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Tony Zilles

Designing high-tech ships requires high tech design tools. Of particular importance is that the design tools allow designers the freedom to work in the mode most appropriate to the part or assembly being designed. CADKEY’s abilities in this area are exceptional, allowing designers to work in wireframe, surfaces or solid modeling mode at will. The Incat design office uses CADKEY exclusively to design and document ship designs. There are 30 designers in the office and all are equipped with CADKEY.

CADKEY was first introduced at Incat when designers moved to CAD several years ago. At the time the decision was made, CADKEY was selected on the basis of its total 3D approach; its ability to work with wireframe, surfaces and solid models; its built-in aptitude for mechanical design and manufacturing and the ease of use for designers. At the time, there was nothing else available under a million dollars that matched CADKEY feature for feature and the economy of choosing the perfectly capable CADKEY did not require a second thought. Even today, now that there are some very capable 3D design tools around, it is not possible to match CADKEY’s capabilities for under A$40,000 per seat. CADKEY can be deployed for much, much less than this.

As the Incat design team pushes design ideas to the limit with their ships they also push their software tools to limit as well. To say that members of the Incat design team are all CADKEY enthusiasts is an understatement. The team also comprises a significant number of power users who often test the capabilities of CADKEY. A few also regularly participate in CADKEY’s online technical discussion forums and provide the CADKEY development team with significant constructive feedback for further enhancements.

Additional stand-alone software tools are used for specialist engineering analysis and presentation purposes. All CAD work is done on PCs. Paper output is generated through a Xerox large format printer that runs virtually continuously providing drawings for the fabrication shop and fitters.

No business operates in isolation. Building a world-beating ship requires a significant contribution from world-beating suppliers. A significant manufacturing community has grown up around Prince of Wales Bay primarily to service and supply Incat with materials and components. Each supplier makes an important contribution to Incat. Most also operate a thriving independent high-tech engineering business fostered by association with Incat and a shared commitment to manufacturing specialized products for the world market.

Tasmanian marine products manufacturer Skeels & Perkins machines T-foil components for the US designer. These T-foils are also used in Incat ride control systems. L-R Peter Bailey - Skeels & Perkins, John Ryan - CADKEY, Barry Dyson - STS.

Several suppliers of engineered components to Incat have adopted CADKEY as their main design software. Initially the strength was to simplifying the transfer of information between companies. While ease of data exchange is still a convenient factor in using CADKEY, it is more of a side-benefit now. CADKEY users quickly discover that it is a powerful and flexible design tool that is perfectly suited to manufacturing applications. It is easy to operate and does not break the bank to get set up and maintain.

The future holds even more exciting developments for Incat. The design team will face even greater responsibility soon when it begins supporting three construction yards building Incat WPCs. And if that does not sound challenging enough, consider that two of these yards will be supported remotely, being in different countries on a different side of the globe. Gone are the days of designers and detailers nipping down into the yard to check a dimension or measure a bracket.

It is vital that Incat is able to manage multiple simultaneous ship construction projects by remote control. Every aspect of the structure is designed and analyzed with the goal of reducing weight and the design process also proceeds on a parallel track, revising and refining throughout construction. This is no mean feat when you consider that every member, every joint, every bracket, even every weld is fully documented and referenced in drawings models and supporting documentation relating to each ship. This process calls for powerful and efficient software tool and document management strategies. The success of the entire business depends on designers having tools that are accurate and reliable. They must have tools through which they can confidently create first class designs and communicate ideas to the people and machines that will turn their vision into reality.

CADKEY is cornerstone software tool in Incat’s current design and documentation system and will play an even more critical role in systems to be used in the future.

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