Abstract:
Japanese yards are consistently able to offer ships at price one-half to two-thirds below American prices; many reasons have been offered to explain this differential. Levingston Shipbuilding Company in Orange, Texas, initiated studies to identify differences between themselves and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries in engineering, design practices, production planning, control methods, personnel organisation and training, in the building of dry bulk carriers. This was done through a sub-contract with IHI Marine Technology Inc., specifying the areas to be explored and the number and type of IHI consulting personnel. Subsequently, recognising the potential application of this programme to the US shipbuilding industry, a cost-sharing contract was agreed with MarAd, in order to provide documentation and seminars to reveal the findings; the programme is proceeding and ultimately promises beneficial and profitable results.Keywords:
Yard
Technology Transfer
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Abstract : See report This report was produced by the Office of Naval Research's Best Manufacturing Practices (BMP) Program, a unique industry and government cooperative technology transfer effort that improves the competitiveness of America's industrial base both here and abroad. Our main goal at BMP is to increase the quality, reliability, and maintainability of goods produced by American firms. The primary objective toward this goal is simple: to identify best practices, document them, and then encourage industry and government to share information about them.
Coast guard
Guard (computer science)
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Abstract : The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MOD) is in the early stages of an ambitious effort to renew and upgrade its naval fleet over the next two decades through the production of new ships and submarines. Defence policy makers are seeking to gain a fuller understanding of the ability that shipyards, workers, and suppliers in the United Kingdom have to produce and deliver these vessels at the pace and in the order planned by the MOD. This analysis, done at the request of the MOD's Defence Procurement Agency (DPA), focused on answering three fundamental questions: Can the existing shipbuilding industrial base meet future demands?; Do problems exist with the numbers and types of facilities or the numbers and skills of the workforce?; and If problems exist or can be anticipated, what can be done to alleviate them? Relying both on public and proprietary data and on surveys of government and industry representatives, the analysis addressed these questions by examining the capacity of the UK industrial bases current workforce and facilities, identifying the demands for these resources over the next two decades, and exploring options to address situations in which future demands might exceed capabilities. The study aimed to help MOD policy makers do the following: (1) gain an understanding of the capacity of the United Kingdom's naval shipbuilding industrial base to successfully implement the MOD's current acquisition plan; and (2) gauge how alternative acquisition requirements, programs, and schedules might affect the capacity of that industrial base. The authors organized their analysis by decomposing capacity into three major elements: labor, facilities, and suppliers. For their capacity evaluations, they relied on data surveys and interviews with many firms and organizations associated with shipbuilding in the United Kingdom, including shipbuilders, ship repairers, suppliers, industry associations, and government organizations.
Shipyard
Pace
Christian ministry
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Dexion Ltd are the UK‐based subsidiary of an American corporation, concerned with the manufacture and supply of storage and materials handling equipment. The study discussed here originates from a project carried out as part of an in‐company MBA programme. It aims to improve the overall profitability of UK storage installation sales and the quality of service offered to the client. The approach adopted concentrated primarily on information from in‐house sources due to the unwillingness of comparative companies to co‐operate. Much of the information came from in‐depth analysis of performance/trends of the three major UK sales regions, a series of interviews with key personnel involved in the installation process, and previously published in‐house reports. The recommendations will impact on people, the work and structure of the organisation, and its systems, all of which interact with one another. Therefore while many of the proposals will stand alone the full benefit will only accrue with the introduction of the total package and broad acceptance of those most affected.
Corporation
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Abstract : This Task has investigated the benefits derived from the projects sponsored by SNAME Ship Production Committee Panel SP-2 on Outfitting and Production Aids during the 15 year period when this Panel was active under the National Shipbuilding Research Program. It has found that several projects sponsored by Panel SP-2 produced information of potential value to the shipyard community, but that only minimal application of this material has been achieved. The reason for this situation is not obvious, but there is some sentiment that the manner in which the information has been presented may have contributed to the low application rate. That is, much of the information is a direct reflection of the practices (then) followed in the Japanese shipyards. This information was presented factually and completely, but without adjustment to suit the different atmosphere, operational conditions, and human relationships that exist in U. S. shipyards. It follows that if this information is translated into a more user-friendly format, and is adjusted to suit the context of U. S. shipyards, it may inspire major improvements in our performance, particularly in regard to our competitive position in the international commercial market. A recommendation to this effect has been included in this report.
