Management Control in Shipbuilding in Japan

Management Control in Shipbuilding in Japan

by I. T a k e z a w a *

Read in London at a meeting of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects on March 22,1967, Professor J. F. C. Conn, D. Sc, (Vice-President), in the Chair.

SUMMARY: The present success the Japanese shipbuilding industry is enjoying is attributable to its competitiveness, consisting in its ability to build high-quality ships inexpensively and deliver them accurately on the delivery dates.

This competitiveness was the outcome of the active and aggressive efforts to rationalize the designing, materials procurement and actual production activities through the adoption of the P E R T system.

The Key-point in rationalization of production control is the adoption of the "advance outfitting" system.

As explained in this paper, the success of this system depends on improved efficiency in the various phases of shipbuilding. Improved efficiency, closer co-operation and coordination among the various departments naturally bring about savings in manhours, time and other factors conducive to the reduction in the cost of production.

There are also other factors which cannot be overlooked, as their contribution toward making Japan's shipbuilding industry what it is today were as important as those already mentioned. These factors are the unceasing efforts made by a large group of competent university-graduate technical staff in the development of technical innovations and production control methods backed by good labour relations, aggressive and timely investment in facil ities and cooperation among a l l the industries concerned.

1. ELEMENTS THAT MAKE SHIPBUILDING ENTERPRISE COMPETITIVE

The reason the Japanese shipbuilding industry can boast the largest tonnage in the world is that it i s capable of building ships of good quality, relatively inexpensively and delivering them on schedule. This fact makes Japan's shipbuilding i n dustry highly competitive in the world's shipbuilding market.

There are many varied elements that make Japan's shipbuilding industry highly competitive, such as the following:

(1) Market research. (2) Sales promotion. (3) Use of customer's operational experiences. (4) Technical research and development. (5) Good design. (6) Planning of productive facil it ies. (7) Quality control ensuring accurate individual work. (8) Selective tendering. (9) Accurate estimation of cost. (10) Development of production methods. (11) Investment in cost saving productive facil ites. (12) Good labour relations. (13) Value engineering. (14) Cost control. (15) Good commercial relations with suppliers and sub

contractors. (16) Availabil ity of finance. (17) Availabil ity of labour and staff. (18) Absence of undue bidding. (19) Absence of unfair competition. (20) Absence of undue modifications by owners.

Of the above elements, Japan's shipbuilding industry has been making special efforts to improve and promote (1), (4), (5), (7),(9),(10),(11),(12),.(13),(14),(15) and (17), which are considered to have great influence in increasing the industry's competitiveness. The author w i l l take up the more important among these endeavours.

* Manager of Shipbuilding Administration Department of Shipbuilding Division, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. Tokyo.

2. RATIONALIZATION IN DESIGNING DEPARTMENT The most important tasks in designing are the making of drawings which w i l l give detailed and practical instructions to the people engaged in production, and the securing and timely delivery of the necessary materials so that the products that w i l l give the customer satisfaction can be produced inexpensively and on time.

In order to accomplish these tasks the following rational ization steps are being taken to produce high quality products inexpensively, with ease and on time. Needless to say that combined with these rationalization steps, every effort must be constantly made in research and development to improve the designing methods and performance of the products.

2.1 The Use of "PERT" System for the Control of Designing Work

The use of the " P E R T " system makes possible:

(1) Making of correct and accurate evaluation of the time for deciding the specifications.

(2) Better control of timing of handing-over of drawings for the hull and fittings.

(3) Advance outfitting through better coordination of the hull and fittings designing work.

(4) Correct and accurate planning of timing for placing orders for the necessary materials

As a result, the efficiency of productive activities at the yards has been improved.

2. 2 Promotion of standardization in various fields of work Besides the success attained in the over-al l control of work through the use of the " P E R T " system, the following measures are being taken to improve the efficiency of designing work itself through rationalization.

(1) Standardization of methods of calculation, drafting and numbering systems for sub-sections of plans.

(2) Standardization of parts for greater economy in ordering, receiving and price.

423

MANAGEMENT CONTROL IN SHIPBUILDING IN JAPAN

(3) Standardization of structure, materials for parts, shapes and scantlings of parts to effect greater productive efficiency.

2. 3 Mechanization to increase capacity for designing calculations and drafting

Special efforts are being made for the mechanization of theoretical and analytical calculations as well as drafting, since increased capacity in these designing activities will have a very great effect on the overall productive capacity of a yard. Speeding up of calculations and analysis through the adoption of computers, and utilization of automatic drafting machines with numerical computer control system are but some of the measures being adopted on a fairly extensive scale.

3. RATIONALIZATION IN MATERIALS DEPARTMENTS

In order to achieve "cost down" in the price of a ship, the most important thing is to have an effective control of materials, as these constitute approximately 70% of the cost of a ship. Effective control of materials comprise delivery control, which consists in securing and delivering the necessary materials when they are required, and cost control which consists in procuring the necessary materials inexpensively. Japan's shipbuilding industry is using the following measures to accomplish this.

3.1 Delivery control of necessary materials through the use of "PERT" system in the designing and materials departments

The duty of the Materials Department is to procure the materials specified by the Designing Department inexpensively and deliver them to the places and at the times specified by "on-the-job" departments. In order that the duty of the Materials Department is carried out effectively and smoothly, an integrated control of materials must be excercised in the Designing, Materials and "on-the-job" departments. To achieve this, an integrated "Procurement Control" system applicable to Designing, Materials and "on-the-job" departments, based on the "PERT" system is used. The adoption oi the "Procurement Control" system enables the securing of materials when they are needed, based on the supply plans which ensures the issuing of detailed and accurate instructions for procurement of all necessary materials as soon as the decision on specifications is made.

3. 2 Rationalization to lower the cost of materials The following measures are currently being used in Japan in order to obtain the necessary materials inexpensively.

(1) Extensive standardization of Parts. Standardization of parts is being extended to the shape, size and quality of parts so that the same parts may be used, as much as possible, by the different yards and eventually by the industry at large.

(2) Extensive use of Maker Standard products. Although in the past it was customary to have sub-contractors make products to the design and specifications of the yard, a new policy has been adopted to use the standard products of the first class sub-contractors. This enables the "makers" (sub-contractors) to mass-produce these products and thus serve to cut down the cost and ensure "on-time" delivery as well as better product servicing.

(3) Expansion of "Lot" purchasing. By purchasing "maker standard" products in "lots" or large quantities, per-unit cost is reduced.

(4) Adoption of "Value Analysis" method. An important point in "cost down" is to use "just enough" amount of necessary materials to enable the product to give the performance required. In order to achieve this,

a joint "value analysis" is conducted by the Designing and Materials departments to avoid, as much as possible, making "over performance" products.

3. 3 Rationalization to reduce materials control expenses Necessary amount of materials at the time they are required is all that is needed to carry out production smoothly. Accordingly—if this is always guaranteed, there should be no need for warehouses or storage sheds for stockpiling materials. This is easier said than done. However, a considerable degree of success has been attained in reducing the materials control expense by cutting down the materials control personnel expense, interest on materials cost through reduction in the amount of materials stocked. The most outstanding among them is the stock control of steel materials, -the most important of all the shipbuilding materials.

According to the stock control system now in effect, a shipyard places orders with the suppliers of steel materials in accordance with the production plans for the hull. The orders are placed according to the production plans of each block (section), broken down into necessary materials per day. The dates of delivery are staggered (spaced) by 5-day periods, starting 60 days from the placement of the first order. By the adoption of the system, the amount of stockpile oi steel materials at a shipyard which only until 2 years ago used to be an estimated lV2 months' supply has been cut down to as little as 0. 3 month's (9 days) supply. This also resulted in reduction in steel materials handling personnel due to reduction in inspection, receiving, handing out of steel materials at the stock yard.

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The reduced stock of steel materials also means considerable savings on interest. (Ref. Fig, 1) This system also served to do away with an important element which often was responsible for raising the cost of a ship or delayed delivery. To put it briefly, this element was a vicious circle caused by the following facts. In the past, the manufacturers of fittings, etc. often were unable to keep the delivery dates agreed upon.

