The National Shipbuilding Research Program. Proceedings of the IREAPS Technical Symposium. Paper No. 15: Shipbuilding Project Management. Volume 1
Abstract
American shipbuilding management and planning has become a topic of increasing discussion in recent years and various proposals for change have been advanced. Many of these propose adoption-of certain techniques and approaches successfully used --in other major shipbuilding countries such as Japan and Korea, where shipbuilding management is based on organizational, decision making, and operating structures and procedures founded on quite different cultural backgrounds, human relations, and traditions than those found in the U.S. While some of the techniques and approaches found successful in those countries may be transferrable, it must be recognized that the environment in the U.S. cannot be changed in the short run. This makes successful application of some of these methods difficult. Factors which make Japanese and Korean shipbuilding competitive include value engineering, quality circles, labor incentives, high productivity manufacturing processes; rationalized ship design and production, effective organization, labor relations and flexibility, good supplier and customer relations, and effective production planning management and control. There are some factors which are distinctly different, such as the lack of adversity between shipbuilder and client on one hand and management and labor on the other hand. There is a general recognition and acceptance in these countries that adversary relations and potential litigous actions hinder achievement of ship production efficiency and on schedule low cost (and therefore price) delivery. Similarly most supplier, client, and labor issues with shipbuilding management are resolved by various informal approaches with little if any delay. This is quite different from the generally formal approach used in the U.S.A., where procedure, documentation, and even conflict resolution methods are often defined.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADA447662
Entities
People
- Ernst G. Frankel
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology