Production Control News

Austal USA has named Jim Blastos as vice president supply chain management, with responsibility for the company’s procurement, strategic sourcing, warehousing, logistics, material management and production control activities.Blastos has over 25 years of experience in developing strategic organizational transformation, collaborative solutions and operational processing. He has held leadership positions in supply chain and operations in the U.S. Navy and industry, including Overhead Door Corporation…

Austal USA promoted Christy Taylor to the newly established position of Chief Operating Officer for Transformation. She will report to Austal USA president Rusty Murdaugh, and oversee Human Resources, Production Control, IT and Supply Chain Management operations in addition to other business integration, leadership, and strategy roles. Her focus will be developing and integrating companywide systems and processes while identifying and enabling synergies across these functions…

Malaysian company Yinson has secured a firm contract to provide and maintain an FPSO for Azule Energy, a BP-Eni joint venture, in Angola.The contract, awarded by Eni Angola, is for the provision of the FPSO for the  Agogo Integrated West Hub Development Project in Angola (“FPSO Agogo”).According to Yinson, the contract is worth about $5.3 billion in total and has a firm period of 15 years from the date of the final FPSO's acceptance. Azule Energy will have the option to extend for another five years. The FPSO Agogo is expected to start operations in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Hepburn and Sons LLC announced it has officially joined forces with MELD Manufacturing Corporation, developer of the patented, solid-state metal additive manufacturing process and provider of MELD 3D printing machines. The companies have been working together since 2021 to introduce the Navy and other military services and DoD agencies to MELD, also known as additive friction stir deposition.Hepburn and Sons LLC is a small business founded in 2010 whose initial focus was to provide expert consulting…

The L.S. Starrett Company, a manufacturer of precision measuring tools and gages, metrology systems and more, appointed Matthew Wells as Director of Operations and Continuous Improvement, responsible for Production, Planning, Production Control and Purchasing, Inventory Management, Warehouse and Shipping, Quality, Manufacturing Engineering, Facility, EHS, Maintenance and Continuous Improvement. Wells reports directly to Mr. Emerson Leme, Vice President, Starrett Industrial Products, North America.

Huntington Ingalls Industries announced leadership changes for its Newport News Shipbuilding division.Damon Saetre has been promoted to vice president of integrated planning and production control. In this role, he oversees all direct planning, supply chain planning and production control functions across the organization. This includes leading the Navy program work plans, as well as workforce and capacity planning.Saetre, who assumed his new role this week and reports to Newport News President Jennifer Boykin…

French automaker Groupe Renault partners with NEOLINE, designer and operator of cargo sailing ships, to experience a new maritime transport solution and reduce the carbon footprint of the Group’s supply chain.Groupe Renault announced the signing of a 3-year partnership with Nantes start-up NEOLINE to develop a more sustainable maritime transport service powered by wind, and to contribute to the environmental management of its logistics chain while nearly 60% of the Group's parts and vehicles are transported by sea.Jean-Philippe Hermine, Vice President, Strategic Environmental Planning Groupe Renault, stated: “Groupe Renault’s objective is to reduce the environmental impact of each vehicle throughout its entire life cycle, from parts transportation up to delivery and end-of-life processing.

Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards (VSY) has appointed Jim Corr as Vice President – Planning & Estimating. Corr joined VSY in January 2017 as a consultant, and in June 2017 was promoted to Vice President, Planning & Estimating. In this role, Corr is responsible for providing leadership and direction on network planning, detail planning and production control, as well as estimating for new ship construction. planning/scheduling, Integrated Master Scheduling, Lean Six Sigma, engineering planning, process development and pre-production processes.

U.S. shipbuilder VT Halter Marine, Inc., a subsidiary of Vision Technologies Systems, Inc. (VT Systems), has appointed Robert A. Socha as Senior Vice President of Business Development and Estimating, effective January 30, 2017. In his role, Socha is responsible for overall management and leadership of the company’s business development and estimating departments. He will work closely with other corporate functions, including departments of engineering, production control, production…

Britain’s largest independent ship repairer and marine engineering services provider Burgess Marine has improved its service offering by obtaining third party accreditation to CE Mark structural steel and aluminium fabrications, and by signing a framework agreement with design firm Houlder. CE Marking has become mandatory for all construction products where the product is covered by a harmonised European standard (hEN). BS EN 1090 is one such harmonised standard which covers structural steel and aluminium fabrication. Since July 2014, products within the scope of this standard must be CE Marked. Companies producing structural steel or aluminium fabrications which are being sold in the UK or the wider European Economic Area are legally required to CE Mark the product.

Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards has appointed Tony Tinto to Vice President, Planning & Estimating. Tony joined Vancouver Shipyards (VSY) in 2006 as a Project Manager, before moving over to affiliate company Vancouver Drydock in 2007 in a similar capacity. In 2012, Tony returned to VSY as Director, Planning & Production Control, and was appointed to the role of interim Vice President, Planning & Estimating in November 2016. Prior to his arrival at Seaspan in 2006, Tony worked as a Design & Engineering Manager for Westbay SonShip & Yachts. As part of the Seaspan Shipyards senior leadership team, Tony is responsible for providing leadership and direction on network planning, detail planning and production control, as well as estimating for new ship construction.

Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards has announced the appointment of Tony Tinto to Vice President, Planning & Estimating. Tinto joined Vancouver Shipyards (VSY) in 2006 as a Project Manager, before moving over to affiliate company Vancouver Drydock in 2007 in a similar capacity. In 2012, Tinto  returned to VSY as Director, Planning & Production Control, and was appointed to the role of interim Vice President, Planning & Estimating in November 2016. Prior to his arrival at Seaspan in 2006, Tinto worked as a Design & Engineering Manager for Westbay SonShip & Yachts.

