SHIP PRODUCTION COMMITTEE

FACILITIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

SURFACE PREPARATION AND COATINGS
DESIGN/PRODUCTION INTEGRATION
HUMAN RESOURCE INNOVATION
MARINE INDUSTRY STANDARDS
WELDING
INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
EDUCATION AND TRAINING

August 1987
NSRP 0281

THE NATIONAL
SHIPBUILDING
RESEARCH
PROGRAM
1987 Ship Production Symposium

Paper No. 2: IHI's Experience

of Technical Transfer & Some
Considerations on Further Productivity
Improvement in U.S. Shipyards
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
CARDEROCK DIVISION,
NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER

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IHIs Experience of Technical Transfer and Some

Considerations on Further Productivity
Improvement in U.S. Shipyards
Hiroshi Sasaki,

Member,lshikawajima-Harima
HeavyIndustries
Co.,Ltd.
(IHI),
Japan

team leader, systematized all the new

elements so as to contribute to the
development of the Japanese shipbuilding
industry as it now exists (l). This is
the modern
Japanese shipbuilding technology
which,
starting
in 1978, is
being returned to the U.S. in a highly
developed form.

ABSTRACT
Heavy
Ishikawajima-Harima
industries Co. , Ltd. (IHI), a leading shipbuilder in Japan, has uniquely exported
shipbuilding technology throughout the
The North
world for three decades.
American efforts, starting in the mid
seventies, were stimulated by the U. S.
National
ShipGovernment/Industry
building Research Program (NSRP).
The
technology transfer, for which the U.S.
Administration
(MarAd)
Maritime
deserves much credit, has significantly
and
improved
U.S.
modernized
shipbuilding systems with carryover into
naval shipyard operations for overhaul.
of all types of warships.
But, productivity levels achieved thus far in
the U.S., while impressive, are not
nearly as great as those in Japan.

But command
of the transferred
technology can be further improved in
terms of productivity.
From an IHI
managers
viewpoint,
the
improvement
effort should be focused not only on
the technical elements, but also on
human management.
When the American
shipbuilding technology was transferred
to Japan, Japanese managers learned not
only the technical aspects, but also
something
of
the
American
pioneer
spirit
which
contributed
to
later
innovations in Japan.

This paper is based on analyses of

the underlying
differences
of shiptechnology,
building
systems,
and
practices between those in Japan and in
the U.S.
Hopefully, descriptions of
technology
IHI
the
state-of-the-art
will serve as guidance for further productivity improvements in the U.S.
1.

No. 2

Now, even after facility modernization consistent with a modern shipbuilding method, IHI systematically and
routinely
improves
productivity
as
discussed herein.
2.

PRODUCTIVITY IN JAPANESE
SHIPBUILDING

INTRODUCTION
2.1

The history
of Japanese
modern
technology
began
when
shipbuilding
National Bulk Carriers, Inc. (NBC), an
American corporation, leased the former
naval dockyard in Kure after World War
II.
NBC brought to Japan the block
construction
method
and
the welding
technology which made block construction possible, i.e., the most modern
American
rationalization
of
shipbuilding that then existed.
Dr. H.
Shinto, who had worked as the Chief
Engineer under Mr. E. L. Harm the NBC

CHANGES IN PRODUCTIVITY

In the latter half of the 1950s,

Japanese
shipbuilding
tonnage
became
the largest in the world.
Responding
to the demands for larger tankers and
bulk carriers,
the industry promoted
further modernization and expanded its
facilities during the 1960s.
By the
beginning
of
the
1970s
most
major
Japanese
shipbuilding
companies
had
yards which could construct ships of
500,000 - 800,000 DW tons.

2-1

this
the
By
time,
block
construction method and zone outfitting
method were highly developed
by exploiting the principles of Group Technology.
In other words, the decade
starting in 1963 marked what may be
called
the golden period for ship-

building technology development.

Then,
the rate of productivity increase and
levels of productivity
achieved were
unprecedented.
Figure
the history
1 summarizes
of
modern shipbuilding in Japan starting
with the NBC Kure operation.

ITEMS

START

WELDING
WELDING
WELDING

PRODUCTION

CLOCK CONSTRUCTION
BLOCK OUTFITTING

Figure 1.

