BY JAMES CARELESS

Shipbuilding Innovation

Digital technology is one of the greatest advances to ever affect the shipbuilding industry. It allows shipbuilders to design and test their ships digitally, refining their capabilities and resiliency before the first piece of steel has been cut, thereby reducing a significant amount of risk.

            Providing digital support to shipbuilders is the mission of InnovMarine, a Canadian company headquartered in Levis, Quebec with an office in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Seeing a need in the marketplace, InnovMarine President and Founder, Pierre-Charles Drapeau, acquired the Canadian reseller rights to ShipConstructor, a complete line of solutions for the design, engineering, and construction of ships and offshore projects. 

            Since that time InnovMarine has added other digital design tools to its portfolio such as QUICKBRAIN (a 3D interactive computerized maintenance/document management system; currently deployed on French Navy), Autodesk (AutoCAD, Inventor, Navisworks), CMPIC (a lifecycle cable management platform for ships; a single naval vessel typically will have 25,000 to 75,000 cables), and Rhinoceros 3D (a 3D visualization system that uses accurate Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines Modeling surfaces to create vessels in 3D). But the purpose of these and other InnovMarine software tools are the same: To help the shipbuilding industry improve productivity and eco-efficiency through computer-based design and manufacturing.

            “In essence, InnovMarine is a digital solutions provider,” said Drapeau. “We’re the only platinum value-added reseller for ShipConstructor, which is the de facto standard in North America for the shipbuilding industry. Most of the USCG and USN ships, as well as a significant percentage of ships in Canada, are being built using ShipConstructor. The same is true for the Configuration Managed Project Integrated Cabling (CMPIC) standard, which is being used in the Canadian vessels being constructed under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS).”

RCN CONTRACTS

            Given InnovMarine’s premier shipbuilding software, the company’s role in major Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) projects comes as no surprise. “For instance, we just secured a contract supporting the Halifax-class ship modernization program,” Drapeau said. “We’re in process of implementing ShipConstructor and shipbuilding Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) toolset to execute this contract, along with helping the RCN mature digitally using a 3D interactive computerized maintenance/document management system called QUICKBRAIN.”

            InnovMarine also offers consulting services to help its clients undergo digital transformations. “In the defence sector, we’ve had a contract with Babcock Canada related to the Victoria-class In-service Support Contract (VISSC), helping Babcock digitally transform their ship survey process,” Drapeau told CDR. “Through that contract, under an ITB investment framework, we had the opportunity to develop software called IMSurvey to digitize ship surveying. We’re working with the USN on shipbuilding projects as well.”

InnovMarine has added ITB consulting services to its portfolio, bringing onboard an ITB expert with extensive experience. “We assist businesses of all sizes navigate this complex landscape by developing tailored strategies to maximize opportunities and attain sustainable growth”

            That’s not all: InnovMarine has been working with Seaspan over the last 10 years through the NSS program. The company has been helping Seaspan integrate ShipConstructor and CMPIC into their shipbuilding processes. InnovMarine is also assisting Seaspan in automating their manual data management processes and breaking down ‘data silos’ to make project-wide information more accessible to authorized employees.

DIGITAL INNOVATION

            As a company built on the power of digital shipbuilding technology, InnovMarine is a strong advocate for this transformative force. “I think it is critically important for the shipbuilding industry to embrace digital transformation and innovation,” Drapeau told CDR. “One major reason is the need for adaptability: We can no longer rely on the way that things have always been done in ship construction. We must prepare and anticipate changes, and the business process that supports these functions must be able to adapt.”

            “I also think the industry needs to adopt digital solutions in order to leverage the value of data,” he continued. “I specifically say leverage the value of data because this is becoming even more critical with the adoption of AI. If companies want to succeed in remaining competitive over the years to come, they will need to embrace AI. But to embrace AI, they will first need to leverage the value of data.”

            To make this digital transformation possible shipbuilders must migrate from paper-based processes to digital processes, explained Drapeau. “To make this happen, they need to work with digital solution providers to help them map their current processes and then identify ways to automate it through digital solutions,” he said. “They also need to formulate data governance policies, because the quality of the data and what you do with it is central to achieving results and benefits.”               

THREE KINDS OF CUSTOMERS

            Although this article has focussed on InnovMarine’s support of the shipbuilding industry, the company has a broader customer base. “We cover three segments,” said Drapeau. “These are marine design firms, shipbuilders, and ship operators. All three segments are leveraging our products and services throughout the life cycles of their ships, starting from ship design to ship fabrication and then operation. Remember, once they’re built, these ships will remain in operation for 40 years. This is why, several years ago, we expanded into the maintenance, repair and operation market with the addition of new product offerings and services such as QUICKBRAIN.”

            “Our ideal customers are design firms, shipyard companies that are involved in the management of in-service support contracts or the maintenance of vessels, and then ship operators,” he added. “We’re helping all of them through our digital solution and consulting services, maintaining their digital threads, and leveraging data to improve their productivity. For example, when you think of the RCN, especially from the perspective of in-service support, you need to adopt new processes, new technology to reduce as much as possible the time spent in dry dock so that you improve ships availability.”

LOOKING AHEAD

            InnovMarine has big plans for the future, including playing a continuing role in the NSS.  We can empower various team players involved in the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) to leverage digital solutions for that project,” Drapeau told CDR. “We also want to replicate our Canadian success with our NATO partners in the UK and Finland. They’re facing similar challenges with their aggressive and ambitious shipbuilding programs, while dealing with an existing fleet of vessels that are, to be diplomatic, of ‘a certain age’, with similar challenges to the Halifax-class fleet. Our vision is to elevate our partnerships with key defence and commercial contractors, to become one of the top digital solution providers for the global marine industry.”

James Careless is CDR’s Ottawa Bureau Chief