PCE - 97 - 6 - New Building

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Improving Coating

Processes in the
Shipbuilding Industry
By L. Baldwin, Appledore International Ltd., Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK

orld shipbuilding process and its interaction

W is an increasingly
competitive inter-
national busi-
ness. For long-
term profitability and mar-
ket advantage, the modern
shipbuilder must continu-
ously improve productivity
with the other aspects of
shipbuilding, namely steel-
work and outfitting.
As a result of the re-
search programme, a tech-
nical association was set
up at the end of 1996
between Appledore Inter-
and quality. Today, ship- national and International
builders seek new techno- Paint. The aim of this asso-
logical solutions for the ciation is to combine the
problems associated with shipyard production and
steel fabrication and sur- Coordinating newbuilding and coating work can enhance shipyard engineering expertise of
face preparation/coating productivity, the author says. (Photo courtesy of International Paint) the consultants with the
application, both of which often Background coatings experience of the paint
are regarded as “bottlenecks” in A research programme at the manufacturer to improve coating
the flow of production. University of Newcastle examined productivity within shipyards.
In leading shipyards, careful the techno-economic aspects of
selection of coatings and profes- painting in shipbuilding. The Methodology
sional production planning now result was the development of a A three-phase approach to this
are recognised as critical to main- computer-based cost estimation work has been developed by
taining a smooth process flow and tool that allows shipyards to accu- Appledore International and Inter-
ensuring delivery on time, on bud- rately estimate the costs involved national Paint. These phases
get, and at the right level of quali- in coating ships, from initial involve technical benchmarking,
ty. With the coatings process plate/section cleaning and shop cost analysis, and development of
accounting for up to 30 percent of primer application through final improved coating strategies using
total man-hours, integrating the touch-up at the outfitting quay. work study techniques.
entire coating process with auto- The cost estimation tool takes
mated steelwork activities needs into account man-hour, power, Phase 1: Technical
to be managed extremely carefully and material consumption, and Benchmarking of the
to ensure maximum productivity recognises variations in cleaning Coating Process
and efficiency. and application rates resulting Technical benchmarking of the
This article describes the from alternative surface prepara- existing coating process is a tech-
approach taken by one leading tion standard requirements, ship nique based on a shipyard tech-
marine consultancy to tackle this areas, and work locations. This nology audit. The aim of bench-
problem. involves an analysis of the coating marking is to analyse the whole

Copyright ©1997, Technology Publishing Company


PCE June 1997 23
coating process, from pre-pro- cation of the total cost of coat-
duction activities through post- ing, including any reworking
contractual obligations, to necessary, identifies man-hour
identify at what level of tech- expenditures at each shipyard
nology a shipyard operates coating location, and compares
(i.e., Level 1 to 4, with Level 4 man-hour consumption with
being a world class operation). surface area processed at each
By further identifying technol- coating location. Also, it identi-
ogy “islands” within the sys- fies the most efficient shipyard
tem—activities with a higher locations for coating specific
or lower technology level com- ship areas, and allows the
pared to other activities in that shipyard to develop coating
area—this analysis can indicate Improved planning means welding might occur before strategies based on the most
painting instead of after, as in this case.
areas where the coating efficient shipyard coating loca-
(Photo courtesy of Appledore International)
process may benefit from tions. In addition, the system
increased investment, improved ment. A model is used to estimate can be used to evaluate different
planning, or improved coating the total cost of the coating investment strategies.
practices. process and to make comparison
Benefits of technical benchmark- tests using alternative paint speci- Phase 3: Development of
ing are that it gives the shipyard fications or coating strategies. The Improved Coating Strategies
an overall understanding of its model can be tailored to individual and Procedures
coating process, identifies current shipyard’s processes. It produces This phase of the procedure can
technology levels of the shipyard’s estimates of the following: be based on recommendations
coating process, allows the ship- • shop primer application costs, derived from phases 1 and 2 or it
yard to compare its processes and including consumables and man- can be done as a separate activi-
procedures with best world prac- hours, ty. It aims to improve the
tices, identifies “islands” of low • man-hour consumption and coating process by
and high technology, and allows costs for secondary surface prepa-
the shipyard to target investment, ration (i.e., all surface preparation
training, and improved manage- after initial plate cleaning) and
ment activities. The objective of a paint application at all coating
shipyard should not be to auto- locations within the shipyard,
matically target Level 4 technolo- from paint halls to outfitting
gy. Rather, the objective should be quays,
for the shipyard to adopt a bal- • power consumption for all
anced process at the appropriate areas of the coating process,
level of technology for its cost and
base. • facility utilisation (i.e., distri-
bution of secondary surface
Phase 2: Cost Analysis preparation and paint application
of the Coating Process man-hour consumption through-
This phase provides estimates of out the shipyard).
the cost of coating vessels at the Benefits for the shipyard produc-
newbuilding stage and helps iden- tion planner are that this cost
tify areas of potential improve- analysis process gives a true indi-

24 PCE June 1997 Copyright ©1997, Technology Publishing Company


reviewing the five main factors location, identifies improvements
that influence productivity in a with respect to the five key fac-
shipyard. Following is an outline tors of productivity, allows
of each of these factors. improvements to be targeted to
• Design—Structures should be those activities where the most
designed to allow for access of benefit can be achieved, enables
paint applicators and inspectors, Reviewing ease of access to a structure, such
step-by-step improvement pro-
and structural parts that are diffi- as this masked-off hull, is part of the grammes to be drawn up, and
cult to clean and paint should be improvement strategy. allows cost benefits to be calcu-
(Photo courtesy of Appledore International)
reduced or eliminated to ease lated for each recommendation
preparation and application. • Management systems— using the cost estimation tool.
• Facilities—The Production planning, scheduling,
suitability of facili- and control should be assessed to Conclusions
ascertain if production bottlenecks This approach has been suc-
are caused by ineffective manage- cessful in identifying potential
ment practices. reductions in time and costs asso-
• Worker skill—Skill level ciated with the coating processes
should be assessed for the various for shipbuilding. Furthermore, it
tasks required for the job. has shown benefits in achieving
This phase involves work study overall increased performance
techniques (i.e., in situ study of with a lower amount of re-work
the work taking place) to make and consequent savings in man-
detailed assessments of the coat- hours and costs.
ing work being done in the ship- The methods used in this
yard over a set time period. This process have been applied to
can highlight the most time-con- shipyards in Europe, the Far East,
suming coating activities at each and the United States with the
location and, therefore, those following results. In the European
activities where most benefit can shipyards, the results of the
be gained from improvement. analysis were used to justify cost
From the work study and gener- savings brought about by major
al observations of the shipyard investments in coating facilities.
ties to carry coating activities, recommenda- In the Far East shipyards, work
out work, the ease tions can be made for process studies produced recommenda-
of access for surface improvements that will benefit the tions that led to significant reduc-
preparation and painting shipyard most. A detailed estima- tions in man-hour consumption.
workers, and staging provi- tion of the potential cost and man- And the results of work carried
sions all should be reviewed. hour savings of these recommen- out in the US were included in a
• Production technology— dations also can be made to iden- shipyard’s strategic improvement
Equipment should be assessed to tify possible productivity improve- document.
ensure it is well maintained, and ments. This method of analysis also
the latest technology should be The main benefits of this type of can be applied to steel fabrication
reviewed for its suitability for a analysis are that it identifies the facilities, where similar problems
specific shipyard (commensurate percentage time utilisation of coat- of production and coating exist.
with the shipyard’s cost base). ing activities at each shipyard

Copyright ©1997, Technology Publishing Company PCE June 1997 25

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