Integrating Design and Production Data for Greater Efficiency
Aiming for Industrial Metaverse and Physical AI
HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the intermediate holding company for HD Hyundai's shipbuilding division, has begun building an integrated platform that connects ship design and production into a single data flow. The plan is to unify the design and production information that has been scattered across the shipyard, creating a structure where design changes are immediately reflected in on-site processes.
On December 24, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering announced that it has selected the global digital solutions company Siemens Digital Industries Software as the preferred negotiation partner for building an "Integrated Platform for Ship Design and Production Consistency." Starting in 2026, the company will begin detailed development of the platform, with plans to first apply it to domestic shipyards such as HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Samho by 2028, before expanding to overseas sites.
Currently, shipyards operate a variety of systems, including CAD for 3D ship design, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), and Digital Manufacturing (DM). The problem is that the linkage between design and production systems is limited. When a design change occurs, it must be re-entered into the production system, and this process has repeatedly resulted in errors due to information omissions or differences in interpretation. In other words, there is a data disconnect between processes.
The integrated platform being pursued this time focuses on minimizing such disconnects. By managing design and production information as a single 3D dataset, the structure will enable design changes to be automatically reflected in production planning and work processes. The company expects that by integrating management of block assembly, welding conditions, and piping and electrical information, it can improve design accuracy and the reliability of production planning. It also stated that this shift signifies a move from process management based on human experience and judgment to a data-driven approach.
HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering plans to use this platform as the basis for gradually building a digital environment that recreates shipyards and ships in 3D. The approach involves using synthetic data generated in a virtual environment to conduct reinforcement learning, then applying these results to actual production sites. Given the prevalence of unstructured tasks in shipbuilding, this approach is interpreted as aiming for the implementation of "Physical AI" rather than simple automation.
The integrated platform is considered a core infrastructure of "FOS (Future of Shipyard)," HD Hyundai's next-generation shipyard strategy, which aims for completion by 2030. HD Hyundai's shipbuilding affiliates have been pursuing the FOS project since 2021 and completed the first phase, "Visible Shipyard," in December 2023. The current stage is the second phase, which aims to connect design, production, and operation data to create shipyards capable of prediction and optimization. In the long term, the company is working toward the transition to an intelligent, autonomous shipyard.
A representative from HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering stated, "Connecting design and production as a single data flow is the foundation of a digital shipyard. This will reduce inefficiencies in on-site work processes and transform the paradigm of the entire industry."
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