IMPACT OF ZONE OUTFITTING ON SHIP SPACE UTILIZATION AND CONSTRUCTION COSTS

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe United States' ship‐production methods of World War II were adopted by the Japanese after the war and became the basis of Japanese success in developing highly productive shipbuilding techniques. These methods migrated to other nations and are finally returning to the United States.The methods of zone — rather than system — oriented design and construction methods were principally developed to improve productivity through the application of group technology. However, experience in the United States is indicating that these methods are also resulting in unexpectedly high savings in material, weight, and labor costs, leading to total ship construction cost savings of up to 30 percent.The paper describes a three‐dimensional approach to the use of enclosed volume. It highlights the remarkable improvements and options in the use of space and the reduction in construction costs that can result from using zone outfitting methods in warship design and construction instead of conventional system‐oriented methods.The paper compares the conventional machinery space design process to the equivalent process using zone outfitting and group technology. Using an LSD‐44 auxiliary machinery room as an example, it is shown that if this space were redesigned using zone outfitting, the engineering spaces would have a higher specific machinery volume but still contain the same systems and components at the same equipment densities. The spaces would be significantly smaller and yet be no more volumetrically “tight” than the ship defined in the Navy's current design, but would be less expensive to construct.The zone outfitting described is based on actual case histories and can be applied to most other spaces in any combatant ship. The space, weight and construction cost saved make possible a smaller, more affordable ship with no sacrifice in speed, range, seakeeping, habitability or survivability.