Grand Bahama Shipyard Limited (GBSL), a Caribbean shipyard providing retrofit, refurbishment and revitalization to cruise and commercial vessels, has added four new positions to its executive team in 2016. Taking up the new executive positions are Ian Edward Ross, Don Keirce, Charles Nugent and Adrian Baboi. Ian Edward Ross joined GBSL July 2016 as VP of HSSEQ, bringing with him over 25 years’ practical experience delivering strategic and operational support to major organizations in the oil and gas, power generation and heavy construction and fabrication industries.

Drydocks World, the international service provider to the shipping, offshore, oil, gas and energy sectors has successfully been certified to European Standards EN 1090 – 1 and EN 1090-2. The certification program is part of the European Union’s Construction Products Regulation CPR 305/2011. Drydocks World’s main yard activities undertaken in its facility are found to be complying with Factory Production Control (FPC) requirements by the auditing body. The scope of the certification includes Corrosion Protected Load Bearing Steel Structures, which can be manufactured under Execution Class 3 (EXC 3). Drydocks World is authorized to apply…

The number of oil rigs in the United fell for a ninth straight week to the lowest level since December 2009, data showed on Friday, as energy firms continued to cut spending amid the collapse in crude prices. Drillers cut 26 rigs in the week ended Feb. 19, bringing the total rig oil count to 413, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report. The number of oil rigs in operation were less than a third of the 1,536 in service during the same week a year ago. Oil has shed 70 percent from highs above $100 a barrel in a selloff that has seen little pause over the past 20 months, forcing a collapse in the rig count as well. Since last Friday though, some traders believed the market had seen a bottom on talk that OPEC was on a plan to reign in production.

AVEVA Group plc announces that it has agreed to acquire FabTrol Systems, Inc. from the Dowco Group of Companies the acquisition is expected to complete by Friday 26 June 2015. FabTrol is a software business, headquartered in Eugene, Oregon with operations in North America and the United Kingdom, providing fabrication management software to the steel fabrication industry. The consideration of $6.5 million has been funded through AVEVA's existing cash resources. The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing in FY16. The combination of the FabTrol software together with AVEVA Everything3D which is already integrated with AVEVA Bocad structural steel detailing software, creates a powerful design, detailing and fabrication solution.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced today that Lori Harper, vice president of supply chain management at the company's Ingalls Shipbuilding division, was named one of the state's 50 Leading Business Women by Mississippi Business Journal. These 50 senior decision-makers are the most powerful, influential women business leaders in the state. More than an awards programs, the Top 50 Women is a development and networking organization that encompasses training opportunities for the inducted women to grow together as business leaders.

Rosneft has started field works at five license blocks of the Barents and Pechora Seas: West Prinovozemelsky, located in the North-Eastern part of the Barents sea near the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, Perseevsky, located in the North-Western part of the Barents sea, and at the South Russky, South Prinovozemelsky and West Matveevsky license blocks, located in the Pechora Sea. West Prinovozemelsky - 3D seismic exploration with a volume of 2800 sq. Perseevsky - 2D seismic exploration with a volume of 6500 sq. South Prinovozemelsky - 2D seismic exploration with a volume of 2000 sq. West Matveevsky - 2D seismic exploration with a volume of 2000 sq. Seismic work will be performed by a specialized research vessel simultaneously with the shipboard gravi magnetometric survey.

Bollinger Shipyards announced that Chris Remont has joined the company as Director of Program Management. Remont will oversee all aspects of Program Management for Bollinger Shipyard’s Lockport new construction facility, with an emphasis on the present U.S. Coast Guard Fast Response Cutter program. The announcement was made by Ben Bordelon, Bollinger executive vice-president and chief operating officer, who said, “Mr. Prior to joining Bollinger, Remont held the position of Director…

For shipbuilders, Type Approval by the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) is a key criterion in the selection and installation of products and systems for a wide range of shipboard applications. For manufacturers, meeting IACS standards is a major factor in the design, development and qualification of products to ensure the highest levels of safety, fitness for purpose and reliability Len Swantek, Director of Global Regulatory Compliance at Victaulic…

Last month marked the launch of two new Littoral Combat Ships: Milwaukee (LCS 5) launched by Marinette Marine into the icy Menominee River; and Jackson (LCS 6) launched by Austal into the far warmer waters found off of southern Alabama. While the two LCS variants and shipyard climates are a world apart, this innovate U.S. Navy ship production program has the common goal of fortifying U.S. defense interests while spurring investment in the creation of two state-of-the-art ship production facilities. Mid-December in Marinette, Wis., can be described with one word: cold.

ESAB Welding & Cutting Products announces the release of Columbus III version 1.2, a powerful CAD/CAM programming and nesting software optimized for plasma, oxy-fuel, laser and waterjet cutting. This latest version of Columbus III offers many new features and updates to make programming easier and more efficient, improve material utilization, increase productivity, and streamline workflow. The new release provides improved CAD functionality with a standard shape library that makes it easier and faster to create part programs using an extensive collection of predefined part geometries.

A energy production technology services company Proserv has bolstered its rapidly-evolving global footprint and specialist integrated services after acquiring major US company Total Instrumentation & Controls (TIC). The acquisition of Houston-based TIC, which specializes in advanced process and control systems equipment and has a second manufacturing facility in Lafayette (LA), also significantly increases Proserv’s talent pool by more than 300 people to over 1600 with the entire American-based workforce joining forces with the company under the Proserv mantle.