Australian owned Birdon Group has selected software from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio to support its development of a digital shipyard to service both Australian and international shipbuilding customers.
The software will be used for advanced engineering design and project data management across Australia, the United States and other global operations.
Birdon says it will use Siemens’ Teamcenter software for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), integrated with NX software for Computer-Aided Design (CAD) to 'streamline product design data development by creating a digital thread - a single source of truth, throughout the design process'.
Speaking on the announcement, Sarah Yuen, Birdon’s General Manager Maritime says that the software is a key step towards a fully digital shipyard which will enhance Birdon’s approach to integrated working and sharing secure data across the business.
“As Birdon’s portfolio of commercial and defence shipbuilding contracts grow within Australia and the US, leveraging hi-tech design and product lifecycle management methodologies such as those provided by Siemens is critical to providing complete product traceability, oversight and data-trust for high-security industries such as Government and Defence.
"Our ability to integrate our product modelling using digital twins and 3D technologies with robust PLM systems will help to ensure the performance of our products and their ongoing supportability and capability.
"Simply put, Teamcenter enables Birdon to focus on building a digital shipyard capability by making design information easier to share within a robust configuration management system, standardising the design process.
"This, in turn, leads to better management of design changes and reduced ongoing costs related to expensive design iterations.”
Teamcenter integrates PLM, digital twins, 3D modelling, material and asset management practices from conceptual design, to production and through-life support.
“It is great to work with Australian companies such as Birdon, who are revolutionising the global maritime landscape," Samantha Murray, Vice President and Managing Director Australia and New Zealand, Siemens Digital Industries Software said. "In the maritime industry, hi-tech software is the key to increasing productivity through sustainable design and manufacturing processes and maintaining agility.
"We are excited to see our technology being used to help shape not just design and product workflow processes, but also play a key role in Birdon’s journey towards a digital shipyard capability.”
Birdon is one of a handful of Australian defence contractors to contract directly to the US Army.
Siemens’ software is currently in use by other global shipbuilders in the US, UK, Europe and Asia.