S e c t i o n  3

Information

Design

the data required and actually creating the mod 

eling/simulation.  In general, shipyard processes

are poorly documented and, in some cases, the in 

Modeling and Simulation for Manufacturing

formation  only  exists  as  personnel  experience.

Thus, collecting this data, organizing it and enter 

The University of New Orleans, College of Engi 

ing the information into a simulation package can

neering draws upon it strong modeling and simu 

be a very arduous task.

lation expertise to design and develop a Modeling

The  UNO  effort  will  develop  a  modeling  infra 

and Simulation capability for the shipbuilding in 

structure that will store pertinent manufacturing

dustry.  Working at the Gulf Coast Region Maritime

process and planning knowledge, associate specific

Technology Center site at the Northrop Grumman

product data with the process information and make

Ship Systems Avondale Operations, its effort utilizes

both readily available to analysis tools.  Phase I of

major  shipyard  cooperation  and  promulgates  a

a three phase program formulated a modeling plan

broad concept for implementation.

for the manufacturing process modeling system, the

business use cases for the system, the system re 

The University of New Orleans, College of En 

quirements/specifications, and subsequent selection

gineering (UNO COE), under the auspices of the

of a potential commercial off the shelf (COTS) so 

Gulf  Coast  Region  Maritime Technology  Center

lution.  Figure 3 1 identifies the principal elements

(GCRMTC), has led research and development of

of this system concept.  Currently in Phase II, ship 

Modeling and Simulation (M&S) tools to benefit

builders are performing a proof of concept test of

shipbuilding manufacturing capabilities.  Located

the system to determine the modeling capabilities

at  the  Simulation  Based  Design  Center  next  to

and limitations for shipyard production planning

the  Northrop  Grumman  Ship  Systems  (NGSS)

activities.  Phase III of the effort will focus on imple 

Avondale Operations shipyard, the effort utilizes

mentation issues and the development of solutions

a good balance of shipyard, equip 

ment, and subject matter experts

to pursue this goal.  This goal en 

compasses both current and future

planned  capabilities  addressing

shipyard production improvement,

process optimization (e.g., Lean/Six

Sigma, Cellular), design for produc 

tion, direct production support, as 

sembly sequencing, process model 

ing/simulation  as  well  as

automation (e.g., welding and mod 

eling and simulation development).

As shipyards investigate and de 

velop solutions for production im 

provement, the proposed modifica 

tions  must  be  analyzed  for

operational performance as well as

their affect on adjoining processes.

However,  the  development  of  a

simulation to support these analy 

ses  can  be  time  consuming  and

costly due to the effort of collecting

Figure 3 1.  System Concept

13