Monitoring Shipbuilding Process in Real Time... Daewoo Shipbuilding Digital Production Center Opens

On the 7th, a digital production center opening ceremony was held at Okpo Shipyard with Lee Seong-geun, President of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, and other officials in attendance.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) announced on the 8th that it has opened a new Digital Production Center. The Digital Production Center is a facility designed to integrate digital technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) into shipbuilding. It consists of a "Smart Production Management Center," which allows real-time tracking of the location of blocks under construction using drones, and a "Smart Sea Trial Center," which enables real-time monitoring of the status of ships undergoing sea trials.

The Smart Production Management Center incorporates IoT technology to share real-time production information and facilitate rapid decision-making. Until now, production meetings required collecting and sharing numerous production data separately from each factory, ship progress rates, and block movements. Going forward, various production information updated every minute will be displayed on a large screen, allowing immediate identification and resolution of any issues.

By predicting and simulating uncertainties affecting production, such as weather conditions, potential risks can be addressed in advance. The company expects that productivity improvements will contribute to preventing safety accidents and that utilizing information on resources and energy consumption within the shipyard will enable the full-scale operation of a smart shipyard.

At the Smart Sea Trial Center, DSME collects and monitors in real time all operational information of sea trial ships under construction, including equipment performance, fuel consumption, and issues, while providing technical support. Since only a limited number of personnel can board ships during sea trials, if a problem occurs, technical staff had to go directly to the ship at sea to resolve it. In the future, engineers gathered at the onshore Smart Sea Trial Center will be able to diagnose problems and propose solutions in real time.

By analyzing data collected at the Sea Trial Center, it will also be possible to optimize equipment operation and apply improvements in advance for future ships. The company anticipates that lowering operating costs will enhance competitiveness in securing orders. In collaboration with the Siheung Research and Development (R&D) Center, operational data from already delivered ships will be analyzed to identify issues and provide solutions to shipowners, enabling proactive responses. Virtual reality (VR) crew training and fuel efficiency improvements through operational performance analysis will also be possible. At the opening ceremony held the previous day, DSME President Lee Sung-geun stated, "This will establish itself as a core facility that will build the company’s future competitiveness through the smart shipyard and open the era of autonomous ship navigation."