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This led the shipyards to place orders earlier than necessary in order to "cushion" themselves for delayed delivery of fittings. This, in turn, often led to over-stocking of fittings if they were delivered on time. Thus, creating another element for increased cost for a ship caused by confusion in stock control. The first break in this "vicious circle" occurred when storage space shortage was caused with the development of the "Advance Outfitting Method." In order to overcome the storage space shortage, the shipbuilders started to educate and help develop the fittings manufacturers to enable themselves to effect "Just-in-time-Delivery. " This in turn did away with the necessity on the part of the shipbuilders to place orders for fittings earlier than required.

Now that this "vicious circle" has been solved, the shipyards are enforcing strict coordination, in ordering, production and delivery of fittings. As a result of this movement, called the "JD" movement, the "in-stock room" period of fittings which used to be 1-2 months for 40% of the fittings used has been cut down to 20 days at the longest. This fact, naturally, has contributed greatly to alleviating the storage space shortage and in reducing the stock control costs.

4. MANAGEMENT CONTROL IN "ON-THE-JOB" DEPARTMENTS

The task of the on-the-job departments consists in building ships capable of giving the performance as planned, on time and inexpensively. In order to accomplish this threefold task, each "on-the-job" department is making special efforts to effect rationalization in its own way. The following are some of these rationalization efforts: -

4.1 Transition to New Factory Organization suited to New Production Control Systems

With the recent development of shipbuilding method in which the work on the hull and outfitting are carried out simultaneously, the factory organization patterned for the conventional hull-outfitting sequential construction system became unsuitable. Particularly where early outfitting (advance outfitting as it is called in Japan) system is used, it is far more advantageous from the stand-point of efficient production control to organize a shipyard on the basis of work stages. This reorganization of a shipyard on work stage basis will become a necessity, with the wider adoption of the tendency to make the workmen capable of doing many jobs instead of one. Realizing this need, there are many Japanese shipyards which are making the transition to the work stage control system, while still retaining the conventional organization for the time being. The change-over to the stage control system of organization can be easily done in hull construction. The same is not true in outfitting where the work is not limited only to the installation of fittings or parts and equipment but includes operation and adjusting and testing, calling for specialized skills. Accordingly, in outfitting work, a suitable organization pattern, perhaps mixing the conventional job basis (by nature of work) organization and the new work stage basis, may have to be devised.

However, if conversion oi workers into "multi-job workers" is carried out thoroughly, an organizational pattern solely based on work stage basis may become possible. (Ref. Fig 2)

4. 2 Adoption of Work Stage Basis Management Control System based on "Advance Outfitting" System

In the conventional shipbuilding method, outfitting work was done after hull construction. Accordingly, outfitting work was affected greatly by the progress of hull construction work and considerable time had to be reserved between launching and delivery. But with the recent development of hull construction by "three-dimensional" block (sectional) system, it has become possible to do outfitting work also by "blocks" (sections) while blocks are still in the sub-assembling stage on the ground. This means that the outfitting work

which had to be done after launching can now be done as early as at the sub-assembling stage of the hull "blocks" on the ground, resulting in a considerable shortening of the period between launching and delivery.

4. 2. 1 Three Systems in "Advance Outfitting" The author is of the opinion that there are three advance outfitting systems, viz. (1) Advance outfitting system, (2) Divisional outfitting system, and (3) Open-air outfitting system (called "Blue-Sky" outfitting system, in Japan).

Brief explanation of the three systems follows: -

Advance Outfitting: This system is sub-divided into three methods again:

(a) Sub-Assembly Stage Outfitting:

This consists in doing outfitting work while the hull sections are in the sub-assembly stage. The advantage of outfitting at this stage is that the work can be done easily because the workmen can do it looking down on the work. This also reduces outfitting work done in the "looking-up" position inside the assembled hull. (Ref. Fig. 3)

Fig. 3. "Advance outfitting" in sub-assembly stage

Fig. 4. "Advance outfitting" in assembly stage. (Side hull section)

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(b) Block (Sectional) Outfitting:

This is done on the ground while the fabricated hull blocks are s t i l l on the ground, before they are put in place on the building berth. The purpose is to minimize the outfitting work after the hull blocks are erected. (Ref. F ig . 4)

(c) Large Deckhouse Block Outfitting: This cal ls for the construction of the deckhouse in l a r gest possible blocks on the ground as early as possible and also for doing various outfitting work in it before it is erected on the deck. (Ref. F ig . 5)

Fig . 5. "Advance outfitting" in assembly stage (Large size deckhouse section)

Divisional Outfitting:

As is the case in any work control system, the control of outfitting work is made easier if control is effected div is ionally. Fo r this reason, in carrying out outfitting work, many yards f i rst divide the ship into appropriate divisions and place one man in charge of each division. These men are responsible for setting up proper working sequence, a l locating work load properly and coordinating the work progress of the groups under their supervision so that at no time several groups are working at one place and get into each other's way. As a result, work efficiency has been i m proved through elimination or minimizing of t ime-loss while a group or groups of men are waiting for work. Injury rate has also been reduced due to absence of confusion or congestion.

The following is a representative example of division used by Japanese shipyards:

Cargo O i l Tank Cargo Hold

Exposed Deck Deckhouse (Living quarters) Engine Room

Some of these are further divided if and as required.

Open-Air Outfitting (Blue-Sky Outfitting):

This consists in bringing the fittings on board and installing them in position before the superstructure is installed during the erection process. The object of this method is to get as much as possible of the outfitting work done under good and safe working conditions. Some typical examples of the "open-air outfitting" are the installation of auxiliary machinery and pumps, cargo o i l pipes and valves in the cargo o i l tanks, a i r -conditioning as well as galley equipment, while the hull is s t i l l in the erection process. (Ref. F ig . 6)

4. 2. 2 Rationalization in Manufacturing and Installation of Fittings

In order to do outfitting work in step with hull construction work, shipyards usually follow the policy of restricting outfitting work to only the installation of fittings, leaving the manufacturing of fittings to outside manufacturers. Some f i ttings, such as pipes and trunks are s t i l l being manufactured at the yards. However, bringing these outside-manufactured fittings into the ship and then adjusting them or doing additional work before installation has always had an adverse effect on the efficiency of the over-a l l outfitting operation. To overcome this deficiency, recently the yards have adopted the system of putting several fittings together into a unit in the fittings-assembling shops and install ing the unit. This system has served to bring about higher efficiency in t ransportation of fittings and also reduced the work load in narrow, restricted places on board. Because of these advantages the system offers it has been found highly effective in raising efficiency of over-al l outfitting work and in creating safer working conditions.

The following are examples of "Unit Outfitting":-

Unit-assembling of cargo o i l pipes and valves for the pump room.

Unit-assembling of pipes and valves for auxiliary machinery.

Unit-assembling of mast derrick post and its attachments and fittings. (Ref. F ig . 7)

Fig . 6. "Advance outfitting" in the open air, called "blue-sky outfitting" (Engine room of tanker)

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Fig. 7. Unit assembly

4.2.3 Management Control Measures to enable Advance Outfitting

The following constitute management control measures necessary to make advance outfitting possible.

(1) Timely handing-over of drawings and procuring of materials by the Designing and Materials departments in applying the "PERT" system.

(2) Early checking on fittings installation and hull construction processes in the fittings planning stage.

(3) Pre-planning by the production and designing departments for examination of the places, dates, blocks (sec -tion) and methods of installation of fittings.

(4) Early procurement of fittings and materials from outside manufacturers and ensuring accurate delivery date.

(5) Preparation of "Fittings Lists" for "By-Stage" Outfitting and "Subdivision" outfitting.

(6) Collecting and distributing of fittings in accordance with the day-by-day Outfitting Schedule separated into "By-stage" and "Sub-division" Outfitting Programme. All fittings that can be palletted and sorted should be pallet-ted whenever and wherever possible. (Ref. Fig. 8)

Fig. 8. Grouping of outfitting parts palleted for transportation

(7) Personnel Control in the Production departments in accordance with Production Schedule. Production departments work out the necessary man-hours, broken down into "By stage" and subdivision man-hours, based on quantity of materials indicated on Materials Control Chart. According to these man-hour charts, the Production departments allocate men each day and exercise man-hour control.

