Further by incorporating procedures, knowledge and standards into CIM, more precise and appropriate working instructions can be given to support judgment by workers. This advantage can be expected to make up for the shortage of skilled workers and to help unskilled workers learn skills, even multiple skills, in a short period of time. Whereas mechanization and automation are needed to compensate for the shortage of blue collar workers, the application of CIM will facilitate generation and supply of various data pertaining to machining and assembly, help accelerate mechanization and automation, and thereby make possible improvement in the working environment.
4-2 Reliability Enhancement through Knowledge Management
In the framework of the advanced shipbuilding CIM project implemented from fiscal 1997 through 1999, a process model for registering and utilizing knowledge on designing and construction procedures was separately proposed in addition to the completion of the product model appropriate for practical application incorporating knowledge on the above-mentioned products.
Though it is still in a conceptual stage, the importance of systematization of procedural knowledge is increasing in shipyards where expertise-based knowledge is being lost along with the decrease in veteran workers, and joint research is being undertaken among shipbuilding companies for utilization of such knowledge in practical work.
This is a major challenge to be addressed from now on and, according to a business model utilizing the network to be elaborated upon in the next section, how to manage designing and construction knowledge is predicted to be a key factor to the survival of companies in the future.
4-3 Trends of Business Model Transformation in Shipbuilding by IT Revolution
The so-called IT revolution deriving its thrust from the Internet is making significant progress.
As illustrated in Fig. 1, the ZoHaku Web Project will be completed in March 2001, prescribing protocols on the exchange of technical information on about 50 product items and building up a system which will operate between shipyards and marine machinery manufacturers.
The Shipbuilders' Association of Japan (SAJ) and the Japanese Marine Equipment Association (JSMEA) agreed to establish in March 2001 a service company, which will function as a gateway to practical operation by 100 participating shipbuilders and marine machinery manufacturers using the system and protocols.
Once this new company begins its service, it is expected to serve as a basis for bringing together shipbuilders, marine machinery manufacturers, shipowners and the classification society to change their respective ways of doing business (see Fig. 2 "Image of the ZoHaku Environment").Thus, the ZoHaku Web Project, which is originally intended for the digitized exchange of technical information between the two industries as noted above, can be expected even by itself to make important contributions to improving their business operations, but recent developments in network business suggest that many functions can be realized on networks by utilizing the framework of the ZoHaku Web, and this aspect of the IT Revolution is certain to change shipbuilders' ways of doing business (or business models). How to respond to this change is a challenge to each individual shipbuilding company.
5. Advancement of Shipbuilding Technology and Creation of New Demand
Studies are under way, focusing on the development of ultra-high speed cargo ships (typically the TSL) and on infrastructure improvements including faster and more efficient cargo handling to match the speed of fast marine transport, all with an eye to a modal shift in the key aspects of logistics in the 21st century.
Research efforts are also made for practical application of gigantic floating structures intended for greater utilization of oceanic space. It is hoped that shipbuilding technology be further advanced so as to create new demand to be met by shipbuilders.
5-1 Development of TSL and High-Speed Car Ferries
In order to shift domestic cargo transport away from trucking to marine haulage, the latter is required to use faster and larger vessels, provide daily service and shorten the lead time among other things.
For fast marine transport of cargo, the Techno Super-Liner (TSL) was developed, and in fiscal 1995 a large test ship based on a catamaran air-cushion vehicle concept was put to cargo transport experiments, which demonstrated its practical usefulness. This test ship was converted in 1997 into the combined car ferry-rescue vessel KIBOU, which was put to a test voyage between Nagasaki and Shanghai in March 2000. The results of test suggested the feasibility of high-speed marine transport on intra-Asian routes and provided many useful operational data. Commercialization of the TSL is now under study.
