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troduce cutting-edge technology thathasn?t been tested in the shipbuilding in- dustry. Carter believes that new technol- ogy isn?t necessarily the answer to maximizing efficiency. ?Advancing tech- nology or installing wild or advanced concepts would just be a risky thing for us to manage," says Carter. "And really, shipbuilding gains and efficiency come from the shop floor and are largely process-related and are very incremen- tal. Little things add up to bigger savings. So we?ll focus on being smart about re- peatable processes. We?re focused on building an efficient and flexible ship- yard that will allow us to bring value to Canada by efficiently building NSPS vessels, but also be flexible enough to build, as capacity allows, for other cus- tomers ? either other governments or commercial customers.? PARTNERSHIP WITH STX OFFSHORE & SHIPBUILDINGTo help with the shipyards' moderniza- tion project, Seaspan hired STX Off-shore & Shipbuilding Co., one of the largest shipbuilding companies in the world. Leveraging past and existing re- lationships, Seaspan chose STX becauseof their excellent track record. For Carter, it?s all about creating a facility that speaks to efficient shipbuilding well into the future. It was important to Sea- span to partner with an organization that had prior knowledge of Seaspan?s dis- tinct operation in being both a homeportand a repair facility. Says Carter, ?We knew what we were getting when we went with STX. They have a business model that supports these types of rela-tionships. They have designed many shipyards around the world in the last 10 years. So we wanted to tap into that ex- perience and their overall knowledge.? The STX experience will allow Sea- span to continue to focus on what it doesbest while preparing for the first phase of the NSPS contract. Carter is aware of the need to tread carefully in terms of main-taining an efficient, profitable business while ramping up to complete the large NSPS contract. ?One of the positives is that the existing business that we do today, we do very well. It?s going gang- busters in Victoria, and Vancouver Dry- dock is doing extremely well this year. So we just want to make sure we?re sup- porting the needs of those organizations as they?re executing without disrupting that.? STAFFING UP FOR NSPS Building a production workforce up from 200 to 1000, as Seaspan will do atVancouver Shipyards, can be a challenge for any organization, especially in an in- dustry that has not had a large role in 54Maritime Reporter & Engineering News Rendering of future Vancouver Shipyards design by STX Offshore & Shipbuilding. Seaspan is investing $200m in the shipyard modernization project. MR June12 # 7 (50-56):MR Template 6/11/2012 1:23 PM Page 54