Due to the adoption of the above-mentioned outfitting systems, outfitting man-hour consumption rate at the time of launching has shown a tremendous improvement, and remarkable results are being achieved in accuracy of work, work efficiency, on-schedule work and safety. (Ref. Fig. 9)

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/ / s //

^Ordinary shipyards

1 964 1 965 1 966 1 967 Year

Fig. 9. Outfitting manhour consumption rate before launching

4. 3 Adoption of Rationalized Man-hour Allocation System While an accurate work analysis is an important factor in increasing productive efficiency, appropriate allocation of man-hours and quick analysis of the results and ability to take corrective action are factors of even greater importance.

Shipbuilders in Japan have developed a new system along these lines, named it SMACC (Scheduling Manpower Allocation and Cost Control), and are using it to great advantage.

This system is a method for improving the quality of the highly complicated work process control in building new ships through the use of computers and raising the shipyard productivity. It comprises SMACC -I which is concerned with the hull construction work on the berth and SMACC -II, with Block assembling work on the ground.

As the system uses computers, drawing up of the plans, analysis of the results of work, discrepancies between plans and actual results, etc. are done in a very short time. It further enables furnishing of the data needed, such as the following, to people in charge of controlling the work:

(1) Day-by-Day Work Schedule by Shops. (2) Work Schedule by Hull Numbers. (3) Personnel Allocation Chart by Types of Work. (4) Work Load Allocation Chart. (5) Assembly Slab Area Allocation Chart.

With the adoption of the system, making of the production plans for the complicated "on-the-berth" work in detail and with accuracy has become easy. It also made it possible to get an accurate picture of the progress of work easily, resulting in greatly increased work-controlling capacity of supervisory personnel at all levels.

428


4.4 Adoption of High Efficiency Machinery and Facilities Japan's shipbuilding industry has developed new machinery and facil it ies for increasing the efficiency and accuracy of various types of work and is making very active use of them. The following are some of these newly developed machines and faci l i t ies:

Adoption of conveyor system for the line from receiving of hull plates, fabrication and assembling.

Fig . 10. E . P . M . (Electro print marking) facility

J C D -

Adoption of E P M (Electro Pr int Marking) System for marking of plates. (Ref. Figs. 10 and 11)

Wider use of various automatic welding systems:

(1) Twin rod union melt machine. (2) One-side automatic welding machine. (3) Gravity-welder (one person is capable of using 6-7 wel

ders) (Ref. F i g 12)

' 7 • t

Fig . 11. E . P . M . marked plate

F ig . 12. Gravity welding in operation

(4) Non-gas type automatic welding machine (small and light)

(5) High Frequency Pressure-welding machine for welding of pipes and flanges.

Rationalization of " in-the-yard" Transportation through the use of Large-Capacity Cranes. Many yards have two sets of such large-capacity cranes as 150T, 200T, 250T and 300T. By using two of these cranes together, hoisting of the following has been made possible.

(1) Large hull blocks outfitted on the ground. (2) Main engine, boilers and other large machinery parts

besides transporting efficiently large and heavy objects weighing hundreds of tons.

4. 5 Shortening of Building Period and Reduction in Man-hours due to rationalization in Designing, Materials and On-the-job departments

As explained above, the successful rationalization and cooperation among the Designing, Materials and On-the-job departments, in the case of large ships of over 60KDW, (60, 000 tons DW) in spite of the sudden increase in size, have greatly shortened the periods from keel-laying to launching and from launching to delivery. A great reduction in man-hours both in hull construction and outfitting has also been achieved. However, where 12KDW (12, 000 tons DW) class cargo ships and 40-50 KDW (40-50, 000 tons DW) class tankers are concerned, no appreciable difference in period of construction has been effected, as there are sufficient building berths available for these ships. (Ref. Figs 13,14 and 15)

5. COST CONTROL WORK IN SHIPBUILDING

The purpose of Cost Control is "to produce high-quality products at low cost, thereby creating large profits". Accordingly, in order to achieve this objective, it i s necessary to set up a department responsible for cost control and make the department function properly to accomplish the following three-fold mission:

Drawing up of cost control plan Execution of the cost control plan Examination and analysis of the results.

429


Generally speaking, Japanese yards are engaged in fairly effective cost control activities with appropriate organization for the purpose.

An elaboration oi the subject follows: -

16

12

10

'60 90 K D.W T tanker I

120 K.D.W.T. tanker' ^-40-50 K.D.W.T. bulk carriei

s —12 K.D.W.T. bulk carrier

120 K.D.W.T tanker

1961 1962 1963 1964 ' 1965 1 1966 Year

Fig. 13. Building period chart for various kinds of ships

Q 10

H

0

r~ i ull fabr

urfitling

r cation

J ... 2 K.D.V /.T.

c cc rgo ship

4 ) - 50 K D.W.T. tanker

5-75 K.D.W.T. tanker

120 K D.W.T. tanker

1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966

,11 -12 K.D.W.T , cargo ship

( ( ' 40 - 5( ) K.D.W T. rank

65-75 K.D.W T. tank er

I L_

120 K.D W.T. fa nker -

1957 JI958 |1959 1960 1961| 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966

Fig. 15. Outfitting and hull fabrication manhour ratio

5.1 Cost Control Organization in Designing Stage The major objectives in working out estimates at this stage should be:

(1) To work out a set of "ready-made" fully competitive estimates based on standard types of ships with particulars and elements of cost so that competitive estimates "tailored" to customers' requirements could be worked out quickly and accurately as variations of the "ready-made" estimates.

(2) To make such estimates sufficiently detailed so that the estimates may be used as a "base" for working out the budget and also as cost control data in building.

The above requirements make it imperative that the other departments keep the cost control department fully abreast of all changes that affect the cost of a ship, particularly the following:

(a)

(b)

(O

Quantity of Materials to be used: - Designing Department should notify all changes in design and particulars.

Changes in prices of materials and results of market surveys:- Materials Department should advise on all these matters.

Fig. 14. Manhour efficiency chart Note: K.D.W.T = 1, 000 tons D.W.

Other factors affecting the cost of a ship: - all sections concerned should advise on changes in such matters as charged wages, man-hours, etc., with the exception of those pertaining to materials.

(3) To work out a practicable Operational Budget, based on the data supplied by the departments concerned and reflecting the views of the profit controlling section.

(4) To work out the most suitable building procedural plans, taking into full consideration the "boundary conditions, " as the cost of a ship is favourably or adversely affected by whether the building procedures are planned well or badly.

5. 2 Cost Control Organization in Operation Cost Control Organization in Operation is an information gathering organization centred around the "on-the-job" departments. It should be able to obtain information about procurement of materials, fluctuations in prices of materials, changes in planned man-hours and other factors that affect cost control, quickly and accurately. However, as obtaining of infor-

430


mation of this type i s comparatively easy, the cost control activities at this stage should be concentrated on comparative studies of the personnel allocation plans with particular emphasis on welding personnel allocation in the case of hull construction work and for divisional outfitting in the case of outfitting work.

5. 3 Cost Control Organization in examining stage In cost control of a new ship, emphasis is placed in the planning stage on controlling materials expenses, which constitute a considerable part of the whole. Where labour expenses are concerned, emphasis is placed on the actual work when it is being carr ied out. It must further be remembered that the aim of cost control activities at this stage is two-fold:viz. to bring the cost of a particular ship down and to make the data thus obtained, available for making estimates for future orders. Accordingly, at this stage, action should be taken from the over-a l l stand-point of profit control. The objectives of the activities should, therefore, be the following: -

(1) To obtain the rate of decrease in cost fluctuations by ship types based on results obtained from actually bui lding ships.

(2) To make a re-evaluation of fixed expenses necessary, based on the building of new ships.

(3) To get a thorough understanding of conditions surrounding ship prices.

Based on the results of the above, such activities as working out of "product mix" (combination of products),the dividing line between profit and loss, selection of a ship type most suited for each yard, compilation of data which would be useful in cost estimates for future orders, etc. should also be engaged in , and organizations capable of undertaking them should be set up.

6. PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT IN JAPAN'S SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY

6.1 Relationship between Management and Labour As is the case with most enterprises in Japan, shipbuilding companies have industrial labour unions (one union per i n dustry) and the relationship between the unions and management are generally good. Generally, once a person is employed, his employment continues until he reaches the re t i rement age. Because of this, the majority of labourers have a fairly strong feeling of loyalty to their company. While promotion has generally been on seniority and years of service, recently more and more enterprises are beginning to com

bine the system based on individual ability with the old system.

