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Shipyard Digital Production Management
A comprehensive production management system for one of Asia's largest private shipbuilders, tracking vessel construction from steel cutting through sea trials, integrating block assembly, quality control, supply chain, and workforce management.
Client
Shoft Shipyard
Role
Design Team Lead
Timeline
6 Months
Platform
Desktop + Tablet
Domain
Defense / Maritime
Year
2019–2022
The Challenge
Shoft Shipyard builds commercial vessels ranging from bulk carriers to chemical tankers, with 3–4 vessels under simultaneous construction at any time. Each build involves hundreds of steel hull blocks moving through fabrication, sub-assembly, assembly, and erection, tracked by production managers using paper status boards, radio calls, and an ERP system that only planners could access.
The core design challenge was bridging the gap between the yard floor and the planning office. Production data lagged by 4–8 hours. Quality inspections existed in paper binders. Supply chain operated independently from the build schedule. Classification society surveyors arrived with their own separate checklists. Every department had their own truth - and none of them matched.
Explore the Production System
Navigate through eight screens: construction timeline, block assembly, shaping progress, supply chain, equipment, quality gates, workforce allocation, and sea trial preparation. Filter by hull to see vessel-specific data.
TimelineBlocksShapingSupply ChainEquipmentQualityWorkforceSea Trial
Impact
42%
reduction in schedule delay propagation through automated critical path analysis
Production data, 6-month pilot
15%
lead time reduction achieved by integrating supply chain with construction milestones (extending prior inventory system)
Supply chain analytics, 2019–2022
3.8×
faster NCR resolution by connecting QC inspectors directly to production scheduling
Quality management data, n=340 NCRs
67%
less time spent on daily progress reporting through automated data capture from yard systems
Workflow analysis, n=18 production managers
Research & Discovery
Shipyard Personas
Kemal | Production Manager
22 years in shipbuilding120+ builds supervised
Veteran production lead managing 3 concurrent vessel builds. Relies on paper checklists and radio communication. Skeptical of digital systems but desperate for real-time block status visibility.
Core Pain Point
Can’t see hull block status across all 3 builds without physically walking the yard
Ayşe | QC Inspector
11 years in marine qualityDNV / Lloyd’s certified
Classification society liaison who manages inspection workflows for weld quality, coating thickness, and structural alignment. Currently tracks non-conformance reports in spreadsheets.
Core Pain Point
NCR resolution takes 5× longer than it should because data lives in 4 separate systems
Joon | Supply Chain Coordinator
7 years procurement350+ vendor relationships
Manages procurement across steel suppliers, equipment OEMs, and outfitting subcontractors. The previous inventory system she helped build reduced lead times 15%, but had no construction milestone integration.
Core Pain Point
Parts arrive on time but sit idle because assembly schedule changed without procurement being notified
Systems Audit Findings
Task Analysis: Time-on-Task Comparison
Production Manager Day-in-the-Life
Complete User Flow
NCR Discovery to Schedule Recovery
Tracing a single weld defect from yard-floor discovery through quality resolution and schedule recovery, showing how all eight screens connect in a real production scenario.
1
NCR Discovery in Yard
Block Assembly Tracker
2
NCR Creation & Classification
Quality Gate Management
3
Production Impact Assessment
Construction Timeline
4
Supply Chain Adjustment
Supply Chain Integration
5
Resolution & Quality Gate Clearance
Quality Gate Management
6
Schedule Recovery & Reporting
Construction Timeline + Workforce
Key Design Decisions
Yard-to-Office Dual Interface
Designed a responsive dual-interface: full-featured desktop for planners and QC managers, plus a ruggedized tablet view optimized for gloved hands and outdoor visibility. Block status updates now happen at the point of work. A foreman taps a block on the visual hull map to update status instantly.
Impact
Block status data lag reduced from 4-8 hours to real-time updates
Classification-Integrated Quality Gates
Built quality gates directly into the construction timeline, with inspection checklists that mirror actual classification society requirements (IACS UR, DNV-OS-C401, LR Rules). NCRs are linked to specific blocks and automatically surface in the production schedule when they impact critical path. Surveyors access the same digital interface.
Impact
NCR resolution time reduced 3.8× and classification survey prep from 1 day to 1 hour
Supply Chain ↔ Milestone Synchronization
Extended the supply chain system with bi-directional milestone linking. Every material order is now tied to a specific construction milestone. When the schedule shifts, the supply chain dashboard automatically re-prioritizes deliveries and flags conflicts. Materials that will arrive before their milestone is ready are flagged to prevent yard congestion.
Impact
Material-to-milestone misalignment reduced from weeks to same-day detection
Designed by Rebecka Raj at Shoft Shipyard, 2019-2022
This case study represents design work conducted across 4+ years of direct shipyard experience, including field research with production managers, QC inspectors, and classification society surveyors.
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