Autocad News

The competitive landscape in shipbuilding has changed dramatically, as ‘Industry 4.0’ capabilities driven by the digital revolution have given the edge to those that scout and adopt solutions that deliver on the promise of increasing efficiency while cutting costs. Juan Prieto discusses the CADMATIC suite of solutions for North American shipyards seeking to capture the competitive edge.Digital technologies are evolving at breakneck speed, unlocking tremendous efficiency gains for shipbuilders.

Bristol, R.I. based naval architecture, marine engineering and consulting firm Bristol Harbor Group, Inc. (BHGI) announced the continued expansion of its naval architecture and marine engineering firm with two new hires: Taylor Althouse and Kasey Kennedy.Althouse joined BHGI as a Naval Architect. Althouse graduated from the University of Michigan with a Master of Science in Engineering in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. During his time at the University of Michigan, Althouse interned at Hornbeck Offshore Services, LLC.

Marine News spoke to leaders at three North American naval architecture and marine engineering firms about some of the latest trends impacting their business today. Mike Fitzpatrick, president, Robert Allan Ltd.; Jeff Bowles, director, DLBA Naval Architects; and Rich Mueller, president and CEO, NETSCo., weigh in on topics such as digitalization, decarbonization and the naval architect talent pool.How do you view the maritime industry’s ongoing shifts in areas such as digitalization and decarbonization…

Bristol, R.I.-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm Bristol Harbor Group, Inc. (BHGI) announced it has hired Braden Delaney, as a naval architect. He graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. with an B.S.E. in naval architecture and marine engineering.Prior to joining BHGI, Delaney interned at NASSCO and NAVSEA, providing engineering support for shipyard operations in addition to interning as a salvage naval architect. Delaney is also a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME).

Naval architecture and marine engineering firm Bristol Harbor Group, Inc. (BHGI) announced it has hired Jeb Hamel as a naval architect.Hamel graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. with an M.S.E. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.Prior to joining BHGI, Hamel worked as a naval architecture intern at BMT Designers and Planners in Arlington, Va., where he gained experience creating general arrangement plans and performing stress and weights calculations for naval designs. He has experience in AutoCAD, Excel, Navisworks and MATLAB.

ABS software supports designs across most vessel sectors. This pilot project focused on tug and barge designs, producing promising results.Jensen Maritime, the naval architecture and marine engineering arm of Crowley Maritime Corp, and ABS have completed a precedent-setting pilot project using three-dimensional computer-aided design (CAD) models to support plan reviews for class approval.In what is believed to be an industry first, the innovative pilot was not proprietary to specific brands of CAD software, allowing designers to use the versions with which they are most familiar, or those that are best suited to the design project.Saving Time and MoneyIn eliminating the need to create 2D drawings to submit for the class design-review process…

SSI CEO Darren Larkins, together with President & CTO Denis Morais, acquired ownership of the shipbuilding software development company from founder Rolf Oetter effective March 1, 2018. The two longtime employees have been managing SSI for the past seven years and have been entrenched in all aspects of the company’s day-to-day operations for even longer. Larkins, SSI’s fifth employee in 1999, said that through the years he and Morais have done “pretty much everything that SSI does at some point.” He added…

Victaulic’s collaboration with SSI’s Autodesk ShipConstructor promises a streamlined design process, easier access to Victaulic piping specifications and proof positive that marrying hardware data and existing design technology can save time, money, weight and headaches for boat designers and shipyards alike.Is Victaulic’s time-tested turnkey approach to pipe joining right for you? That depends on a lot of things, but if better design options and a measurable benchmark of Total Installed Cost Savings would benefit your bottom line, then you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying. And now, Victaulic’s catalog content inclusion in SSI’s ShipConstructor software gives naval architects and shipyards the convenient ability to ask…

The ANZAC Class is a ship class of 10 frigates: eight operated by the Royal Australian Navy and two operated by the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). They have an overall length of 118 meters and a displacement of around 3,800 tons. In 2014, New Zealand ordered extensive modernizations to its frigates’ core combat and related systems. This would require the integration of the Lockheed Martin CMS 330, integrated with radar improvements, MBDA’s independently-guided Sea Ceptor missiles and an extensive array of other modern equipment.

