Computer-Aided Process Planning: A Path to Just-in-Time Manufacturing for Shipyards

Abstract

The use of computers to improve the productivity of U.S. shipyards has never been as successful as hoped for by the designers. Many applications were simply the conversion of an existing process to a computerized process. The manufacturing database required for the successful application of computer-aided process planning (CAPP) to the shipyard environment requires a "back-to-basics" approach, one that can lead to control of the processes occurring in the fabrication and assembly shops of a shipyard. The manufacturing database will not provide management feedback designed for the financial segment of the shipyard (although it can be converted to be fully applicable): it provides "real-time" manufacturing data that the shop floor manager can utilize in his day-to-day decisions, not historical data on how his shop did last week or last month. The computer is only a tool to be used to organize the mountains of manufacturing data into useful information for today's shop manager on a "real time" basis. The use of group technology to collect similar products, the use of parameters to clearly identify work content, the use of real-time efficiency rates to project capacity and realistic schedules, and the use of bar codes to input "real time" data are all tools that are part of the process—tools for the shop floor manager of tomorrow.