Perth based engineering and construction services company Civmec has unveiled a submarine hull section designed in Germany with the plans digitally transmitted to its factory in Western Australia by designer Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS).
TKMS has embraced Integrated Product Design Environment (IPDE) for submarine development. According to the company, this technology has been validated in the most challenging automotive and aerospace environments and offers a “new way of doing business”, replacing the first or second generation systems used for the current naval shipbuilding program in Australia.
Chairman of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems Australia Dr John White said that ThyssenKrupp was able to design the hull section at its Kiel, Germany shipyard for Civmec to use the latest technology to complete the build last Friday in Henderson, WA. This was an exercise to validate the company’s estimates with regard to production cost, quality and production schedules.
“Today’s revealing of the hull section at the Australian Marine Complex (AMC), Henderson is a perfect example of how leaders in the global shipbuilding industry are changing the way they will do business in the future," White said.
“The use of digital technologies in advanced manufacturing provides a generational opportunity for our country."
"TKMS is at the forefront of integrated digital design, construction and sustainment and sees IPDE as an area of huge potential as Australian shipbuilding meets the challenges of the future. The spin-off impact on advanced manufacturing in Australia will be enormous,” White said.
“The use of digital technologies in advanced manufacturing provides a generational opportunity for our country, as we can now design and build a submarine, being one of the most complex pieces of defence equipment, by bringing all required skills and capabilities together and maximising cost and resource efficiencies. Integrated digital production extends across all aspects of the build, including fit–out, then configuration management, monitoring and support through the operating life-cycle of each submarine.” he said.
“With the Federal Government’s stated commitment to advanced manufacturing and the future of the Australian naval shipbuilding industry, we believe local industry can benefit from an Australian submarine build. It also complements Prime Minister Turnbull’s Innovation Statement last week which set Australia on the path towards a much more innovative and competitive era, something we fully endorse.
“Importantly, it means that having agreed on the final design of the new submarine fleet in accordance with the Department of Defence’s specific requirements, the process of building the fleet can be completed in Australia using local companies like Civmec, Austal and ASC among others. They will effectively have TKMS as a partner in their workshops and drawing offices, 24/7, as part of a seamless digital data link – effectively an industrial internet.”
"The TKMS 'digital shipyard' system, based on the Siemens PLM TeamCentre software, neutralises geographic separation and enables construction with much less errors, re-work, and associated delays and cost increases, than with traditional shipbuilding practices," White said.
“The construction of this submarine hull section is testament to the high levels of productivity and quality achieved through the use of technology," AMC-based Civmec’s executive chairman James Fitzgerald said.
"Civmec has achieved the transfer of data and the dimensional accuracy required for the construction of a modern submarine. Interfacing our production management system, Civtrac, with the TKMS IPDE has allowed the design detail to be transferred seamlessly into our manufacturing process control system.”
The construction of the submarine hull section was a self-funded Civmec initiative to demonstrate the capabilities resident within the company.