The last barrier to robotic shipbuilding has just fallen. What comes next will be truly exciting. It wasn’t too long ago that SSI and Wolf Robotics demonstrated some co-development which automatically drove a fully autonomous welding robot to weld several ship panels. SSI develops Autodesk based solutions for the shipbuilding and offshore industry including ShipConstructor software, an AutoCAD based CAD/CAM product line; and EnterprisePlatform, a tool for sharing product data model information. For its part, Wolf Robotics has been integrating robotic welding and cutting systems since 1978. The collaboration was part of a National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) Computer Aided Robotics Welding (CAR-W) project with U.S. shipyards.

NAPA and Tech Soft 3D have announced that NAPA Drafting software has been developed using the AutoCAD OEM platform from Autodesk. This allows NAPA Drafting to deliver the market standard in 2D drawing functionality automatically from NAPA 3D databases, enhancing productivity for yards and speeding compliance processes. NAPA Drafting is also able to automatically generate rich 2D section drawings from the 3D NAPA ship model created in NAPA Steel. The tool can easily and quickly extract the data from the in-progress…

With the release of ShipConstructor 2016 R1.1, SSI said it provides additional enhancement for the offshore rig construction market, particularly with regards to weld management. These new features will benefit all shipbuilders, the developer noted, but said it especially benefits those wishing to expand into the offshore sector. ShipConstructor 2016 R1.1 is particularly geared toward early adopters of ShipConstructor's latest productivity-enhancing capabilities; the predominant portion of new features are focused on ShipConstructor Subscription Advantage Pack clients. According to SSI, clients are increasingly wishing to diversify into oil rig construction. To remain competitive they require constant innovation and embrace early adoption of software advancements.

SSI's CAD/CAM ShipConstructor software utilizes a Marine Information Model (MIM) to store a wealth of data that can be leveraged for maintenance, repair and lifecycle support. Slated to exhibit at the American Society of Naval Engineers' Fleet Maintenance & Modernization Symposium (FMMS) from September 1-2 in San Diego, SSI USA informs that its representatives will be on hand to explain the ins and outs of MIM. At the core of SSI’s MIM is a complete virtual model of the entire vessel including each of the various disciplines from hull production design and structural detailing to outfitting and assembly sequencing. All engineering disciplines work within a single integrated environment…

C-Nav, a division of C & C Technologies an Oceaneering International Company providing dynamic DGNSS Precise Point Positioning systems, has introduced a newly upgraded version of its C-Scape software. C-Scape provides independent, real-time monitoring of dynamic positioning (DP) systems, while simultaneously providing operations overview of other vessels infield and subsea infrastructures via multilayer AutoCAD files. C-Scape blends multiple sensor inputs for position quality assurance/quality control and is suitable for most dynamically positioned vessels, including drilling rigs and ships.

SSI, a developer of software products for shipbuilding engineering and construction, reports its ShipConstructor Structure Webinar, previously scheduled for June 3, has been rescheduled for July 8, 2015, 8 a.m. (PDT). Structure offers rapid 3D production detailing of internal hull structure. It combines aspects of both associative and parametric 3D modeling but is tailored specifically to the design of ships and offshore structures. Accurate and intelligent 3D project models can be created very quickly utilizing a cross section of shipbuilding specific capability and native AutoCAD tools. In addition, a new ShipConstructor Hull webinar will be held on June 16, 2015, 8 a.m. (PDT).

