SSI Releases ShipConstructor 2015

Simultaneously Launches PublisherLT for the EnterprisePlatform

The release of ShipConstructor 2015 CAD/CAM software is a key part of SSI’s new plan to increase flexibility, security, convenience and simplicity for its clients in the shipbuilding and offshore markets, the company said. According to SSI, ShipConstructor 2015 contains several new catalogs, an augmentation SSI claims is of immediate benefit, as they will help users quickly and accurately model components to correct specifications. These catalog additions and changes include the following XML standard templates: PipeCatalog-ASME-CarbonSteel.XML, ImperialWeldStandards.XML and MetricWeldStandards.XML. According to SSI, of particular note are the details related to the addition of the catalog for ASME Carbon Steel Pipe. It covers the standardization of dimensions of welded and seamless wrought steel pipe for high and low temperatures and pressures. The catalog contains a wide range of schedule 40/80 carbon steel pipes, elbows, tees, caps, connectors, crosses and reducers from the ASME B 16.11, 16.5, 16.9 and 36.10 standards. It also includes a set of end treatments (flanges, butt welds, saddles, socket welds, sockolets and plain), including flanges and couplings from Class 150 and 300.
A new capability of ShipConstructor 2015 is its integration with SSI’s new EnterprisePlatform line of products. SSI EnterprisePlatform is designed to enable the wealth of engineering information available in a product data model such as the ShipConstructor Marine Information Model (MIM), to be shared with and easily accessed by multiple individuals, software applications and production equipment utilized in the shipbuilding process, including people, programs and processes outside of the Engineering Department.  PublisherLT is the first in the SSI EnterprisePlatform line of products and it is being released at the same time as ShipConstructor 2015.

EnterprisePlatform PublisherLT
PublisherLT is designed to free naval architects, marine engineers and draftsmen from tasks unrelated to their main focus, which is bringing to bear their energies and expertise to optimize maritime designs. Spending large amounts of time finding, formatting and exporting information for use in engineering or for other departments is not an efficient use of this highly skilled group. To solve this problem, SSI introduced PublisherLT, the first application in its new line of EnterprisePlatform software products.
PublisherLT eliminates much of the error prone, repetitive, time consuming, and manual process that keeps highly skilled individuals away from doing their true jobs.
PublisherLT lets users gather, convert and manipulate information directly from the product data model (for ShipConstructor clients this is the ShipConstructor Marine Information Model or MIM) and save it to another location. And it does this in a centralized fashion (from one user interface) that is independent of the CAD/CAM application - ShipConstructor.
SSI said PublisherLT increases efficiency in two key ways.
•    First, it quickly and easily finds information. This is important because normally, it can take quite valuable time for a user to locate the required information in the product model.
•    Secondly, it automates repetitive work. As with any data rich shipbuilding CAD program, there are many repetitive tasks involved with gathering information in ShipConstructor and AutoCAD such as opening a drawing and exporting an AutoCAD table, or exporting to plain DWG, or plotting to PNG, or PDF (and many, many, more). In these cases, the user would normally open the drawing and run the appropriate command with the correct options and then continue for all of the other drawings that require processing. PublisherLT locates the required information or drawing, accesses it, and runs the required commands with specified options, and then carries on to the next task with no input from the user.
www.ssi-corporate.com

(As published in the October 2014 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News - http://magazines.marinelink.com/Magazines/MaritimeReporter)