This year we renew with holding a plenary Conference on European soil, open as always to all who bear interest in the world of ShipConstructor and related fields. Alternating with the biannual SSI Conference held in North America, hosting a Conference in Europe allows extending the program’s scope to include the somewhat different requirements and cater to the specificities of all our prospects and customers, worldwide. Geographical and cultural differences exist and, while the SSI product range effortlessly bridges them, dedicated presentations and discussions are in order. In fact, to attend both Conferences provides the comprehensive overview so useful in breaking off from legacy and exploiting the SSI product range optimally.

Loosely stated, the SSI Conference 2019 theme is to enhance productivity and increase ROI, topics dear to all. And, perhaps just as unclear to many, to achieve these goals is far easier than most will surmise. After 35+ years in this industry and in this business we continue to witness on a daily basis a litany of missed opportunities. The culprit, more often than not, is the under-use of existing tools brought about by the don’t’ have time to improve syndrome, easily rephrased as i am so busy putting out fires that i cannot take the time to stop starting new ones. Hence the theme of the Conference.

Moreover, we are all witness to and sometimes self-imposed victims of change but, even more so, too often spectators of technological evolution. Then, a competitor who progresses even in just one area will easily take the lead.

SSI coined the Synchronised Shipyard label and first presented it at ICCAS 2015, on which occasion the definition-based model was also introduced. LEAN and AGILE were already part of SSI’s DNA by then, following the birth of the EnterprisePlatform in 2011. All in all, the industry was presented with a disruptive shift in the explanatory paradigm which, perhaps unfortunately for the industry, remains such to this day. It is thanks to those firsts that today the ShipConstructor world is so easily connected to the other cogs and wheels in the ship design and building mechanisms, regardless of their complexity and scope. Several fellow major players in the industry have synchronised with SSI and, as always, some have elected to sponsor and to present at this year’s Conference.

Back to ShipConstructor, a number of sessions are dedicated to making better and more use of what is there already, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the presentation that will have been delivered at ICCAS 2019 on September 25th, when Nick Danese (Founder and CEO at NDAR) will speak about Denis Morais (co-CEO at SSI) paper on the Platform of Platforms concept applied to Digital Twins. In Lisbon, special attention will be paid to the EnterprisePlatform and its several remarkable applications to Business intelligence, Deliverable Archives, integration with ERP and PLM, etc.

Last but not least, SSI’s pioneering work and a symbiotic partnership with ARAS, Canada, have spawned the SSI Shipbuilding PLM, the only out-of-the-box, shipbuilding specific PLM system available today for our industry.

So, there will be a lot to say overall, and a crisp 20 minute rhythm will let us clip along the way to discover tons of ideas on how to enhance productivity and increase ROI – of course, all very nicely supported by outstanding Portuguese hospitality and culinary excellence!

We look forward to sharing an intense yet magic three days of Shipbuilding Excellence with you all!