A quiet revolution in high-speed marine passenger transport is taking place
in a small shipyard in Tasmania, Australia’s southernmost state. Who could
fail to be impressed by the thought of a 120m catamaran carrying more than 1250
passengers and 460 cars at more than 50 knots!
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.
Manufacturing Community
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.
Future Growth
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.
