Housing and visualizing the relationships between data from disparate sources is a major problem every shipbuilder faces. We released DigitalHub knowing it would provide an immediate benefit to shipbuilders, but even we’ve been overwhelmed by the response our partners across the shipbuilding world have had to DigitalHub. Already, a number of seamless integrations are taking shape from SSI partners like NESTIX, part of Hexagon PPM.
NESTIX, as part of Hexagon PPM, have been working to “bring SSI DigitalHub technology to the shop floor in order to leverage Smart Production Powered by NESTIX for real time work preparation and planning,” said Marcel Veldhuizen, NESTIX Managing Director. “We’re combining Engineering created information with real time information from the shop floor through our proven technology of Smart Production in order to enable efficient shop floor planning, material and remnant management for shipyards.”
Creating the link between every shipbuilding department is at the heart of DigitalHub’s DNA. “One of the challenges we’ve found at SSI with a lot of our clients is how they communicate engineering data from a CAD/CAM system downstream to other shipyard stakeholders,” said Bruno Benevolo, SSI’s Director of Enterprise Solutions. “How do you do that in a controlled fashion, while replicating the relationships of that rich data set? Our approach was to create a foundational information management platform that we configured and customized in a way that allows us to see a 360 view of that data, complete with every relationship.”
Engineering information will always need to feed downstream stakeholders. Having those relationships, between BOMs, drawings, 3D viewables, parts, nested plates and profiles with appropriate NC files inherently available helps maintain coordination across departments, making it possible for Engineering, Planning, Production, and Project Management teams to improve on their own processes while maintaining real time visibility of the project.
Being an open, foundational platform has allowed our partners to expand on the native capabilities of both DigitalHub and ShipConstructor. “Utilizing the engineering data available from ShipConstructor through DigitalHub’s unique technology, has created a seamless integration between our two solutions,” said Veldhuizen. “Combining the power of both data-centric solutions will bring substantial business benefits to the industry as a whole.”
About NESTIX and Hexagon PPM
Founded in 1982 and based in Oulu, Finland, NESTIX has been meeting the needs of major shipyards and steel service centers, offshore yards, pipe fabricators, mechanical engineering companies and the steel construction industry for more than 30 years. Its software portfolio is used to provide real time control of the manufacturing and assembly processes in order to improve production, optimize machine and personnel utilization, and minimize material waste – while improving the quality of the fabricated parts. Since May 2016, NESTIX Ltd. has been a subsidiary to Hexagon PPM. Hexagon PPM empowers its clients to transform unstructured information into a smart digital asset to visualize, build and manage structures and facilities of all complexities, ensuring safe and efficient operation throughout the entire lifecycle.