History of Japanese shipbuilding technology

2-2

(1951-1985)

Following the 1973 oil shock the

industry
was
Japanese
shipbuilding
confronted with a continuing crisis due
In 1978
to Japanese decline in demand.
Transport
Ministry
of
Japanese
the
advised the industry to reduce shippercent.
facilities
by
35
building
Thus, some of the newly constructed
large yards were converted into plants
other
than
ships
building
products
of
their
full
utilization
without
modern facilities.
Development
of
the
Korean
and
Taiwanese shipbuilding industries also
contributed to the further decline of
Japanese
shipbuilding
industry.
the
became
competition
for
orders
The
In order to
increasingly more severe.
survive in this environment, cost reduction measures have become very imIHI, no exceptionr is trying
portant.
to survive by exerting all possible
efforts for, and has made some progress
in reducing costs significantly.
Figure 2 indicates the world shipbuilding tonnage completed from 1970
As it is based on comthrough 1985.
pletions, the figure reflects . demand
trend with a time lag of about 2
After
a peak in 1975 conyears.
struction rapidly declined, reaching a
As the figure shows,
nadir in 1980.
afterwords,
immediately
building
tonnage for the Korean industry increased noticeably.
x 1000

CT

40,000

Figure 3 is a plot of IHIs manhour reduction rate for building 30,000

60,000 DWT bulk carriers for the 10
years between 1968 and 1978. As shown,
a reduction of 35 percent was achieved.

Percent

(t)

DATUM

110
100

90

80
70

50

___
1970

Figure 3.

1975

1980

1985

Man-hour reduction curve

(30-60 type bulk carrier)(3)

Figure 4 shows how IHI improved

efficiency
for
building
commercial
ships in recent years.
The efficiency
index was calculated by dividing the
total man-hours consumed per year by
the aggregate Compensated Gross Tonnage
(CGT) of ships built in the same year,
assuming the value in 1979 as 100. For
the seven year period, 1979-1986, efficiency improved by 35 percent, i e, 5
percent per year.

KOREA

30,000

1,000CGT
500

AWES
JAPAN
CCT

20,000

100

400

L/

90

300

80

10,000

70

200

60

CCT: Compensated
CGT=kxCT

so
73

71

FIG. 2

75

NEW MERCHANT
SOURCE;

Figure 2.

77
VESSELS

79
BUILT

LLOYD RESISTER

81
IN

83

85

shipis, thelarger the value ofk is)

THE WORLD

OF SHIPPING

[2]

New merchant vessels built

in the world
Source: Lloyd resister of
shipping (2)

100

(k
variesaccordingto the ship
category. Themore complicated
the
79

80

81

Figure 4.

82

83

84

85

Man-hour/CGT curve

86

2.2

COST COMPARISON BETWEEN

JAPANESE AND AMERICAN
SHIPYARDS

the
1983,
apply:

following
USA

1978, in response to a unigue

MarAd
initiative
as a part of the
National Shipbuilding Research Program
(NSRP), IHI disclosed its cost breakdown for building a 36,000 DWT bulker.
The breakdown was used as a baseline
for comparing cost estimates for the
same ship if built in a U.S. shipyard.
Estimates submitted for the same ship
design
disclosed
that U.S.
required
man-hours were 3.5 times greater.

comparison

also

N. Europe

Japan

57%
51%

46%
35%

In

Labor hours
Labor cost

But IHI managers who served as

consultants concluded by 1984 that at
least one U.S. shipyard had improved
productivity
by at least 30 percent
because of the introduction of the new
shipbuilding technology.
This view was
also
another
reported
by
interested
observer
Other
U.S.
(1).
shipyards
also benefited and as of 1987, from a
productivity viewpoint, the ratio for
Japanese yards relative to U.S. yards
isl:
2 to 2.5.

With the hard data so obtained

other comparisons for the 36,000 DWT
bulker disclosed:
Built in Japan Built in U.S.A.

$20,000,000

cost
Delivery

12 months

Source:

3.

26 months

3.1

OVERHEAOS
LABOR
MATERIAL

UNITEO
STATES

Figure 5.

N EUROPE
(OM 2.22/$1)

IHIS TECHNICAL TRANSFER ACHIEVE

MENTS IN THE UNITED STATES

The National Shipbuilding Research

Program (NSRP) started in 1970 in order
to improve the productivity of the U.S.
shipbuilding
industry.
IHI began
to
participate
in the NSRP in 1976 in
response to two independent and simultaneous initiatives.
One precipitated
by MarAds
office
of Advanced
Ship
Development
led
to
IHI
engineermanagers
advising
Livingston
Shipbuilding Company in the application of
modern methods for the construction of
The
IHI designed 36,000 DWT bulkers.
other, initiated by Panel SP-2 of the
Society of Naval Architects and Marine
Engineers
Ship Production Committee,
resulted in the NSRP publication Outfit Planning
in 1979.
The latter,
which is highly descriptive and illustrative, gave a large number of U.S.
shipbuilders their first understanding
of the logic and principles employed
for
IHI
operations.
shipyard
That
publication and subsequent publications
initiated by Panel SP-2, particularly
Work
Breakdown
Product
Structure
copied,
first
issued
in 1980, were
into Japanese,
translated,
even
and
benefitted shipbuilders concerned with
modern methods everywhere.

Figure 5, prepared by a U.S. based

tanker owner, is a comparison of esticosts
tankers
mated
for 90,000
DWT
built in the United States, Northern
Europe and Japan as of 1981.