Labourers are generally paid their wages on a daily basis while c l e r i ca l employees are paid on a monthly salary basis. Besides the wages and salaries, both labourers and c le r i ca l people are generally given extra pay twice a year (commonly known as "bonus"). In addition to the above, in the past it was general practice among Japan's shipbuilding companies to give "incentive pay" based on individual piece-work basis. However, more recently it has been felt that the over-al l efficiency of a section is affected considerably by the ex istence or absence of spir i t of cooperation among the workers in the section. As a result, the tendency among the shipbuilding companies now is to base the incentive pay on the overa l l efficiency increase (of whole sections). The rate of wage increase of employees of Japanese shipbuilding companies over the last 10 years has been fair ly high—a little over 7% annually. The average monthly pay, including the twice-yearly extra pay, for labourers and c le r i ca l personnel, i s approximately £60 Sterling. This figure is considered high compared with that of the over-a l l average for Japanese labourers and is not much lower than that of the West European countries. Considering the high annual rate of increase in wages it is believed that in a few more years it w i l l catch up with those of the West European countries. Because of the retirement allowance system in effect, an employee ret ir ing after 30 years of service i s entitled to a retirement allowance of approximately £3, 000 Sterling.

6. 2 Efforts to obtain Able Technical Personnel Extraordinary efforts are being made by Japanese shipbuilding companies to obtain a large number of superior technical personnel.

For instance, a breakdown of personnel by background in the case of a leading Japanese shipbuilding company shows that the percentage of technical employees is very high and that of technical employees who specialize in naval architecture is also quite high. (Ref. F ig . 16)

Of these technical employees, approximately 40% is assigned to the on-the-job departments, contributing to technical i m provements and development as well as production and quality control. This, indeed, could be said to be one of the characterist ics of Japan's shipbuilding industry. As a means of ensuring a flow of qualified technical personnel to the industry, the 22 member companies of Japanese Shipbuilding Industry 's Association have employed each year, for the last five years, some 800 university graduates with engineering degrees, representing 5-6% of the total of a l l engineers gra-

Staff (1) Labourers (II) Grand

total

(III) Technical (A)

Administrative

(B) Total

(A+B)

Direct

labourer

Indirect

labourer Total

Grand

total

(III)

University graduates Others

m Total

(A'+B')

University graduates

Others Total

Total

(A+B) U > (l+ll)

Naval architects

Mechanical engineers

Electrical

engineers Others Total

(A')

Others

m Total

(A'+B')

613 1,331 201 742 2.887 4,123 7010 800 1.469 2.2 69 9,279 1 6.509 10.646 27,155 36,434

7. 25.5

7. 74.5

7. 100

7. 41.2

7. 58.8

•i. 100

21.2 46.2 V.

7.0 7.

25.6 7.

100

Fig . 16. " X " shipyard personnel breakdown chart. (As of A p r i l 1966) 431


duated each year from all of Japan's numerous universities. Besides this, these companies, from time to time, engage highly qualified young engineers from universities and the government's research organizations.

6. 3 Safety Control Taking the Injury Rates of the last 5 years, from 1961 to 1965, of the 27 yards of the member companies of the Japanese Shipbuilding Industry Association, it is seen that injuries requiring more than one day's absence from work numbered 2, 546 in 1961 for permanent labour, decreased to 1, 744 in 1963, increasing to 2, 304 in 1964 and again dropping slightly to 2, 128 in 1965. The similar figures for outside labour, belonging to related industries in the above mentioned yards, showed a near 50% drop to 1, 620 in 1963 compared with 3, 072 in 1961 but showed an increasing trend in 1964 and 1965 with 2, 806 and 2, 888 respectively. However, when these figures are compared with the annual total tonnage launched by the same 27 yards of 5, 220, 000 tons (gross) in 1965 against an approximate 1, 600, 000 tons (gross) in 1961, representing an increase of some 330%, the injury rate against tonnage launched has been cut down to about \s seen irom the figures of 3. 55 cases of injury per 10, 000 tons (gross) launched in 1961 to 0. 96 in 1965. The results of a study made of "off-the-job" Frequency Rate and Severity Rates of injuries against tonnage launched over the last 15 years from 1951 to 1965 shows that the Frequency rate in 1965 shows drops of 90% and 75%, respectively, compared with those oi 15 and 10 years ago. A similar comparison in Severity rates shows that the rates dropped by 60% and 50% respectively compared with those of 15 and 10 years ago. (Ref. Fig. 18) While these figures show that the situation has improved considerably over the years, safety control governing the outside labour is far from satisfactory. This is

clearly indicated by the fact that both the Frequency and Severity rates of injuries of the outside labour are approximately 4 times those of the permanent labour.

Special efforts are being made by the yards to rectify this situation. (Ref. Figs. 17 and 18)

Year

Items 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965

Perm

ane

nt la

bour (A

)

Absence due injury (o)

(Over 1 day)

NOS 2.546 2.143 1,744 2,304 2.128

Perm

ane

nt la

bour (A

)

Absence due injury (o)

(Over 1 day) 7. 100 84.0 68.4 91.0 84.0

Perm

ane

nt la

bour (A

)

Off-ihe-iob"

Frequency rate (b)

NOS 8.68 7.28 6.1 2 7.86 7.37

Perm

ane

nt la

bour (A

)

Off-ihe-iob"

Frequency rate (b) % 100 83.5 705 90.5 85.0

Perm

ane

nt la

bour (A

)

Severity rate (c) NOS 0.90 0.82 1.00 1.32 1.17

Perm

ane

nt la

bour (A

)

Severity rate (c)

7. 100 91.2 111.0 146.2 130

o _o

O

Absence due injury (a')

.(Over J day)

NOS 3.072 2.188 1,620 2306 2.888

o _o

O

Absence due injury (a')

.(Over J day) 7. 100 71.2 53.0 91.5 94.0 o _o

O

"Off-the-iob'•

Frequency rate (b')

NOS. 28.62 24.60 2 2.48 25.28 23.56 o

_o

O

"Off-the-iob'•

Frequency rate (b') 7. 100 86.0 78.6 88.5 825

o _o

O Severity rate (c')

NOS 3.24 2.81 3.62 2.69 4.47

o _o

O Severity rate (c')

7. 100 86.6 111.5 83l2 138.0

Annua! launched tonnage (L)

KGT 1.580 1,990 1.980 4,010 5,220 Annua! launched tonnage (L)

7. 100 126 126 253 330 Total number of injuries

(a + o'j Number or injuries

per KGT (°+a')

NOS 5.618 4,331 3.364 5.110 5.01 6 Total number of injuries


per KGT (°+a')

NOS 356 2.18 1.7 0 1.27 0.96

Total number of injuries


per KGT (°+a') 7. 100 61.3 47.8 35.7 27.0

B/A

a'/a

b'/b

c'/c

7. 121 101.2 93.2 121.5 136 B/A

a'/a

b'/b

c'/c

7. 330 338 368 322 321 B/A

a'/a

b'/b

c'/c 7. 360 343 362 204 382

Rel"°ri"; 1 Based on slolislics Irom 27 member yordi of Jopon Shipbuilding Association.

2 Frequency role of injury = ""mb°r °' '"i""" „ 1000 KH, total labour in hours

Sfivfiritv rnt« „f iWy.-y _ 'O'al davs lost j total lobour in hour-;

Fig. 17. Injury table

432

Fig. 18. Frequency and severity rate of injury

7. RATIONALIZATIONS OF FACILITIES AND TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT

Since shortly after the end of World War n, Japan's Shipbuilding industry entered into a very heated race wit,h the overseas shipbuilders and has been fighting a severe battle in the international export ship market. In order to win this severe battle and receive orders for export ships, Japan's shipbuilding industry found it imperative to become capable of producing ships of high quality and deliver them by the agreed delivery date in spite of the many adverse conditions created by limitations in the price of ships. To develop this ability, Japan's shipbuilding companies have had to make extraordinary efforts, like the following:-

7.1 Post-war Investment in Facilities

Post-war investments in facilities in Japanese shipyards for the most part, were made in three major periods.

