Connecting with industry experts is invaluable to see how others have approached challenges like what your teams are facing. The quirks and unique aspects of shipbuilding make those challenges different from other industry problems. The key is finding a shared community of shipbuilding experts. Here’s a highlight of how a former Marine Project Supervisor responded to a question on SSI Nexus, our almost 3000 shipbuilder strong community.
“I can say from using PublisherLT and Publisher (the full InformationHub, to be exact) in the shipyard that the combination of the two can complement each other to provide a continuous stream of information. We had a series of operations to be run nightly to support our business and integrations.
Using Publisher through the Information Hub as a scheduled “set it and forget it” type of setup was the best way to ensure this data was continuously updated. During the day, our users had a varying set of operations they used to easily extract information for their daily work.
At first, when I reviewed Publisher and the InformationHub, I did what most clients do. I had a hard time justifying spending more money on a piece of software that, on the surface, didn’t look to be anything more than an automated way of doing what I already did. But then our business grew, staff changed, and we took on more and more work in the engineering department. Now, simple repetitive tasks were burdensome.
In a nutshell, InformationHub is like installing a welding robot. It takes a repetitive process over and frees up a skilled worker for other things. Consistent data extraction when integrating with other systems such as ERP/MRP or other programs makes the InformationHub an easy ROI when you look at the cost of the person who would have to run the extraction and at the risk of not having consistent information.
The automation that is associated with Publisher through InformationHub is the most attractive part. The ProjectScheduler and the ability to leverage several Nodes to distribute the work can seem like a daunting setup, but it really is only a one-time set up. Once things are set, it becomes about figuring out what you can automate with your current process and how to expand it in the future. With proper setup, you almost forget the tool is running.”
Matt Witzeling, Former Marine Project Supervisor, Gunderson Marine
Head over to Nexus to see the discussion for yourself. If you’re not a member yet, create an account to become part of the community and get access to discussions and video content. If your organization has an SSI Subscription, you will also get access to industry best-practices articles, how-tos, and detailed training exercises.