TECHNICAL TRANSFER FROM IHI TO

SHIPYARDS IN THE UNITED STATES

$40,000,000

American Shipper,
June 1979

100

100%
100%

JAPAN
(Y 227/$)

Thus,
MarAds
early
initiative
alerted a number of key people that
differences in management methods, not
work ethic, was primarily responsible
the
for
superior
performances
of
One of the people,
Japanese shipyards.
Mr. A. L. Bossier, Jr, President of
Avondale Shipyard, knowledgeable of the
the coming
seriousness
of
worldwide
shipbuilding
recession, was quick to
engage
IHI consultants
in 1979 and
rapidly manage a major transition to
modern
shipbuilding
methods.
The
were
quickly
improvements
manifest.

90 KDWT crude carrier relative construction costs in

U.S., N. European and
Japanese shipyards for 1981
contract. (5)

As shown, major differences lie in

the labor and overhead components of
the estimates.
For the same 90,000 DWT tanker
constructed
in 1981 for delivery in
2-4

2-5

supply necessary materials when they

are needed to the locations where they
are needed (just in time: JIT) .
For
this purpose, materials are categorized
into allocated material,
stock material, and allocated stock material and
managed by defining and managing their
delivery dates.
Furthermore, the functions of the warehouse and marshalling
yards
as
as palletizing
well
are
clearly defined.

in order
to
shipyards,
Other
U.S.
also
competitive
positions,
maintain
IHI
engineer-managers
as
retained
6.
in Figure
consultants
as shown
greatest
the
made
havinq
Avondale
transfer relaeffort in technology
tively early, has since demonstrated
record.
competitive
impressive
on
atmosphere,
business
todays
In
thus
record
Avondales
competitive
far is evidence that it is not enough
For
technology.
pursue modern
to
leading
must
be
yard
success,
a
the pack in its application.

(4)

This system categorizes

all the
processes
into groups
consisting
of
those with similar work content and
allocates them to specified areas in
the yard. The purpose of the system is
to guarantee stable product quality and
to improve productivity by fixing the
workers in the specified areas.
The
are
results
specialized
facilities,
respective production management units,
and workers groups with special skills,
contribute
to
imall
of
which
provement.

As Figure 6 shows, although the

content of technology
transfer can be
divided into many different categories,
main
the
subjects
pertained
to
assisting
in design
development
for
particular ships and for general productivity improvement.
design
The
efforts
included
preparation of drawings and technical
documents with particular emphasis on
work
instruction
drawings
consisted
with a product work breakdown structure.

(5)
Technology
transfer
for
productivity improvement
covered
various
fields such as design, production, production planning, material management,
The following section summarizes
etc.
their main items and contents.
Purposes
are
described
here
without
details since they are introduced in
various NSRP publications.
(1)

Zone outfitting
consists of onblock outfitting, fitting packages, and
on-board
outfitting.
It
requires
elaborate planning at the design stage
with the participation
of production
engineers, ample discussion, and preparing and gathering necessary materials and equipment for the respective
zones
and
stages
by
defined
times
(which are earlier than conventional
timing).
Therefore,
the
productoriented design and material management
systems mentioned before are absolutely
necessary.

PRODUCT-ORIENTED DESIGN SYSTEM

The main purpose is to create and

present all necessary information for
Preparing materials, purchasing equipment, and constructing the ship in the
manner of the process lane and zone
outfitting methods.

The purpose of this method is to

execute outfitting
in an environment
with more ease and safety (workers work
downhand without
scaffolding).
Also,
the purpose is to minimize the movement
of both workers and materials from one
zone to another by completing work per
zone without workers shifting back and
forth from one zone to another.
This
similar
to
that
adopted
method
is
during high-rise building construction
where the interior work is completed by
each story.

All information
is issued in a
format that allows it to be easily
accessed and understood in the variety
of uses for which it is intended.
STANDARDIZING"

The purpose of standardizing is to

and
reduce the number of categories
quantities of materials.
Productivity
indicators are then not disrupted by
widely varying materials.
As a result,
material management and processing are
simplified and work efficiency improves.
(3)

(6) "ACCURACY CONTROL

The purpose of accuracy control is
to minimize
rework, especially minimizing adjustments of
hull blocks
during erection.

MATERIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The

purpose

of

this

system

"ZONE OUTFITTING

Block
construction
and
on-block
outfitting
had been used before IHI
began its technical
cooperation with
U.S. shipyards.

This system features a sequence of

design processes,
i.e. basic design,
functional
design
transition
design,
and detail
design
(work instruction
design).