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Abstract : The Defence Procurement Agency (DPA), part of the UK The Ministry of Defence (MOD), provides services and equipment for the national security of the United Kingdom (UK). This task requires efficient capital management. One of the keys to efficient capital expenditure is good program management. Cost and schedule control and estimating are central competencies of program management and are the principal focus of this report. Continually updated knowledge of project status is important for both operational planning and financial management. A good control system also can aid program improvement by identifying problem areas before they greatly affect production. Accurate estimating of changing program needs allows an organization to make the best use of limited funding. The importance of estimating and control has been recognized by the DPA in that two of the five key targets monitored are related to cost and schedule performance. The DPA measures its annual performance against five key targets. Key Target 2 relates to program slippage (i.e., the delay between the promised in-service date and the actual or projected in-service date). The MOD indicates average program slippage results in product delivery approximately one year later than the date originally anticipated at Main Gate. For military shipbuilding, slippage is often recognized very late in the program, making it more difficult to overcome. These issues led the DPA to ask the RAND Corporation to do the following: (1) assess how shipbuilders track program progress and how they identify a set of metrics that are used to measure progress, (2) consider how the DPA should monitor programs and recommend the types of information that should be gathered from shipbuilders to help the agency independently assess shipbuilding progress, and (3) identify why ships are delivered late and why commercial shipbuilders have better schedule performance. Shipbuilders in the UK, United States, and European Union were surveyed.7
Capital expenditure
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Abstract : Cost growth is a prevalent problem in Navy shipbuilding programs, particularly for the first ships in new classes. In response to a mandate in the conference report accompanying the Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2008, GAO undertook this review to accomplish the following: (1) identify key practices employed by leading commercial ship buyers and shipbuilders that ensure satisfactory cost, schedule, and ship performance; (2) determine the extent to which Navy shipbuilding programs employ these practices; and (3) evaluate how commercial and Navy business environments incentivize the use of best practices. To address these objectives, GAO visited leading commercial ship buyers and shipbuilders, reviewed its prior Navy work, and convened a panel of shipbuilding experts. GAO suggests Congress consider refining required reporting to include additional design stability metrics. GAO is also making recommendations to the Secretary of Defense aimed at improving shipbuilding programs by balancing requirements and resources early, retiring technical risk and stabilizing design at key points, moving to fixed-price contracts for lead ships, evaluating in-house management capability, and assessing if the desired fleet size sufficiently constrains the cost and technical content of new ships. The Department of Defense agreed with five recommendations and partially agreed with two. GAO believes all recommendations remain valid.
Mandate
Best practice
Naval architecture
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Over the past ten years, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) has awarded and administered contracts for the major conversion of 15 vessels. Each of these projects involved vessel reactivation as well as conversion, and each contract was awarded on a fixed price basis. The combination of fixed pricing and vessel conversion/reactivation creates a challenge to shipyards bidding for the contract in that price competition is intense while, at the same time, an unknown level of growth work can be expected in the vessel reactivation portion of the project. Moreover, the project being bid, inclusive of anticipated growth work, must be integrated into the overall orderbook within the shipyard. The need for careful planning by the shipyard from the beginning of bid preparation through the end of the performance period is clearly evident. This SNAME paper, however, addresses not shipyard planning but continuing project monitoring and progress evaluation by the shipyard's customer. Such monitoring includes ongoing comparisons between the shipyard's planned and actual performance with respect to resource application and schedule adherence. From a technical standpoint, it involves compliance with contract and specification requirements. And finally, from a financial standpoint, it includes project progressing to provide the basis for periodic payments to the shipyard for completed work.
Shipyard
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In the ever changing and volatile construction industry it is becoming more necessary for the General Contractor and major subcontractors to become businessmen as well as engineers. This paper will attempt to show how a medium sized National Subcontractor has used the following steps to increase its share of profitable business. Listed below are the areas a successful contractor must know and use: A viable marketing program, An obtainable sales and budget program, A dependable estimating and engineering department, An above average construction department, An accurate job cost and monitoring system, A way to revise sales and profit projections monthly, An accounting department that understands your business, A sound financial program, A way to monitor competitors.
Competitor analysis
Profit margin
Sales journal
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Abstract : Today we see Total Quality Management (TQM) surfacing as a requirement in government and industry solicitations, such as Requests for Information (RFls), Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and Requests for Quotes (RFQs). This new requirement, resulting from many activities propagating throughout industry and government, influences the contractor/customer relationship profoundly. In the past, the subject of quality has typically been reserved for manufacturers. This is changing, however, as stringent quality guidelines surface in solicitations and contracts involving professional and other services. We also see changes occurring in quality requirements that traditionally influence the prime contractor/sub-contractor relationship. Quality companies now realize they can push their own quality efforts just so far before they must turn to their providers of goods and services to continue improving their own operations.
Total Quality Management
Position (finance)
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This study was undertaken to analyze costs, quality, and policy of using consulting services by the sdhpt for preliminary or pre construction engineering. The issue arises out of essentially non technical grounds rather than any need for a fundamental assessment of sdhpt's performance and policy. Briefly, the amount of preliminary construction engineering work being contracted to consultants rose from $9.2 Million in fy 1980 to $36.97 Million in fy 1986. This was principally caused by an unprecedented increase in the department's construction program fueled by both state and federal user tax increases. To handle this peak load of work, sdhpt selected and utilized a number of consulting engineering firms to prepare plans, specifications, and estimates that historically have been done by the in house engineering staff. As a result of this large increase in the market for their services, consulting engineering firms are now seeking to maintain an amount of highway work that is higher than historical levels and larger than is currently deemed necessary by the sdhpt. Although the resolution of this issue will not be accomplished herein, the results of this study will provide some useful information to help understand the implications. The essential results: 1) cost of engineering services is lower when using state forces instead of consultants. 2) Quality of work is similar in comparison between state forces and consulting engineering firms. 3) Policy for peak load and specialty work using consultants need not be altered (a).
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