Dassault Systèmes and Samsung Heavy Industries to set up a ‘smart shipyard’

Dassault Systèmes has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Samsung Heavy Industries, a global firm in the high-tech shipbuilding sector, to create a “smart yard” based on new digital transformation technology with the aim to establish a fully digital shipyard and a competitive edge.

The smart yard is designed to optimize the shipyard operations’ scheduling and execution as well as streamline and automate the flow of information required for construction, to accelerate production and assembly operations. Samsung Heavy Industries can better meet the booming demand for liquefied natural gas carriers by improving its capacity to produce them and shortening their delivery time.

By introducing model-based systems engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries can design more sophisticated and sustainable vessels requiring more automation, new systems and propulsions, and higher safety and control. MBSE, which is already a standard product development method in the transportation and mobility, aerospace, and high-tech industries, will enable Samsung Heavy Industries to strengthen its competitiveness in the ship development process and accelerate this process thanks to full traceability from concept to production.

“Automation systems are proven to greatly affect business efficiency across all industries. A smart yard in the shipbuilding industry will also help reduce construction costs and improve the quality of ships,” said Jung Nam Lee, DT Director, Samsung Heavy Industries. “We plan to accelerate innovation in shipbuilding.”

The cooperation with the Smart SHI team of Samsung Heavy Industries will allow Dassault Systèmes to organize a consultative group for digital transformation to define and validate new processes and tools required to achieve the smart yard. This will involve Dassault Systèmes’ core technologies and experts from its local office and global headquarters.

Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform-based smart yard will support a unique digital thread integrating various data sources and real-time operations information. Connecting the virtual twins of ships and the virtual twin of the shipyard, automating and standardizing business processes with artificial intelligence, and optimizing planning and operations within the shipyard and with the supply chain will enable smart innovations for both production methods and production execution.

“It is essential for Korea’s shipbuilding to accelerate its transformation with new and advanced technologies that allow it to keep its leadership in productivity and quality for complex vessels, and we are proud to support SHI in this journey,” said François-Xavier Dumez, Vice President, Marine & Offshore Industry, Dassault Systèmes. “Through our cooperation with Samsung Heavy Industries, we’re given an opportunity to introduce and implement our outstanding marine industry solution experiences, and achieve a new paradigm in the shipbuilding industry in Korea.”