(2)

PROCESS LANE SYSTEM

is to

For this purpose, the precision of

interim products is improved, without
2-6

using a great amount of

revising production methods.
(7)

labor,

4.

by

IHI has been increasing its productivity by an average of 5 percent

This
per year as mentioned before.
improvement tends to be offset by wages
and various yard expenses which have
Therefore, IHI
been rising every year.
has been trying to keep down all costs
energy
expenditures,
such
as
any
not
absolutely
facility
investment
necessary, and overhead charges.
The
section
describes
some
following
examples of IHIs efforts.

LINE HEATING

Line heating is employed not only

straightening
steel
for bending
and
plates and shapes by heating, but also
for evaluating whether those materials
are precisely processed with ease and
This contributes to miniprecision.
mizing unnecessary rework at following
stages.
3.2

RECENT IHI EFFORTS FOR PRODUCTIVITY

IMPROVEMENT

EVALUATION OF TECHNICAL TRANSFER

introduction
of
new
With
the
technology, labor hours reduced considerably, although the reduction did
not reach the level IHI had expected.
The American shipyards must further and
thoroughly execute the new systems and
improve their own production systems in
However, there is a limit
the future.
to the effects of introducing indiviThe real task in the
dual systems.
therefore,
is
to
integrate
future,
for which
statistical
those systems
control techniques are needed.

4.1
4.1.1

DESIGN AND ENGINEERING

Recognizing the Role of the
Design Department

IHI design engineers widely accept

the concept of Dr. Shinto, who advocates the role of the Design Department
as follows:
Designing
is the beginning and
end of production engineering and it
consists
of
the
following
four
functions:

In integrating those systems, the

role of the design process is still
But sometimes, the design
important.
section of each yard does not recognize
the importance of their own role. The
also
be considered
improvement must
from the information integration viewpoint.

Determine the shape of the ship

defined
functions
with
and
performance.
Examine
with
what
materials,
equipment,
and methods a ship
can be built inexpensively and
while
quickly
satisfying
the
functions
defined
and
performance specifications, express
drawings
them
as
and
other
documents.

productivity
improveRegarding
the
important,
ment, which
is most
quantitatively
systems
capable
grasping and tracking work have been
insufficient. Only a limited number of
The
people are aware of the problem.
principle of executing the system by
all workers has not yet been implesituamented.
In such unintegrated
difficult
to
rather
tions,
it
is
identify and solve problems.

the
Material
supply
to
ProDepartment
curement
within
a
time
defined
schedul,
inforon
mation
specifications,
and delivery dates
quantities,
for materials.
supply to the
Manufacturing
Department,
drawings and work instructions
for respective production
prowithin
cesses
defined
time
schedules.

who
perform
production
People
and
seem rather
passive
engineering
their production strategy, if any, is
not considered for design development.
not
given
detailed
Also,
they
are
information of how work processes are
they can not
performing.
Therefore,
sufficiently contribute to day-to-day
productivity improvements nor provide
design.
Design
good
feedback
to
engineering
and production engineering
must be integrated.

Analyze at both the completion

and during
the building
processes the differences
between
estimates and actual figures in
terms of Costs,
quality,
and
performance
and
plan
to
incorporate
improvement
in
the
next ship to be built.

2-7

(1)

Responsibility Regarding Costs

quantity of materials, while the Procurement Department is responsible for

reducing cost per unit. Of course, the
Design Department also makes efforts to
select the most inexpensive and easily
providable materials.

Design engineers cannot contribute

to cost
reduction
as long as they
consider their job as simply producing
drawings.
They should be aiming at
minimizing production man-hour requirements.

Reducing total material quantities

and material categories leads to the
reduction of production man-hours.

Also, the reduction of material

costs, which consists of about 60 percent of a ships cost, is extremely
important and the design process plays
a vital roll. The Design Department is
responsible for reducing the total
Table 4

SYSTEM

ZONE

ITEM

the
Design
Department
In
IHI
itself manages both budget and actual
figures regarding material quantities.

Material Budget/Actual Comparison

QUANTITY
ESTIMATED

QUANTITY
EXECUTION
PLAN

QUANTITY
ACTUAL
2

(RI)

(R2)

QUANTITY
3

*1

Quantity estimated for Contract price prepared by Headquarters.

*2

Execution plan is prepared by Design Division

during functional design development.

*3

design
when
functional
quantities
are
issued
Actual
completed and again when detail design is completed.

*4

Actual quantity used for completing the ship

2-8

AT

TIME OF SHIPS
COMPLETION

in the Shipyard
-is

(2)

Responsibility
Provision

in

4.1.2

Information

the cost
of
The basic concept
reduction strategy is how to utilize
A new ship is
the learning effect.
designed by locating a ship similar to
the new one.
Records of that shipbuilding history are used as a model.
IHI calls this procedure the Module
Design.
That is, if parts of ships
are similar, design modules from the
previous history are adopted as is or
with some improvement.
It is important
not to waste energy and resources in
treating every new design as if there
was no precedent.

