IMPROVE SHIP DESIGN COMPLEXITY (EASYSHIP)

Nowadays productibility has become a major design attribute for shipbuilding industry. If a ship cannot be manufactured or assembled efficiently, it is not properly designed. To increase the productibility of ships, the scientific community and shipyards has developed the concept of Design For Production (DFP) which can be defined as "Design to reduce production costs to a minimum, compatible with the requirements of the vessel to fulfil its operational functions with acceptable safety, reliability and efficiency".

DFP optimises all the manufacturing functions (fabrication, assembly, test, procurement, delivery, service, repair, etc.) that reduce the production work content while still meeting the specified design requirements and quality. The goal is to include the impact of design decisions on the production process. Time pressures on commercial ship contracts result in the overlapping of phases of design development, procurement and production. This makes the impact of engineering changes more difficult to manage. There is a need to systematically study the detail design process and its impact on construction with the objective to improve the process and its integration with construction. DFP can significantly reduce the costs, since ships can be quickly assembled from fewer parts. Thus, ships are easier to build and assemble, in less time, with better quality. Designers will save time and money by the reduction of the production complexity.