First Period (1950 - 1955)

Investments in new automatic welding machines, automatic gas cutting machines, replacing or augmenting of older, smaller-capacity cranes with new and large-capacity cranes. Investment in facilities such as new lay-out for the yards necessitated by the much wider use of welding and the development of the "block" (sectional assembling) building system.

Second Period (1956 - 1960)

Investment for enlarging fabricating capacities, building


Total investment on facilities in the major shipyards

1956/1965

Items Investment (m - £) Ratio (%)

Berths 1 6.1 8.3

Docks 9.7 5.0 Quay 5.3 2.7

(Transportation facilities 21.9 1 1.3 Hull processing and assembling facilities 2 3.9 1 2.3

Power source 6.6 3.4 Machinery

MFG facilities 4 9.7 2 5.6 Indirect facilities 3 3.2 1 7.1

Miscellaneous 2 7.9 1 4.3 Total 1 9 4.3 1 00.0

Fig. 19. Investment table

berths and docks to meet the trend for larger ships. Investment for enlarging engine plant facil ities to meet the demand for larger out-put diesel engines and high-temperature, high-pressure turbine engines.

Th i rd Per iod (1961 - 1965)

Investment for building super -large docks, modernizing and rationalizing of existing facil it ies in preparation for receiving large orders of super-large vessels to come. The details of the above-mentioned investments by periods are shown in Fig . 19. The total investments made in the last 10 years by the industry amounts to £ 194, 300, 000 Sterling (Ref. F ig . 19).

7. 2 Post-War Technical Development Japan's shipbuilding industry suffered a period of complete technical stand-sti l l during World War II and several years following the end of it. However, in order to make up for this "gap", i t made a very quick recovery, absorbing the good points of the advanced technology and techniques of other countries and building up on the good technical foundation nurtured from the pre-war days. These, combined with concerted efforts made in the fields of research and development, as well as in improving of techniques, brought about many achievements. In the field of design,the industry suc

ceeded in the development of economical hull form, ship automation, specialized carr iers , multi-purpose cargo ships as wel l as many high-efficiency high-speed ships. In shipbuilding technique, it has attained the world's highest standard by automatic fabrication, development of various automatic welding methods and establishment of the "block" (sectional assembling) building method, advance-outfitting method as wel l as short-delivery-period-building, through efficient management and production control.

8. REASONS FOR THE SUCCESS

Japan's shipbuilding industry has gained a position of prominence as Japan's representative export industry as wel l as the major contributor to its plant export business, boasting the largest shipbuilding tonnage in the world for the last 10 consecutive years. There are many reasons advanced by many people the world over for the phenomenal success it has attained in spite of the devastated state it was in i m mediately after World War II. However, those in Japan's Shipbuilding industry f i rmly believe that the following are the reasons that contributed to the success:

(1) Superior managerial sense of those in management positions.

(2) Fu l l and unstinted cooperation of the industries concerned.

(3) Securing of a large number of superior naval architects and engineers as well as continuous efforts to help the flow of recruits.

(4) Active exchange of technical knowledge and information among the shipbuilding technical personnel and the unceasing efforts for the development of new technology.

(5) Technical improvements and cooperation of manufacturers of steel plates, main and auxiliary engines and those in other related industries.

(6) "One company-one union" industrial labour union system and cooperation of the Union members with management.

(7) Relatively abundant labour force and the industriousness of the Japanese people.

(8) Abil i ty to deliver in a short period, relatively low-cost, superior quality ships, made possible by the above r ea sons combined.

Whatever the reasons for the success the shipbuilding i n dustry of Japan has attained may be, a l l who are in the i n dustry wish to continue the unceasing efforts, as members of the world's shipbuilding community, with a view to making whatever contribution we may be able to make toward the progress of shipbuilding technology and the industry as a whole.

DISCUSSION

M r . W. Muckle, M . S c , Ph.D., D.Sc. (Member of Council): F i r s t of a l l I should l ike to express my thanks to the author for this very able summary of the shipbuilding business in Japan. There are many people in this audience who are more fitted than I am to talk about the actual shipbuilding business and shipbuilding production, but the main point I should l ike to refer to is F ig . 16, concerning the personnel in the industry. If not concerned in the production of ships I have at least been concerned in the production of graduates over a number of years and I am interested to see that the Japanese shipbuilding industry employs so many graduates in the business of designing and constructing ships. I think 613 naval architecture gradu

ates out of a total force of 36, 000 is a very considerable proportion, and I wonder if Mr . Takezawa would enlarge upon how these people are employed in the shipbuilding industry?

If we proportioned this down to our own industry in Great Bri ta in we would feel that we might have difficulty in employing that number of graduates profitably. I must say I am one who is obviously in favour of having more graduates in the shipbuilding industry but I should like to know how these people are employed in Japan. I note, too, that there is a large number of mechanical engineering graduates employed, in fact twice as many as naval architects. In a l l there appears to be

433


one technical or administrative member of staff for every four people employed. Again to me this seems to be a large proportion, but obviously this sort of thing is having results because undoubtedly the Japanese have the record for producing ships, large in size, relatively cheaply and quickly.

Mr.K.G.Evans,R.C.N.C., (Member): This is a most interest ing paper. I once had an office in a Japanese shipyard—at SSK Sasebo in 1953—and then, as now, a paper like this most informative one by Mr. Takezawa could well have been written, entitled 'Management are in Control in Shipbuilding in Japan'. Since 1953 I have witnessed the struggles of shipbuilding managers in this country, trying to introduce new methods against entrenched trade union opposition. I note the author gives 'One company—one union' as reason (6) for Japan's success: would he not agree that it may be the biggest single factor ?

Another reason for success (in 8 (3)) is given by the author (in 6 (2)) as enlisting superior talent in the Japanese shipbuilding industry. I have remarked on this before (Trans. R.I.N.A. Vol. 107, page 521) in connection with Network Analysis needing good people. Again, the theory of the 'Multiple Points' process, described by Mr. Masataro Muto-the deduction of the most preferable starting time for construction of any part of the hull—which apparently has widespread application in Japanese shipyards, would probably be beyond the comprehension of many non-graduate shipyard managers in British yards. There are very fixed ideas here about how to build a ship.

Dr. Hisashi Shinto of IHI has been reported as saying, last October, that 'the number of naval architects with university degrees employed in the Japanese shipbuilding industry exceeds 5,000 and about 300 persons are entering the different companies every year'. This is higher than the 200 per annum assessed in the Chapman Committee Report*1) to this Institution in 1966 (page 36) and I note in the author's Fig. 16 the number of graduate naval architects is 23 per 1,000 shipyard workers, compared with 17 quoted in the Chapman Report (page 4). Could the author confirm Dr. Shinto's figures? Is the intake per annum still rising? When will it start falling?

According to the Geddes Report (paragraph 293) in 1964 there was a total of 900 staff qualified in subjects ranging from naval architecture to production engineering in the whole of U.K. shipbuilding, of whom only 22 per cent were graduates or equivalent^ qualified—say 200. So far as I have been able to trace, between 1949 and 1964 some 519 naval architects have graduated from all universities and colleges in the United Kingdom, and about 35 are now qualifying annually. That gives some idea of the comparison with the Japanese output. So I should like to ask Mr. Takezawa if he considers that the second biggest factor in Japan's success is that they have ten to twenty times the number of able people in their shipbuilding industry than we have,and would he not agree that the prime requirement is to have enough of the right people in management and then the plans and their implementation naturally follow?

Reference 1. The Higher Education and Training of Naval Architects.

Report of a Committee under the Chairmanship of Mr. J. H. B. Chapman, C.B. to the Council of the R.I.N.A.

Mr. B. Baxter, M.Sc, (Member of Council): The author lists under 20 headings the reasons why the Japanese Shipbuilding Industry is highly competitive. What contribution to this efficiency can be apportioned to what may be termed the inherent advantages of shipbuilding in Japan, i.e.,

(i) One Company one Union. (ii) Integration of shipbuilding activities with banking, steel

making, ship-owning, etc. (iii) Relatively restricted types of ships built. (iv) Relative abundance of labour,

and what contribution is due to superior management, is diffi

cult to say. Nevertheless, it is generally accepted that when allowances have been made for the above four factors there still remains a gap in price alone between similar British and Japanese ships of 107o-15% which is impossible for us to explain.