The Designing Department is resthe Material

for providing
ponsible
Procurement and Manufacturing Departments with timely and necessary information.
the
Department
Design
Although
Proshould supply to the Material
curement Department the specifications
required and
for all the materials
quantities
within
a
their confirmed
time frame requested by the Material
Procurement Department, it is usually
For the
extremely difficult to do so.
quantities not determined, the Design
Department supplies provisional estimates and replaces them with the confirmed quantities when they are deterDepartment
While
the Design
mined.
supplies to the Material Procurement
Department the information on all the
quantities,
it should also
material
Department
the Manufacturing
provide
with material data as early as possible. The latter uses material data as
the base of its master construction
schedule and manning plans.

After selecting the model ship,

the
Design
Department
examines
the
difference between the already known
actual costs and total material quantities and the target costs for the new
ship.
Then, it analyzes how and where
the
could
be
improvements
made
to
reduce
costs.
For
identical
and
similar modules, design man-hours and
production man-hours are reduced due to
the learning effect.
The
data
accumulated
is
the
companys valuable property.
In order
to utilize the data easily the accumulation should take the form of modules
of drawings and material lists.
Retrieval of and combining this type of
data have proved to be effective by
using the CAD system.

The main items of the data are:

Hull steel weight . .. each block
Welding length
Parametric out
fitting weight

Module Design and Learning Effect

... each block

.... each zone

Pipe weight,
number of pieces

.... each zone

Cable length

.... each zone

Of course, even with modules new

concepts are involved.
But, routine
module design methods assist engineers
to concentrate their creative energy in
the new aspects.
4.1.3

Delay in the drawing issues leads

to delay in the material marshalling
which further contributes to confusion
in production work flows. Thus, design
process management preparation is most
Drawing issues must meet
important.
the masker construction scheduler while
keeping in mind that the manufacturing
schedule must be suitable for material
lead times.

Information Development and

Integration in Design

In the design process, a great

amount of information must be created
with high precision in the relatively
short period allowed for basic, functional, transition, and detail design.
Computer
processing
has
been
utilized
in
IHI
shipyards
for
two
decades.
The
processes
were
quite
independent
from
one
another
until
about 1984.
Now they are fully integrated.

Thus, the Design Department is not

position
parallel
with
other
in a
departments.
Instead it is in a position for leading them.
Design
The
Departments performance determines the
performance of the whole shipyard.

2-9

aided by Computer)

in order to establish a total integrated system for all

data as shown in Figure 7.

In the beginning of the 1970s, IHI

computerized ship calculations, lines,
analysis,
for
funcetc.
structural
design
computerized
tional
and
hull
structural parts generation
and pipe
details for detail design.
In addition
material control was computerized.

FRESCO consists of FRESCO-H (Hull

and
FRESCO-F
(Outfitting)
Structure)
and integrates everything from basic
functional
and
transition
design,
With this
design to detail design.
system, information is utilized in an
integrated manner while simultaneously
drawings
manually
prepared
replacing
with computer processing.

Later, the system was expanded and

But,
improved in its effectiveness.
among
the
various
the
integration
systems was accomplished by batch processing
using
drawings
as a
common
The system was insufficient
reference.
Operational efficias a "data base.
ency approached an inherent limit.

design
FRESCO
functions
The
design,
module
automatic
include
and
design
by
interactive
design,
freely combining all of them.
It is a
capable
of
design
system
flexible
efficient information processing.

Therefore, IHI decided to modernize the design process by developing

and
FRESCO
Oriented
using
(Future
Engineering System for Shipbuilding

SHIPYARD
DESIGN
DEPARTMENT
FUNCTIONAL
DESIGN

DESIGN

U.S. WORK STATION

TSO TIME SHARING OPTION

Figure 7.

PRODUCTION
WORD INSTRUCTION
DISIGN

CA: COMPOSITE ARRANGEMENT

PRODUCTION
ENGINEERING
I

MCE -MATERIAL CONTROL AND ESTIMATION

Coverage of Fresco system

2-10

PRODUCTION AND
MATERIAL CONTROL

describes
section
following
The
FRESCO
of
the
characteristics
the
system.
is
information
the
o Since
and
creaked
once
coherent,
entered, information can be used
integrated
downstream
in
an
information
the
Only
manner.
not included in the system is
retrieved from or added to the
data base by dialog.
the
function
o By
standardizing
configuration and drawings, the
existing drawings can be reutilized flexibly and widely.
the materials
o By standardizing
and practices, a total composite
drawing can be produced quickly
by computer using the data such
as various functional diagrams,
diagrams
system
and
namely
machinery arrangement drawings.
drawings,
While
the
producing
list
the material
procurement
can be made simultaneously.

