Nested Material Manufacturing Technology Improvement; Final rept

摘要

The objective of this project was to develop an automated planning and control system in the GD NASSCO Pipe Shop that enabled the efficient handling of pipe spool fabrication in a flexible manufacturing environment. The solution to improved efficiency in Pipe Shop operations was to implement an automated pipe spool planning process that had the ability to apply defined rules for pipe part routing and nesting, but could accept late input changes to the work plans to accommodate emerging schedule changes and shop level loading requirements. This process would include a dynamic pipe nesting component. The project plan included a benchmarking analysis of pipe spool fabrication practices and software applications at a major international shipyard known to have successfully implemented dynamic nesting of pipe. A detailed specification and production implementation plan was then prepared, followed by application development, testing and a pilot implementation on NASSCO's T-AKE Program. The return on investment for this project is defined by three production goals; scrap rate reduction, reduced cost of pipe nesting and work planning, and increased efficiency in pipe spool fabrication. The total cost avoidance over a five year period is projected to be $5.5M with a calculated Present Value Return on Investment of 9.5:1.