Holland Shipyards has selected SSI's ShipConstructor software for its new shipbuilding activities. Holland Shipyard undertakes newbuilding, repair and conversion of small and medium-sized vessels. Florian den Besten, Naval Architect with Holland Shipyards, explained his company's thinking when purchasing new CAD/CAM software. He said, "First of all, the system is user-friendly as ShipConstructor is AutoCAD based and contains all features needed by our architects. Secondly, the architects appreciate the ease of making 2D drawings with the MarineDrafting application of the ShipConstructor Hull Structure Premium Suite. The 2D drawings are used for workshop and classification drawings. The simplification of the technical drawings, by using appropriate symbols, makes them clear and readable.

The release of ShipConstructor 2015 CAD/CAM software is a key part of SSI’s new plan to increase flexibility, security, convenience and simplicity for its clients in the shipbuilding and offshore markets, the company said. According to SSI, ShipConstructor 2015 contains several new catalogs, an augmentation SSI claims is of immediate benefit, as they will help users quickly and accurately model components to correct specifications. These catalog additions and changes include the following XML standard templates: PipeCatalog-ASME-CarbonSteel.XML, ImperialWeldStandards.XML and MetricWeldStandards.XML. According to SSI, of particular note are the details related to the addition of the catalog for ASME Carbon Steel Pipe.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group’s reengineered Columbia, built from the original design plans of the classic 1923 Essex-built schooner, will be on display at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, October 30-November 3, 2014. The original Columbia, a 141’ classic Gloucester Fishing Schooner designed by William Starling Burgess, built at the historic A.D. Story shipyard of Essex, Massachusetts and launched April 17, 1923, was bred for speed, challenging – and nearly defeating – Canada’s legendary Bluenose schooner in the International Fishermen’s Cup Races in Halifax.

Ship Constructor, Military pose some challenges. Madrid’s Sener Ingeniería y Sistemas S.A. (Sener) is hoping to regain a foothold via its FORAN CAD/CAM software in the North American market, and to use that opening to crack the Big Six military shipyards, landing at least one lucrative long-term contract. But first, it’s going to have get past its chief competition on these shores, Vancouver-based SSI’s ShipConstructor software, CATIA from Dassault Systèmes of France, and Nupas-Cadmatic, jointly owned by Numeriek Centrum Groningen B.V. of the Netherlands and Cadmatic Oy of Finland.

The speakers representing various companies at next week's SSI Americas ShipConstructor User Conference, October 7-9, 2014 in Mobile, Alabama, demonstrate SSI's philosophy of creating software solutions for the shipbuilding industry that integrate with best of breed applications, the company said. SSI executives will highlight the competitive advantages avalable with the implementation of recently released products such as EnterpisePlatform, MarineDrafting, Electrical, PipeLink, WeldManagement and PipeSupports. In the workshops SSI technical staff will provide particular focus on hands-on workflows, best practices and maximizing the efficient use and benefits of the tools.

Rooted in early computer-aided design (CAD) and manufacturing applications, design and construction software is firmly at the helm of most shipyards today, enabling the production of  better designed, more efficient and consistently built ships produced with measurably less waste: less waste of time, materials, man hours and most important, money. The ROI can be substantial, and is traceable throughout the entire process, across all sub sectors such as project management, purchasing, materials, labor and build sequencing.

Naval architecture and engineering firm Alan C. McClure Associates (ACMA) announced today that Registered Professional Engineer Nicholas Barczak has joined the ACMA team as a naval architect. Nick received his Masters of Engineering in Naval Architecture and Small Craft Design in 2008 from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. He also attended Michigan Technological University where he studied Mechanical Engineering. Prior to joining ACMA, Nick worked as a Naval Architect with Art Anderson Associates and Elliott Bay Design Group.

As part of its Technical Webinar Series, SSI will host a ShipConstructor MarineDrafting Product webinar on Wednesday, September 24, 2014 from 8-9 a.m. (PDT). The webinar aims to introduce end-users to this new product and will include a short presentation and live demonstration. A technical lead will be available to answer questions. In a world of 3D design and manufacturing, many activities still need to be supported with 2D drawings during design and throughout the shipyard.