4.2

PRODUCTION FACILITY AND PRODUCTION

ENGINEERING

exits facility
IHI completed
modernization
by
the
pansion
and
then,
has
Since
IHI
been
1970s.
executing
only
scale
facility
small
improvements, mainly modifying facilities for raising productivity and for
responding to increased diversification.
The (productivity
concentrated on:

improvement

(1)

Increasing
installations

automatic

(2)

Improving the work environment

(3)

Improving
jigs

various

hand

is

machine

tools

and

The following are representative

improvement items in IHI Kure shipyard:
(1)

Increasing
installations

automatic

machine

o Welding related items

o By standardizing the work unit,
while producing the drawings, a
pallet
list
(material package
required for the work) can be
made for the most appropriate
and
production
production
control.

Submerged arc welding and the

gravity welder were the two main
welding methods supporting productivity.
IHI gradually
introduced a great number of the
advanced
C02
semiautomatic
welding
machines
which
now
dominate.

Figure 8 describes the coverage of

the CAD system and CAD overall hardware
system.

The automation rate* in welding

has improved by 20 percent in
the past 5 years, reaching 70
percent by now. Since more than
20 percent in the remaining 30
percent is by the gravity welder,
traditional stick welding is no
longer in normal use.
* Welding automation rate:
Automatic
and
semi-automatic
welding wire weight / Total
welding wire weight x 100%
o Burning machines

Figure 8.

In
addition
to
the
E.P.M.
(Electro-Photo-Marking)
N/c Gas
Burning
Machines,
IHI
has
introduced
Plazma
Burning
Machines. The machines are used
for
different
situations
with
flexibility
according to their
characteristics.

Fresco hardware system

2-11

0 Automatic Machines, Robots

o Hull structural steel:

IHI has produced a welding robot

on a trial basis.
However, it
has not yet reached the evaluation stage.
(2)

hull
man-hours/ton
of
welding length/man-hour
o Hull outfitting:

Improvement of work environment

o Working
Area
Structure

Enclosing

of
man-hours/ton
outfitting weight

Mobile

parametric

o Pipe fitting:

IHI has made all the zone outfitting areas weather proof (all
weather
type)
by
establishing
mobile structures over them.

pipe
man-hours/ton
of
man-hours/pipe piece

o Simplified Scaffolding Units

weight

o Electric fitting:

conventional
IHI
abolished
scaffoldings and adopted simplified scaffolding units which are
combinations of steel landings,
Each is a
rails, and ladders.
sort of staging package moved by
crane.
BY adopting this system,
stage
building
man-hours
were
greatly reduced.
o Installation
of remote
devices on shop cranes.

weight

man-hours/cable

length

o Painting:
man-hours/area
o Ship total:
Total man-hours/CGT*

control

* Compensated gross tonnage

The following data are included in
indicating
the
statistics
as
items
quality which impacts on productivity.

installation
has
reduced
This
the number of crane operators
and improved work safety.

o Welding quality:
(3)

Improving hand tools and jigs

X-ray defect rate;
Defects/Inspected number

IHI switched from the heavy air

driving portable grinder and chipping
type
lighter
electric
hammer
to
This
machines with better performance.
shift not only improved efficiency but
to electricity
conalso contributed
Replacing
the
chipping
servation.
hammer with electric grinders, reduced
noise and contributed to work environInnumerable improvement improvement.
ments, most of which were suggested by
were
the
workers
themselves,
made
regarding other hand tools, jigs etc.
4.3

o Shell precision:
Gas cutting rate;
Gas cutting length/Erection gap
length
Back-strip welding rate;
Back-strip welding length/
Erection gap length
o Pipe precision:

REFINED EFFORTS FOR PRODUCTIVITY

The production system,

engineering, and production
are not purposes but means.

Pipe remanufacturing rate;

Remanufactured number/Total
number

production
facilities

o Steel yield:

Their purpose is to improve proSimultaneously,

ductivity and quality.
objective
criteria
with
uses
IHI
concrete measuring units in order to
Otherwise, it is not
monitor progress.
understand
and
find
possible
to
solutions to problems.

Net weight/Invoice weight

o palletizing completion degree:
Loss rate;
Lost line items/Total line items
By
using
the
indices,
it
is
possible
to
productivity
examine
and
to
establish
quantitatively,
targets for productivity increases.

2-12

4.4

Target achievement by each small

group supports the target set by the
In the
section the group belongs to.
same manner, the target achievement of
the section supports the department and
Therefore, the shipyard as a
so on.
whole is a cooperating body to improve
and product quality.
A
productivity
client who places an order with a shipyard with this kind of spirit and production system has great assurance for
and
quality
timely
performance.
Recently,
some owners have abandoned
dispatching
owner representatives
for
the work.
Such
clients
supervising
fully trust IHI.

