Innovative Digital Twin Solutions for South Korea’s Shipbuilding Industry

The Korean shipbuilding industry is facing constant changes and challenges. In recent years, the industry has faced a variety of challenges and demands, including rising shipbuilding costs, catching up with competitors such as China, increasing demand for eco-friendly ships, responding to safety regulations, and an exodus of highly skilled technicians. While the industry is experiencing a super cycle, it is also facing a labor shortage. South Korea's three major shipbuilders will need 45,000 additional workers by 2027 to fulfill their backlog of orders. To respond to these challenges and demands, the Korean shipbuilding industry is undergoing a digital transformation, and one of the key concepts driving this transformation is the 'digital twin'.

Benefits of using digital twins in shipbuilding

A digital twin is a technology that reflects a real-world physical object or process in the digital world so that its status can be monitored and analyzed in real time. In the shipbuilding industry, the use of digital twins can have a number of benefits.

1. Optimize production processes

Digital twins can be used to monitor and optimize production processes in shipyards in real time. For example, by collecting and analyzing data from the shipbuilding process, you can identify and resolve bottlenecks on the production line. You can also use digital twins to perform optimization tasks such as increasing production efficiency and reducing energy consumption.

2. Enhance safety

Safety is a key issue in the shipbuilding industry. Digital twins provide an opportunity to monitor all operations within the shipyard and proactively detect dangerous situations. You can also provide safety training to workers by creating different safety training materials for crane signal reception, yard crane operations, crew and passengers, and attaching them within the digital twin, and you can also utilize employee training platforms by integrating them within the digital twin. 

3. Improve the efficiency of maintenance and management

Digital twins can be utilized to perform maintenance and management tasks on shipbuilding vessels more efficiently. For example, IoT sensors can be used to monitor the condition of a ship in real-time and predict necessary repairs and refurbishment work. Digital twins can also be used to optimize the resources required for maintenance work and reduce costs.

4. Introduce innovative training methods

Digital twins can be used to revolutionize training methods in the shipbuilding industry. For example, VR technology can be used to train workers on tasks in the shipyard and improve their skills. Digital twins can also be utilized to provide real-time instructions to workers and help them perform tasks safely.

A digital twin solution for shipbuilding: Beamo

Beamo is a digital twin platform that digitizes and presents a 360-degree view of various industrial sites. Beamo is a compact device that quickly and easily creates a 3D view of a site, making it a great solution for complex ship structures and environments.

Beamo usage process

First, you walk around the vessel with a tripod mounted with a 360-degree camera and a smartphone to capture it. The self-built tripod is lightweight at around 1.4 kilograms, so it's easy to carry around the ship, and it can get into nooks and crannies that are difficult for humans to access, making it an effective way to capture the inside of complex facilities. After capturing a site using the Beamo app and the 360 camera, upload the data to create a 360 view of the site. The turnaround time is extremely fast, typically taking as little as 10 minutes for 200 images, making it a great solution if you have a lot of assets to capture or a large site.

IoT Integration

The resulting digital twin can be used by managers to remotely inspect the site from anywhere at any time, and can be linked to IoT sensor data related to the equipment for real-time monitoring. Beamo's Tag feature can also be utilized to attach job-related manuals or tutorial videos to the digital twin, ensuring that employees have the most up-to-date material at their fingertips.

The benefits of using digital twins in the shipbuilding industry include optimizing production and operations, making workers more efficient, and enhancing safety on site, which in turn can significantly improve ESG management. The adoption of digital twin technology is expected to play an important role in helping shipbuilders prepare for the future and gain a competitive edge.