Facility design and development

Facility development is not just a matter of erecting buildings and installing the latest equipment or computer systems. The layout and type of facilities must be a reflection of the shipyard's market focus and operating philosophy. FMI applies a market-driven analytical approach to the design of manufacturing, construction and repair facilities. The approach follows a series of logical and integrated steps to deliver the levels of throughput and performance required.

Our experience has shown that a product-oriented approach to ship design and production operations is the most effective. Through the application of group technology principles, product families are defined and associated with different stages of construction. Only then is it possible to define the required equipment, process lanes and assembly areas and hence develop layout options for a facility.

Our expertise extends to:

• Production engineering of vessel designs
• Interim product analysis
• Definition of shipyard technology and processes
• Overall facility planning and layout design
• Detailed workshop design and engineering
• Equipment selection
• Facility and equipment cost estimating
• Management and organisation requirements
• Manpower requirements
• Definition of operating systems and procedures
• Phasing facilities development around existing operations
• Project management, technology transfer and training

We believe that it is beneficial for all shipyards to develop and maintain a long range facilities plan. This ensures that incremental developments are carried out in the context of long term objectives and that all capital expenditure is effective. This is particularly important in naval yards, where a project-oriented approach can result in sub-optimal developments. FMI has a well-established, proven approach to developing and maintaining long range facilities plans.

This is a First Marine International service