ORGANIZATIONAL ACTIVATION

4.4.1

Importance of Target Management

Motivating workers is one of the

important elements for improving proThe
final
shipyards.
ductivity
in
factor in production
is the workers
production
themselves.
High
quality
systems and facilities cannot guarantee
a good production pace without their
Without strong motivation
cooperation.
cannot
productivity
of the workers,
Usually in production sites,
improve.
with
smooth
a situation
interfering
For
production occurs almost everyday.
failure,
material
equipment
example,
shortage, absence of workers, and proThe
duct defects, can occur anytime.
those
problems
first.
find
workers
Unless they take necessary action with
a positive attitude or report to their
supervisors for solving the problems,
cannot
be
the impact on production
minimized. The production system
The
alone cannot cover such problems.
key here is the motivation of workers
It is important to
toward production.
continue motivating the workers so that
attitude
becomes
a
positive
their
custom.
What kind
workers have?

of work

purpose

5.

technology
IHI
shipbuilding
has
been adopted in many shipyards in the
United States in various areas and has
proved its effectiveness.
The followare suggested,
ing points
based
on
experiences of IHI managers who served
as consultants in U.S. yards:
5.1

DESIGN

(1)

Design
The
Department,
as
mentioned in 4.1.1, should have a
strong
should
role.
It
not
consider its own role as a departparallel
to Material
ment
Procurement
and Production
Departments.
It should clearly recognize its leading role for generating accurate and timely information.

(2)

Department
The
Design
should
execute scheduling management
of
its own work as in the Production
Department.
The
formers
scheduling
management
system
should
precisely correspond to those of
the Material Procurement and Production Departments.

(3)

Adopting a totalized CAD system

do the

In IHI the workers have their own

targets such as welding an average of
6 m per hour, mounting 8 pipes per
day", "completing a block by the end of
the week etc.
They all cooperate so
that their targets can be attained
without a great amount of difficulty.
4.4.2

ADVICE TO U.S. SHIPYARDS

Target Management and Small

Groups

IHI has more than 15 years of

activities.
small
group
history
in
Each small group usually consists of
about 10 members employed at the same
site.
An
assistant
foreman
work
the
assumes
role
of
the
usually
Thus,
each
selected
leader.
smal1
group is the smallest size unit for
The small group has a
yard management.
quantitative management target and its
members cooperate with one another in
order to achieve the goal.

The information should be rectified according

to priority
and
systematized.
Excessive
information should be avoided.
Module
design,
utilizing
CAD,
should be employed.

The head of the target management

the
Shipyard
Manager.
hierarchy
is
Once a year a yard level target is set
defininq responsibility of the groups.
The targets are set at the respective
levels such as the level of the Shipyard
Department
Managerr
Manager,
Section Manager,
Foreman,
and Small
Group.

2-13

(4)

contract
Preferably
design
and
subsequent design phases should be
performed in-house.
This permits
a shipyard to impose a building
strategy.

5.2

PRODUCTION FACILITY

(1)

It is too early to adopt large

size high-tech robots.
Replacing
and modernizing manual welding and
cutting
machines
with
automatic
machines should be given priority.

Compared
to Japanese
shipyards,
the adoption of gravity welders in
the U.S. is far behind.

5.4

ORGANIZATIONAL ACTIVATION

(1)

practice Of Target Management

(2) Sub-assembly line, panel line, belt

Target setting should be executed

in a hierarchical manner from top
management
to
the
first-line
supervisor.
Then concrete targets
should be set, implemented, and
their results should be evaluated.

conveyer
The United States is behind in
conveyers
adopting
for
fabrication, sub-assembly and assembly
The major production line
lines.
must maintain a defined speed.
If
this line
is manual,
the promay
duction
speed
become
unstable.
The best solution is to
adopt a conveyer line which sets
the pace of production.
(3)

(2)

Abolishing outdoor work

Facility
man-hours

improvement

to

(3)

crane
Improve
the
system
by
controls
and
adopting
remote
improve jigs and tools for use by
one worker.
PRODUCTION ENGINEERING

(1)

Index
expressing
productivity,
precision, and quality

5.5

Communication Promotion

COOPERATION WITH NAVY

Commercial ships and Naval ships

share the same basic functions.
It is
true that in the case of Naval ships
the emphasis is on functions with more
complex systems and the cost factor is
commercial
as for
not
as important
There is not much latitude for
ships.
improvement by a shipyard when a Navy
traditional
imposes
ways
regarding
drawing types and contents, composition
of progress reports, and progress payments.
Some consider this situation as
the factor that prevents improving productivity.
Considering the fact that
at present ships built in the United
States are mainly Naval ships, U.S.
shipbuilders
should
actively
solicit
the Navys cooperation for productivity
improvements.

Process lane system

Some U.S. shipyards significantly
improved productivity by adopting
process lanes.
Smoothly shifting from the conventional craft system to one with
different crafts working together
in the same process lane is a key
to success.

(3)

Group

Although the comments and advice

in the foregoing sections are based on
IHI experiences for commercial ships,
most of the advice also applies to
Naval ships.
In fact, most of the
methods have been applied for building
Naval ships in an IHI shipyard.

