New Building Production CostsStructure Optimisation

Abstract

Establishing newbuilding production costs structure represents a fundamental management activity, concerning materials and fabrication in shipbuilding. Shipyards are competing in world market niches, regarding vessel types and dimensions. Therefore, vessel's market price has a tremendous influence at shipyard's determination of vessel price offered to buyers. For this reason shipyard management is forced to concentrate its effort to act upon newbuilding production costs structure optimisation as to achieve the goal of profitable shipyard enterprise. In this paper, a computer integrated mathematical model of costing engineering of vessel production founded by authors is presented. Model concept is based on both, functional and technological, vessel breakdown structures. Statistical analysis of data was performed for a sample of tankers population, built in Croatian shipyards. Probabilistic theory was applied and several results such as of expectation for aggregate figures are presented. Such developed tool for obtaining an optimal production costs structure enables shipyard management besides more successful managing and decision making, also latter through the process a better costs control within model parameters. Dynamical control is needed of costing figures within optimised structure of production costs, that for assigned conditions, for the whole shipbuilding process and product, have significant influence upon performance final results. Mathematical model for achieving optimal structure of production costs was verified and tested against real example for tanker newbuilding. Transactions on the Built Environment vol 42, © 1999 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509