#69: Navigating the Digital Seas of Shipbuilding

Welcome to Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, the podcast where we explore the tools, trends, and tactics driving digital transformation in product design and manufacturing.

In this episode, co-hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott dive into the world of shipbuilding and digital transformation, joined by special guest Pat Coulehan. With over 30 years of experience in digital engineering, Pat shares firsthand insights from his five-year involvement in a major U.S. shipbuilding project.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

🚢 Shipbuilding’s Digital Shift – How the industry is adopting digital tools to enhance design, manufacturing, and maintenance.
🛠️ Industry Parallels – The surprising similarities between shipbuilding, aerospace, and construction, and what makes shipbuilding unique.
🔗 Supply Chain & Tech Adoption – The challenges of integrating digital workflows with suppliers and legacy processes.
⚙️ Configuration Management & Lifecycle Challenges – Why ship designs continuously evolve and how digital tools support long-term maintainability.
📊 Data & Compliance – The role of data management, regulatory requirements, and the importance of traceability in shipbuilding projects.
🔧 Overcoming Challenges – Lessons learned from transitioning shipbuilders to digital systems, including standardization hurdles and cultural shifts.

Key Takeaways:

✅ Shipbuilding is a complex, multi-disciplinary industry that blends elements of aerospace and construction.
✅ Digital transformation brings massive benefits but requires overcoming cultural resistance and supply chain adoption challenges.
✅ Data management and standardization are crucial to maintaining efficiency over decades-long projects.
✅ The move to digital is not just about initial cost savings—it’s about long-term sustainability, efficiency, and maintenance savings.
✅ Regulatory compliance, safety, and modularity play a key role in ship design and manufacturing.

Next Steps & Future Topics:

During the conversation, Pat also touched on Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and its role in shipbuilding. Stay tuned for a future episode where we’ll take a deeper dive into MBSE and its impact on digital engineering!

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Until next time—Stay Sharp!

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