Utilize the indices described in

4.3 as the criteria
for
level
Use them for future imloading.
provements.
(2)

Small

The
Department
Design
should
promote communications with itself
and
the
Production
and
with
Material Procurement Departments.

reduce

5.3

of

Without a firm base, the introduction of this system is rather

difficult.
However,
if
target
management is implemented, a small
can achieve
a reasonable
group
target
set
by
it's
first-line
supervisor.

In U.S. shipyards, more work is

executed
outside.
The
work
environment
can be
improved
by
adopting covered work sites.
(4)

Introduction
Activities

An independent
Production PlanDepartment"
is
ineffective
ning
for accurately budgeting man-hours
Such activities
and scheduling.
should be implemented primarily by
Department
the
Production
and
The same
should be decentralize.
people should have both budgeting
functions.
scheduling
and
Dividing the two is not wise since
it leads to unclear definition of
responsibilities.

6.
(1)

2-14

CONCLUSION
Some
shipyards
in
the
United
States have been modernized
and
their production systems appear to
have reached an upper limit of
improvement.
But, there is still
a vast gap in productivity between
Japanese and U.S. shipyards.
Productivity can be further improved
in U.S.
shipyards
by
improving
management of the human element.

Managements task is to create in

the present systems an environment
where workers can implement their
roles thoroughly unencumbered by
can
do
workers
that
problems
nothing about.

productivity
improvement
in
United States is so limited.
(4)

It is easy to understand why the

productivity
ratio between Japan
and the United States in shipIn the United
building is 2:1.
are
too
many
"there
States,
workers, or, human input is more
than necessary.
originates
from
difference
This
differences
in management
attitudes. In the United States, when
work is delayed, management
inpower.
Japanese
creases
man
management examines why work is
delayed.
After analysis of the
total work
load and number
of
decisions
are
workers,
usually
the
use
of
increase
made
to
jigs
to
assist
and
machines
workers without increasing their
number.
(2)

In old days, the low cost of

Japanese ships was caused by cheap
labor. But, today Japan is one of
the countries with a high wage
the
shipbuilding
level.
Can
industry survive in a country like
Japan with a high wage level?

IHI, however, will not withdraw

the
world
from
market.
The
present move is a facility adjustcorresponding
to
ment
world
demands and expected market share
by
IHI.
In
other
words,
the
facility reduction is for survival.

Finally I should like to express

my deepest gratitude for Mr. H.
Nishi, Mr. Y. Okayama (IHI) and
the
people
who
cooperated
in
writing this paper:
REFERENCE
1.

The History of Modern Shipbuilding

Methods
The U.S.-Japan Interchange
L.D. Chirillo and R.D. Chirillo
Journal of Ship production Vol. 1
No. 1, Feb. 1985

2.

Annual
Summary
of Merchant
Ship
Completed
during
1986,
Lloyd
Resister of Shipping.

3.

"Quantification
of
Production
Factor
Michifumi Abe (IHI)
Seminar on Advances is Design for
Production Southampton, April 1984

4.

Livingston
Shipbuilding
Company,
with IHI Marine Technology
Inc.,
Cost accounting final Report, Maritime
Administration,
Technology
Transfer Program, March 1980.

5.

A. Jenks and J.E. Lamer

A Tanker
Owners Perception
of Newbuilding
Costs and prices in Japanese, North
European and United States Shipyards 1971 to 1981
SNAME, Combined Symposium on Ship
Costs and Energy, Sept. 30 - Oct. 1

The following is a bright topic

for IHI and for the Japanese shipbuilding industry as a whole:
IHI won in an international bid
for a 230,000 DWT VLCC over Korea,
and
European
countries.
Taiwan,
owners
The
decision
was
made
based on not only the price but
also on IHI superior technology,
fuel
especially
regarding
consumption rate.
(3)

Today, the United States remains

an admirable and strong economic
induspower.
Its manufacturing
tries should obtain more intercompetitiveness
by
national
establishing
a
more
balanced
industrial
structure.
Shipbuilding is no exception.
I should be honored if this paper
contribute
to
can
productivity
the
U.S.
improvement
in
shipbuilding industry.

We have to make it survive.

Japanese
shipbuilding
facilities
were reduced by 35 percent in 1978
and another large scale reduction
is underway.

the

and
social
custom
Cultural
difference
is
often
cited
in
explaining the gap in the productivity
between
shipbuilding
industries in Japan and the United
States.
This
is
an
incorrect
assumption.
It is difficult
to
find a base for believing that
2-15

Additional copies of this report can be obtained from the

National Shipbuilding Research and Documentation Center:
http://www.nsnet.com/docctr/
Documentation Center
The University of Michigan
Transportation Research Institute
Marine Systems Division
2901 Baxter Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2150
Phone: 734-763-2465
Fax: 734-763-4862
E-mail: [email protected]