Navantia reaffirms its commitment to the digital transformation of shipbuilding by adopting advanced and innovative optimization tools, such as the one developed by Alhona for its San Fernando shipyard, which addresses the complex planning of the ring shop -a key stage in shipbuilding-, given its operational importance as the shipyard’s junction point between sub-block construction and slipway shipbuilding.
Traditionally considered the bottleneck of the shipyard due to the simultaneity of tasks, the diversity of geometries and sequences, and the multiple operational constraints, the pre-assembly workshop faces challenges such as tight lead times, space constraints due to the volume of products, and resource optimization.
A smart solution for a complex environment
To respond to these challenges, Alhona has proposed and developed a technology that combines discrete event simulation and a genetic optimization algorithm. This solution allows the entire production flow to be modeled virtually, from the pre-assembly workshop to the slipway, automatically and iteratively improving key aspects such as the order and assignment of activities to blocks, the allocation of resources, and the orientation and location of each block within the pre-assembly workshop.
Among the benefits that this tool will provide to the San Fernando shipyard, the following stand out:
- Optimization of block input planning in the pre-assembly workshop in terms of sequence, location, orientation and activity assignment.
- Automated planning that saves time and minimizes human error.
- Intuitive interface with data integration and exportable report generation (graphs, tables and Gantt charts).
- Flexibility to plan as many scenarios as needed, adapting to every shipyard situation
- Adaptable to any shipbuilding program and replicable to other Navantia shipyards.
More efficiency, better coordination, greater competitiveness
The solution not only improves the efficiency of the pre-assembly workshop, but also makes it possible to anticipate bottlenecks and redistribute the workload, facilitating a more balanced production flow and better management of the shipyard’s global resources. Thanks to this solution, Navantia will be able to increase its on-time delivery to slipway ratio and has positioned the pre-assembly workshop as an active element in production planning.
This tool is consolidated as a strategic ally in decision making, allowing to explore scenarios, validate hypotheses and improve coordination between teams. Its implementation represents a key advance in productivity, deadline compliance and competitiveness in the naval sector.