The Japanese Shipbuilding Industry also gives among the reasons contributing to its success its ability to secure a large number of superior naval architects and engineers and it is stated in the paper that the 22 Member Companies of the Japanese Shipbuilding Industry's Society have employed each year for the last 5 years some 800 university graduates with engineering degrees, representing 5%-6% of all engineers graduating in Japan. This, indeed, is a number to be envied and yet care must be taken that comparisons are made on a similar basis. The Chapman Report^ states that for every 1, 000 shipyard workers in Japan 17 are graduates in naval architecture and in the United Kingdom 19 are qualified in Naval Architecture or another subject—qualified in this sense being defined as a person who possesses at least a Higher National Certificate, and it is impossible for me to make a comparison between the standards of graduates of Japanese universities and qualified engineers in Britain.

Increases in yard efficiency are brought about primarily by good Management Control and active Technical and Planning Departments. In this connection the advanced outfitting shown in Fig. 4 is what all shipbuilders would like to see and are aiming for. To obtain this, however, does mean that the normal curve of effort, by drawing offices and planning and order departments in particular, expressed approximately now by half of a sine curve will have to be replaced by a line parallel to the base. Much more effort will have to be put in by these departments in the early stages of every contract and this presupposes an agreed and virtually unchangeable Specification and, most important, the ability to obtain from sub-contractors all items at the times dictated by the shipbuilder. Some British shipowners, whilst lauding the efforts of Japanese shipbuilders, still apparently wish to retain the traditional ability to change at will the Specifications of ships built in British shipyards. It does seem to the shipbuilder that at times the shipowners get the best of both worlds. They accept inflexible specifications as the norm in Japan and Sweden and thereby obtain quick deliveries and yet they expect to retain the ability to change items if the contract is placed with a British shipbuilder.

Standardisation of materials should certainly be aimed for, and in one recent contract 28 different types of flat bars were specified, 10 of which accounted for 97-5% of the total. Similarly, out of 25 different types of angle bars 5 accounted for 90-5% of the total.

I would welcome the answer to two questions. One is the relative monthly salaries of a man aged 30 who is either a shipyard manager, a draughtsman, a foreman or a plater or welder. The other, included in the elements that make Japanese shipbuilding competitive, is an explanation of what is meant by the absence of undue bidding and unfair competition.

This contribution is not in any sense meant to be an apologia and I am sure the reasons for success of the Japanese Shipbuilding Industry given in the paper are accurate and the Industry has every reason to be proud of its success. However, many of the items listed in the paper as being necessary for success are not in dispute and are being adopted quickly by most progressive British shipbuilders about whose future I am not despondent. The Chapman Report and the Geddes Report between them have, in my opinion, done much to encourage optimism in new entrants into the ranks of naval architecture and shipbuilding, and it may be recalled that the Chapman Report states that the number of graduate naval architects and those with H.N.C. qualifications employed in shipbuilding and related activities should be more than doubled in each instance, according to the industry's own estimates of their requirements for optimum staffing. In addition, the Geddes

434


Report states that world shipbuilding wi l l almost certainly remain a growth industry and that Br i t i sh shipbuilding can grow with the world market provided that a l l concerned make a fresh start together.

Mr. M. H. Chambers, B .Sc, (Member): The author is to be congratulated on so ably summarising the progress of Japanese shipbuilding during recent years. I should like to delve more deeply into one or two of the aspects mentioned in the paper, in the hope that the author w i l l be able to elaborate on them.

P E R T is mentioned in the paper several times. As far as the technique is concerned it is fair to say that B.S.R.A. has pioneered the application of network analysis to merchant shipbuilding and we have developed it a long way from its original ' P E R T ' form, i.e. an event based technique for the control of items bought-in from sub-contractors for naval vessels.

The latest computer programs available in this country enable resource aggregation and allocation based on networks to be calculated and subsequently printed out. The computer printouts can be used directly as production control documents. The author states that Japanese shipyards are using ' P E R T ' for the control of design and drawing office work and the delivery of materials, and I entirely agree that these departments can derive great benefit from the technique.

No mention is made of the use of network analysis for hull outfitting and engine installation. This is surpris ing because, to my mind, probably the greatest savings can be made in these two vitally important areas <2', and Br i t i sh ship and engine builders have not been slow in applying the technique to good effect. Could the author please state to what extent, if any, network analysis is used in Japan for full and engine outfitting planning and production control?

In para. 4. 3 of the paper mention is made of two systems called SMACC- I and SMACC-II , which appear to be used only for the control of steelwork. Are these systems based on network analysis?

The 'Advance Outfitting', para. 4. 2. 1, is most interesting. Overlapping of outfit work with steelwork must lead to cost reduction by reducing the time that construction work is in progress. This system can only be achieved, however, if both outfit and steel drawings, and materials, are available when construction starts. For a series of identical ships there is no problem after the f irst ship, but for one-off ships the only way to achieve the same objective is to delay the start of steelwork until outfit drawings are complete. Would it be true to say that, rather than being an 'advance outfit' system, it is a 'delayed steelwork' system?

From published data, it would seem that the average overall contract to delivery time in Japan is not much shorter than that of Br i t i sh yards. What is very significant, however, is that manufacture is started much later than in Br i t i sh yards, presumably because then the great majority of drawings and mater ia ls are available.

To give an example, for a 70,000 ton d.w. tanker in Japan the keel would probably be laid about 11V2 months after signing of contract, the vessel launched and delivered respectively I4V2 and 18 months later, so that the steel and outfit drawing offices and buying departments have 11V2 nionths in which to arrange their part of the work to their own best advantage. In contrast a typical building cycle for an equivalent tanker in the U.K. would have the following periods after signing of contract, keel 6 months, launch 17 months, delivery 21 months.

The real ly significant difference is the point in time at which erection work is started (keel laying), after 11V2 months in Japan and 6 months in the U.K. The early start of steelwork construction in the U.K. prevents the drawing offices from planning their work to best advantage and also prevents the buying departments from achieving cost savings from batching and variety reduction, (this is specially true for hull steel).

This concentration of effort must be a major factor in keeping Japanese man-hours per ship low, and the author makes it quite plain that this cannot be achieved without detailed planning and production control.

The shipyard stock level figures given in para. 3. 3 of the paper are impressive, even ha i r - ra is ing for steel, but surely they are an even greater credit to the sub-contractors supplying the yards. The most efficient shipyard stock control system in the world cannot make goods arr ive on time; only the production control system of the subcontractors can do this. Presumably, the nine-days' supply of steel applies only to 'A ' grade, mi ld steel, and not to the special quality steels.

Although the l ist of manufacturing methods and production control techniques in the paper is impressive, it is no exaggeration to say that the great majority of them have been, and are being, studied by B.S.R.A., and the findings passed on to B r i tish shipbuilders. Why, then, have the same results not been achieved as the Japanese yards?

I agree with Dr. Muckle and Mr . Baxter that the key to the problem is summed up in F ig . 16— it is the high proportion of qualified staff to labour. The Japanese have not only invested heavily in facil it ies, but also in men. Many good Br i t i sh ideas drain away in the sand after much research and development time has been spent on them because, when the time comes to implement the new methods in the shipyards, there are not enough people to devote, their full time and energy to piloting these methods through the inevitable teething troubles and ensuring their acceptance. It is not quality but quantity of men that is lacking.

Fig . 16 shows the proportions of technical and administrative staff and labour for a typical yard in 1966. Surely this table is for a group rather than a single yard? Could the author please comment as to whether these proportions are considered to be ideal in Japan. If not, is there a significant trend towards a higher (or lower) proportion of technical staff? Looking at the figures under technical (A), are there any significant trends in the proportions of naval architects to mechanical and electrical engineers?

Reference 2. Chambers, M. H., Cullum, M. H. and Morr ison, W. I.

'Network Analysis and its Application to Shipbuilding'. Trans. R.I.N.A. Vo l . 107,1965.

Mr.R. Vaughan, B.Sc. (Student): Someone once said that the only problems in shipbuilding which we cannot solve are those we do not know about. If management is to do its job properly it must have a l l required information available at the time that it needs it. The control function ceases to exist without feedback, thus modern techniques attempting to quantify managerial decision processes were developed to improve information feedback by making the flow and categorisation of data more logical. It is therefore a little disappointing that in a paper on management control from what is , at the moment the world's leading shipbuilding nation, few of these techniques are mentioned. In fact even that perpetual begetter of new ways of managing, the United States of America, which has surely played some part in the emergence of Japan as an advanced industrial nation, goes without reference; except perhaps in the use of mnemonics such as ' S M A C C , which have a r ing of that earl ier 'new world'.

