Shipbuilding like you’ve never seen it before!

In the past few decades, not one but two industrial revolutions have been taking place. Industry 4.0 (the first three being the Industrial, Technological and Digital revolutions) began to take shape at the beginning of the 21^st century. Advances in processing power and the reach of the internet contributed to rapid progress in data processing and exchange, robotics and automation. These have delivered great advances in efficiency, flexibility and quality.

While Industry 4.0 is about technology and productivity, Industry 5.0 is intended to bring a focus on creating a more sustainable, human-centric and resilient manufacturing base. Key elements include Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and the Internet of Things.

“One of the drivers behind Industry 4.0 was increasing pressure on the availability of skilled labour across industrial sectors,” says Timo Kreule from Damen’s RD&I (Research, Development & Innovation) department. “Combined with rising cost pressure in highly competitive shipbuilding and repair markets, this created a strong incentive for Damen and its peers to increase productivity per employee. While automation has significantly reduced production costs in many industries, the irregular geometries, relatively low production volumes, and confined spaces inherent to shipbuilding limit the applicability of the kind of automation that enables true mass production.”

However, there are aspects of shipbuilding that have benefited from automation, in particular, welding. Damen acquired its first welding robot six years ago with the aim of not only exploring the potential of automatic welding and assessing its costs and capabilities, but also to determine what processes around it would need to be redesigned for it to fulfil its potential. The trials have gone well with much learned and, since then, Damen has installed systems at its yards in China, Romania and Sharjah, UAE, which excel at welding flat panels and stiffeners rapidly and to consistently high standards.

“In the future, as the technology continues to evolve, welding robots are expected to become more adaptable and better able to handle curved and irregular surfaces,” adds Timo. “Realising that potential requires close involvement from shipbuilders throughout the development process, working alongside technology providers to align solutions with real operational conditions. At Damen, experiences from earlier trials have helped shape our perspective on where automation can be most effective. These insights are reflected in ongoing developments towards mobile robotic platforms, aimed at enabling more flexible and deployable automation in complex shipyard environments.”

Introducing Industry 5.0

Industry 5.0 is bringing a new human and environmental-centric approach to manufacturing. One where personnel will work alongside sophisticated systems and sustainability will be a priority at every level. It has four key elements.

Sustainability: developing environmentally friendly and sustainable manufacturing processes that will minimise waste and energy consumption. This will be achieved by improving energy efficiency, reducing emissions and adhering to ambitious environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.

A human-centric approach: Unlike Industry 4.0, which focuses on automation and efficiency, Industry 5.0 emphasises the importance of human creativity, skills, and well-being in the production process.

Real time responsiveness: Products will be able to be customised within the production process to meet customers’ needs as advanced robots combined with digitalisation bring new flexibility.

Collaboration: Enhanced collaboration between humans and machines will deliver better outcomes.

Resilience: Building more resilient supply chains and production systems will mitigate the effects of disruptions and changes in markets.

Professor Christian Schlette

Christian Schlette, Professor at the University of Southern Denmark, heads the new SDU Centre for Large Structure Production (LSP) and is in dialogue with Damen Shipyards on advancing the machine/operator interface in the shipyard context. At the forefront of bringing robotisation and digitalisation solutions to various sectors including maritime, he and his team are working on integrating the production and automation technology that will be required by the shipbuilding sector to meet the Industry 5.0 goals.

“One of our immediate priorities is to develop systems that can allow for variations on the same line,” says Christian. “This requires a digital workflow with digital descriptions of the products which can be fed into a digital production system. This seamless interaction will allow the robots to react rapidly to changes in production plans.

“5.0 also introduces the human element for the first time and the workers will need to be taken on the journey as well. They need to be free to do what they do best, which is to deal with complexity, working alongside the automated systems to bring the necessary flexibility. Each supports the other and the technicians will need to be prepared for their new roles and with robots and personnel working in close proximity, safety will be paramount.”

Facing the challenges

Keeping up with the ever-evolving technology will be a major challenge. Many shipyards are currently understandably reluctant to make the sizeable investments required in equipment and training. In the current environment minimising costs is a primary focus. Damen however is exploring the potential that Industry 5.0 offers, beginning with exploring ways of making welding operations more flexible and therefore enabling work on more complex structures.

In time, the ships themselves will need to be redesigned to enable robotics to reach their full potential, but the combination of Industry 4.0 and 5.0 holds out the promise of a shipbuilding sector that will be safe, clean, adaptable and a generator of high quality employment opportunities.

On the top image: Timo Kreule