de? ned during the program pricing process and before the start of negotiations. What the shipbuilders would like to see is more sharing of the risks. If our custom- 17 www.marinelink.com MN