Would the author please explain the depth to which P E R T is applied, since, from the paper, it appears to stop at materials control. Is it used for cost control or in the production of ready-made estimates? Has it overtaken simple electronic data processing to form the basis of the SMACC systems? Are any of the standard operations research models used; for example in Section 3. 2(3) with reference to 'Lot ' purchasing, is the well known square-root formula for economic lot size applied? Would it be fair to say that the enviable reduction in steel stock is helped to a large extent by the vertical integration of steel and shipbuilding plants?

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It is interesting to note the small amount of money that has been spent on docks, shown in Fig. 19. At first sight E9-7M seems little enough to lay out for mammoth tanker building docks, but perhaps this expenditure is included in the figure for berths.

My own research work at the University of Newcastle on the application of industrial dynamics to the shipbuilding industry attempts to synthesise the whole business of building ships, by considering the interacting flows of information, material, manpower money, orders and capital equipment, to demonstrate objectively the priority of points (1) to (20) given in the first section of the paper, and others which are not mentioned. Would the author please intimate to what extent this problem has been tackled in Japan?

I would like to thank the author for giving such a stimulating, indeed fascinating, paper and particularly for his references to the very advanced methods of production. I hope it will not be too long before the UK industry returns the compliment, thus increasing the co-operation between our two nations, who obviously have a lot to learn from each other.

Added after the meeting

An interesting comparison may be made between the section in the paper 'Elements that make shipbuilding enterprise competitive' and Appendix N 'The Anatomy of Competitiveness', page 187 of the 'Geddes Report'. With the exception of element (18), the other nineteen elements agree almost word for word with the factors given in the Geddes Report. The nearest factor to element (18) is 'No undue bidding up for labour.'

Could the author please comment on the striking similarity between these two descriptions of the way in which the industry may be made more competitive.

Mr. J. A. Teasdale, B.Sc, M.Sc, (Member): The value of the paper is contained in the convincing manner in which it is demonstrated that it is not only what to do, but the method and depth in which it is done, that makes the difference between competitive and struggling industries. In other words, there is no magic formula or secret technique described in the list of Elements stated in the first section of the paper. All items are familiar to all shipbuilders and are practised to varying degree. If all of the elements are treated scientifically, and a sufficient number of qualified personnel are employed to push the techniques, then the cumulative effect is to make the enlightened industry very much more efficient than one which fails to do so. The Japanese shipbuilding industry is to be complimented upon its application of scientific method to the manufacturing process.

With regard to the science of design, there is perhaps not such a great discrepancy between competing countries, although Britain may have lost the lead in some areas of design; the publicising of achievement being the most notable. A study of Section 2, which concerns the Rationalisation of the Designing Department, rather surprisingly does not distinguish between creative design and communication design functions. The section comprehensively discussed the latter function, carried out by what is usually called the Drawing Office, and yet this contributor would have thought that the rationalisation and management of the creative design office is of fundamental importance.

It would be of interest if the author could describe his organisation' s philosophy concerning the size, constitution, organisation and rationalisation of the creative design teams, including comment upon the communication loops between this office and the drawing office, cost control and planning and production control departments.

The table of personnel, Fig. 16, shows a large number of technical graduates and the contributor is interested in two points; the nature of the education that the graduates have received and the subsequent duties that they carry out in the shipyards. If the author may speak generally, are the line positions in the

ship manufacturing processes occupied by men educated as naval architects or mechanical engineers or have they received some major education in shipbuilding science? Perhaps this latter subject forms a normal part of the education of naval architects. It may be that some of the 800 administrative graduates hold line positions in ship production and if so what has been the nature of their education? Is all of the education dispensed in Japan or is there some general policy to educate at least partially abroad for example, business studies and computer technology in the United States who have set the pace in these fields? To educate internationally would be in accordance with the author's closing remarks concerning world improvement; sentiments that we should all share.

Mr. M.R. Hargroves (Student): I would first like to thank Mr. Takezawa for his valuable and comprehensive paper. One point, however, still remains in my mind; this is, that we have not been enlightened as to how the Japanese industry programmes and co-ordinates its production effort.

Turning to the practical side of the shipbuilding process, the author has outlined the principal features of 'advance outfitting'. When this concept is applied to large block sections, various problems have to be overcome: those of dimensional control, section distortion and the accurate sequencing of the work activities for each section. Thus I hope the author will touch on these problems. For example, what tolerance ranges does the author's company work to during the various stages of 3-D assembly? How are the distortion problems overcome when sections of a non-symmetrical and 'un-box-like' form are erected? To what extent is 'fairing' required between adjacent block sections ?

Being aware of the feasibility and problems involved in large deck house block outfitting, I would be interested to know to what extent the manhour content has been reduced. With the example shown in Fig. 6 is it not a big problem to avoid considerable damage to the extensive array of equipment during the erection and 'fairing' of the structure above?

Considering the adoption of advanced machinery and facilities, how does the EPM system compare economically with an integrated system involving numerically controlled automated equipment?

I note that rationalisation has resulted in substantial cuts in building times for the large bulk cargo carriers, while for the more specialised medium size merchant vessels no appreciable change has occurred. Manpower efficiency has increased through this rationalisation, although I note that Japanese manpower productivity is not as high as that in several European shipyards.

At the University of Newcastle I am endeavouring to show that the large-scale application of block construction in the case of cargo liners will yield overall savings in building costs. Thus I would be interested to learn why these techniques have not been used in Japan for this particular size of vessel. The advantages obtained by concentrating the effort in large sections embodying complete cross-sections of the hull of the medium sized merchant ship could outweigh the increase capital costs in terms of facilities.

I shall be grateful if the author will comment on the points I have raised.

Mr. A. B. Hotchkiss, M.M. (Associate): As is often the case with a late speaker in a discussion such as this, most of my points have already been covered by previous speakers. However, I would like to underline some of the points which have been made.

I am sure Mr. Chambers will forgive me if I point out that we at Cammell Laird have been in the networking business as long as the B.S.R.A., and therefore I am also very surprised that networking has apparently not been applied to the one part of a ship where it seems most likely to be applied; this is the

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integration of the various outfitting problems in the outfitting of a ship. I would go so far as to say that I am not absolutely certain that networking is the ideal planning medium for producing steel, anyway. It is certainly the ideal medium for putting the ship together.

One of the points brought out in the paper was the execution of the design. I w i l l add to that the execution of the programme. I personally believe whole-heartedly that the planning problems can a l l be solved by networking and associated techniques. What we have not seemed to achieve is the successful execution of these programmes out in the yard. This is vitally important.

One of the points we find so continually is an attempt to lay a keel s ix months after receiving the go-ahead, at the end of five months we have not got a l l the design information anyway, and it is my earnest belief that If we can solve this f irst six months the rest of the job wi l l be comparatively simple. If after five months you have not even got off the ground you have very l ittle chance of achieving a programme on date, without the usual panic measures of the last 25 per cent of the job. I think a l l our efforts should be devoted to getting these early parts of the job completed on schedule. This includes the supply and delivery of a l l the various bought-out components which appear to be outside the direct control of the shipbuilding yard. We can demand that our suppliers programme in the same way as we do. We can place restrictions on them, we can apply penalties, and so on, but at the end of the day these do not necessarily prevent us receiving a letter saying 'Very sorry, but your delivery date at the end of September wi l l now have to go out', without very much further explanation as to why this is so.

I should like to reinforce Mr . Chambers' question about how ' P E R T ' is used in the outfitting side of Japanese Shipbuilding. I should also like some information on a point which is vitally important in relation to getting the f i rst six months right: it is that in order to build on the berth in such a short time there must be about 60 or 70 per cent of the fabrications lying at the head of the berth before the f i rst unit is laid down. I would certainly want to see this. So my final question would be this: could the author please give us some indication of what the average percentage of assembly is at the point of laying the f irst unit?

I should like to thank Mr . Takezawa for this paper.

