Hyundai to Enhance Shipyard Productivity with Expanded Digital Automation

South Korea’s largest shipbuilding conglomerate, HD Hyundai’s HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., is planning to accelerate the deployment of digital automation to improve shipyard productivity and address the lack of skilled labor. The company aims to become a “smart shipyard” by 2030. The three major shipbuilders in Korea, including Hyundai, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Hanwha Ocean, are all under pressure to improve operating margins and lower costs. They are also facing a shortage of skilled labor and have been urging the government to increase training programs and visas for foreign workers.

HD Hyundai has partnered with Siemens, a German engineering and technology company, to develop a digitalized automated production system. The focus will be on innovating all aspects of shipbuilding, from design to manufacturing. The first step will involve introducing robots for steel plate molding and welding at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard’s shipyard in Ulsan. This system is expected to be implemented by 2025, along with a cyber system for design.

As part of their automation efforts, HD Hyundai demonstrated their automatic welding equipment at the Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries yard. They plan to introduce this equipment to external partners and support related technologies for the expansion of automated processes. Working with Siemens, they will combine their existing digitalized automated production system with a next-generation design platform, aiming to streamline the shipbuilding process and create a unified platform for data management.

Overall, HD Hyundai is taking significant steps towards digitalization and automation in order to increase productivity and overcome labor shortages in the shipbuilding industry.

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