Protection of Fuel Tanks Safety ahead! - GL Group

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INDUSTRIAL SERVICES | VDMA Dr Hermann J. Klein, Member of the Executive Board, Germanischer Lloyd Christian Fritzen, Managing Director, Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG Suppliers and Classifi cation Societies – Goals for the Future Avoiding frictional losses, cutting costs, increasing effi ciency: shipbuilding suppliers and classifi cation societies are banking on better dialogue Business is really booming. And yet the suppliers to the shipbuilding industry are already feeling the hot breath of their competitors in Asia down their necks. “We must use the current boom phase to gird ourselves for bad times,” warned Dr Alexander Nürnberg, chairman of the working group “Marine and Offshore Equipment Industry” within the German Engineering Federation (VDMA). To sound out the potential for efficiency enhancement and cost reduction, the VDMA issued an invitation to a podium discussion entitled “Who’s stamping now? Enhanced efficiency in classification for a globally competitive shipping and shipbuilding industry” which was held with the scope of the leading shipping fair SMM in Hamburg. The topic proved to be as contentious as it had promised. In front of more than 150 industry representatives, Dr Hermann J. Klein (Executive Board, Germanischer Lloyd), Christian Fritzen (Managing Director, Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG), Ralf Sempf (Meyer Werft), Dr Ing. Gottfried Braun (MAN B & W Diesel) and Hatlapa CEO Dr Alexander Nürnberg entered into a frank but fair discussion on “Classification of the Future”. Chaired by Professor Georg Wachtmeister (Technical University of Munich), the podium concluded: only with dialogue and partnership can the joint potential for optimization be tapped and realized. Strong in export, German suppliers employ 70,000 people and generate more than EUR 9 billion in annual turnover. But with the competitive pressure increasing steadily, cost-effectiveness is becoming a matter of survival. This is one of the reasons why the German Engineering Federation 36 nonstop 4/2006 EXCHANGE OF IDEAS. Over 150 visitors took part in the VDMA event ´Classifi cation of the Future`. Photos: Jens Meyer Ralf Sempf, Head of Materials Management and Purchasing, Meyer Werft is working intensively on a national and international level to develop specific proposals for improvement in the classification processes. At the Hamburg podium discussion, Dr Nürnberg, Managing Partner of Hatlapa Uetersener Maschinenfabrik, called for greater cost transparency from the classification societies: “Having appreciable differences in price between the IACS classes for comparable services is simply unacceptable.” Amongst the suppliers, there is also an increasing lack of understanding for multiple surveys, thus acceptance of the same construction unit by different classification societies. Nürnberg: “This ties up highly qualified staff without creating any added value.” There was support for this viewpoint from the shipbuilding industry. Ralf Sempf, Head of the Materials Management and Purchasing Department at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, also criticized the multiple surveys. “It is difficult to comprehend why steel plate that has been approved by a
Dr Gottfried Braun, Quality Management, MAN B&W Diesel recognized classification society must be stamped off again for use in a ship sailing under a second IACS class,” said Sempf. Granting the manufacturers a higher degree of autonomy and self-responsibility could make the overall process more flexible and economical. Ralf Sempf pointed out: “This would do away with the need for a visit by a second or even a third surveyor. After all, somebody has to pay for these extra trips.” With product and design innovations, the focus is less on cost and more on flexibility. Suppliers and yards alike have to expend a lot of effort to get novel concepts past the classification societies. Ralf Sempf was convinced: “Goal-based classification – as opposed to the rule-based surveys still usual today – will yield considerable benefits.” Greater flexibility is on the wish list of Dr Gottfried Braun, Quality Manager at MAN B&W Diesel, also for the introduction of new regulations. “There should be a grandfather clause – protection of existing rights for proven products,” said Braun. His main requirements for the “Classification of the Future” are safeguarding product quality, creating lean, flexible and cost-effective processes, avoiding duplication of surveys, and cultivating the fundamental principle of manufacturers” self-responsibility wherever possible. Both experts – Braun and Sempf – were banking on cooperation: “We really want to foster an ongoing dialogue with the classification societies,” Braun asserted. Germanischer Lloyd, as the only representative of the classification societies present at the VDMA podium dis- VDMA: THE WISH LIST FOR THE CLASSIFICATION SOCIETIES The German Engineering Federation (VDMA) organized a podium discussion in Hamburg with experts from the shipping industry. Topic: Classifi cation of the Future. Goal: Greater effi ciency in the cooperation between shipbuilding suppliers and classifi cation societies. Demands of the suppliers: Dr Alexander Nürnberg, Managing Partner, Hatlapa “We are proactive in approaching our customers.” Dr Hermann J. Klein ■ Increased self-responsibility in the classifi catory surveys for qualifi ed equipment suppliers and products to secure their own level of competitiveness. The rigid rule-based system favors production fi rms with a lower level of know-how, above all in low-wage economies. ■ Harmonization of selected rules of the individual IACS societies. VDMA | INDUSTRIAL SERVICES Prof. Dr Georg Wachtmeister, Technical University of Munich cussion, was more than willing. However, Dr Hermann J. Klein, Member of the GL Executive Board, viewed the desired harmonization between the IACS classes a little sceptically, because of the differences exhibited by the individual societies. Formulation of Common Structural Rules, as a harmonization of the various sets of construction rules and their reciprocal recognition, is a difficult process which itself could obstruct flexibility and innovative advancement. Dr Klein said: “Here we must proceed with great care.” With regard to the business processes in place between class and suppliers, Germanischer Lloyd had already been hunting for optimization potential. Whatever is meaningful will be implemented. For instance, the increased autonomy demanded by suppliers for the testing of series products was already an everyday matter to a certain extent. And the dialogue between Germanischer Lloyd and the shipbuilding supply industry was running at full speed: “However, environmental protection and safety must never be sacrificed on the altar of commercial interests,” emphasized Dr Klein. Here he received support from Christian Fritzen. The Managing Director of Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG reminded listeners that, in the end, it was the shipowners who had to bear the costs of classification, and advised against leaving the acceptance testing of vendor products up to the manufacturers: “We need independent inspectors and certifiers. That is in the best interests of everyone involved.” ■ JM ■ Greater cost transparency of the necessary classifi cation services to prevent distortion of competition. ■ Equal treatment worldwide of the suppliers with regard to the classifi cation requirements. Only then can the disadvantages suffered by the innovative manufacturers in high-wage countries be reduced. nonstop 4/2006 37
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Protection of Fuel Tanks Safety ahead! - GL Group

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