Abstract
Energy efficiency is an important factor in the marine industry to help reduce manufacturing and operational costs as well as the impact on the environment. In the face of global competition and cost-effectiveness, ship builders and operators today require a major overhaul in the entire ship design, manufacturing and operation process to achieve these goals. This paper highlights smart design, manufacturing and operation as the way forward in an industry 4.0 (i4) era from designing for better energy efficiency to more intelligent ships and smart operation through-life. The paper (i) draws parallels between ship design, manufacturing and operation processes, (ii) identifies key challenges facing such a temporal (lifecycle) as opposed to spatial (mass) products, (iii) proposes a closed-loop ship lifecycle framework and (iv) outlines potential future directions in smart design, manufacturing and operation of ships in an industry 4.0 value chain so as to achieve more energy-efficient vessels. Through computational intelligence and cyber-physical integration, we envision that industry 4.0 can revolutionise ship design, manufacturing and operations in a smart product through-life process in the near future.
Highlights
Ships today carry 90% of international trade [1] and are regarded as one of the most energy-efficient modes of transport in terms of distances of freight transported for same energy input, as compared to land and air transport [2]
One can observe that the energy consumption for marine vessels is expected to increase 32% to 18.48 British thermal units (Btu) by 2040
One of the main reasons for this slow growth can be attributed to more stringent environmental regulations compared to land and air transport) can be attributed to more stringent environmental regulations that are being introduced in the marine industry to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions
Summary
Ships today carry 90% of international trade [1] and are regarded as one of the most energy-efficient modes of transport in terms of distances of freight transported for same energy input, as compared to land and air transport [2]. An energy-efficient ship is one that is designed to consume the minimum minimum fuel or power during operation and constructed using minimal resources and energy. Operator’s competitiveness by maximising construction and operational cost savings as well as Consuming less fuel and energy helps to improve the shipyard’s and ship operator’s competitiveness reducing harm to the environment. In considering the ‘spatial aspect’ in ship design and manufacturing, it is important to look at the various stages of the design and manufacturing process during the entire lifecycle in order to improve the overall energy efficiency. In considering the ‘spatial aspect’ in ship design and manufacturing, it is important to look at the various stages of the design and manufacturing process during the entire lifecycle in order to improve the overall efficiency.
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