Mr. J . M. Girling (Associate-Member): This is a most interesting and informative paper and I think we can learn a good deal from it, but we need to make a distinction between the two things that this paper reports. F i rs t ly , there is the management policy with regard to control tools and their areas of application and, secondly, there are the specific systems and building methods which have followed from their application. I suggest that whilst the second are of great interest, other methods and systems could be applied equally effectively to the shipbuilding operation. It is the actual control techniques used and the general steps taken by the Japanese shipbuilding management since the War to ensure the competitiveness and the profitability of their f i rms which it is crucia l that we should grasp.

In general terms management is concerned with making the optimum use of the resources it requires to carry out its objectives. If we compare the Japanese and Br i t i sh shipbuilding industries on a resource basis the most striking difference is the lack of human resources, specifically management and engineering resources, in the Br i t i sh shipbuilding industry. If we agree with Mr . Takezawa that the use of these management control tools is necessary to compete profitably in the world markets as they are, then it must follow that until shipyards in this country employ sufficient specialists to operate these tools we shall make no headway whatsoever. Personally, I cannot understand the past and present hesitancy on the part of most Br i t i sh shipbuilding managements to make this investment in management. After a l l , in doing this we would only be

following the pattern set by nearly a l l modern manufacturing industries, including shipbuilding as applied in Scandinavia and Japan.

I would therefore be most interested to hear Mr . Takezawa's views on when and how the decision was made to increase management ski l ls and numbers. I should like to hear whether innovation was followed by the need for control resulting in this policy of increasing the numbers of management and engineers, or whether the management came f i rst and resulted in controlled innovation.

M r . Baxter referred to Mr . Takezawa's l ist of reasons for the success of Japanese shipbuilding, and wanted to weigh the contribution made by four of them (one union per company—vertical integration—restriction of ship type—relative balance) against the contribution made by superior management. I think he was wrong to want to apportion merit in this way, since the two groups are inseparable. The question that we should ask ourselves i s , who must initiate and be applying constant pressure towards establishing a situation in which these four points w i l l exist? I suggest that the answer would be 'management'. Widely differing sk i l l s of a high order and much time must be used to make significant headway on the problems that must be tackled before this situation can be approached in the U.K. It follows that the industry requires adequately large numbers of specialist management and engineers, and that the single item on M r . Takezawa's list—superior management—, being common to the remaining items, has by far the greatest significance.

Commander T. B . Wilson Jr., M.S., USN (Member): My f irst experience with Japanese shipbuilders was in the early nine-teen-fifties when one of our minesweepers had a crane topple on it while moored in India Basin in Sasebo, Japan. We called on the local shipyard to provide workers to accomplish the repairs and enjoyed a new experience ourselves. A group of workmen came aboard equipped with only smal l hand saws, a few chisels and hammers, some wood and glue. The equivalent of our lead man gathered the men together, they discussed the matter for about twenty minutes and then set to work to repair what was a jumbled mass of broken timbers. The end result was hard to te l l from the original and little more was said during the course of repairs. The ability of the Japanese to manage a job apparently goes down to a very low level in their organizations and their success today should come as no surprise.

I think that their success has been due in part to the fact that once they developed their management plan they have the courage to carry it through to a successful stage and then to modify it as necessary to keep it current. This has been one of our failings in the United States.

It is quite heartening to me to see the relative importance they place on their technical personnel; a total of roughly 20 percent of the personnel in the yard are technical in nature. Many of them are in top management. Even in our Navy the ratio of technical personnel is not nearly as high and only a few are in top management—the head of the Navy Material Command is a line officer and not a technical man. This has both its good and bad points.

I would l ike to ask two questions. The f irst is that in any closely scheduled operation such as you have there must be some system of checks in order to ensure compliance by each group. Do the Japanese shipbuilders have penalty clauses with their sub-contractors for failure to deliver on time?

My second question is this: Since money spent at home stays at home and makes a maximum contribution to the economy, do you have figures on percentage of work done and materials obtained in Japan versus those imported or done elsewhere?

Final ly, I should like to thank the author for coming this long way to speak to us.

Professor E.V.Telfer,D.Sc, PhJ)., (Honorary Vice-President): I have been very satisfied, in listening to the present discussion,

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to find our younger members taking up the challenge of the author's paper and showing us that they, at least, are prepared to work along similar lines and would hope to achieve even better results than those displayed so convincingly by the author.

Speaking as a much older man but one who still vividly recalls the days when Britain really could turn out good and profitable ships, a thought I would like to leave with some of our younger colleagues arises from my apprenticeship days. Then, when an order for a ship was received, that same morning a simple but adequate pencil sketch of the flat keel was prepared, the plate measurements were noted and the plates were ordered by telephone from the local steelworks. Next morning the plates would arrive in the shipyard and at least one of these would be processed and laid on the waiting building berth. Admittedly, this apparent expedition was to secure the contractual keel instalment payment but at least the ship was physically started. No eleven months had to elapse before elaborate steel plans had been prepared, the drawing office just keeping sufficiently ahead of the yard to ensure continuity of production. That steel was on the doorstep undoubtedly helped to sustain this simplicity of production; and the further fact that the platers were really skilled meant that plans, though highly simplified were quite sufficient units of communication. Management was certainly there but unquestionably was minimal. What was there could not be called scientific by any stretch of the imagination but it was undoubtedly successful.

Today's vaunting of managerial science is curiously simultaneous with today's deploring of industrial malaise. Which comes first? Is the science really science? In shipbuilding our malaise in this country most probably arises from the fact that in a milieu of growth industries we are a declining industry. Men in a declining industry are denied the hope and security enjoyed by newer industries. Japanese shipbuilding is clearly and strikingly a growth industry. Thus, quite apart from the skill of the workmen, this skill is hopefully applied; and managerial science has a very different task from that in this country. Obviously, rapid advance and rearguard action require very different military strategies; and one wonders whether managerial strategy is not more called for in this country than managerial science.

The problems facing those younger men who have to carry on and further develop British shipbuilding are many and unnecessarily difficult. One difficulty is soon evident when one visits any of our shipyards or drydocks. If one looks round and quickly notes the number of men obviously working and also those obviously not, the ratio of the latter to the total on any such spot check will generally be found to be distressingly high. This spot activity ratio must obviously reflect production costs and it shows that the real problem of scientific management is not the application of science, as such, but rather how to make the unwilling worker as productive as the willing worker always has been in British Shipbuilding. If one could only regain these willing workers, management could devote itself to really scientific problems, but for management to concern itself with such problems in the absence of the willing worker is clearly industrial nonsense. I would suggest, therefore, to our young friends in the shipbuilding industry that they should research the production records of our shipyards of 50 years ago, before they entirely disappear. They might, thus, be able to find the real cause of Britain's greatness in shipbuilding and to re-orientate this into our modern conditions. I have a strong suspicion that Japan has done exactly this and has planted her science on fertile ground. Strictly we can do the same.

Mr. A. F. Warner, B.Eng., (Member): Professor Telfer has suggested that British shipyards were successful fifty years ago without much managerial science; are we to accept that all the British industry requires is a return to 'the spirit of the past1? Even greater success might have been achieved then, had the contemporary forms of the techniques discussed today been in general use. An example of their use was the building

of the battleship 'Dreadnought' at Portsmouth 1905/6 described by Mr. J. H. Narbeth.<3)

This very complex vessel, so novel that it divided two main eras in capital ship design was launched only 131 days after keel-laying, received her crew after 10 months and went on trials in a year and a day. Political pressures demanded a fast completion and an unusually great effort was put into her overall design, the rationalisation of her structure, the use of standard size plates and a limited range of rolled sections, also the planning of plate marking. The intensity of the management effort was well remembered thirty years later by those who built her. Although built plate by plate, at a yard remote from steelworks.

A wonderful ship resulted at a remarkably low hull cost. It seems evident to me that even without expensive capital equipment, investment in managers and their science can result in cheaper ships but it seems that fluctuation of demand in Britain has discouraged this investment.

The Professor's other reference to the prompt laying of a keel, in my view, demonstrates close cooperation with a steel-mill rather than efficiency. (The author's point 3. 3 is relevant here.) I suggest that the yard's aim was to secure the quick payment of instalments and so help finance detailed drawing work and early steelwork. I have known a yard to lay a keel and then put it aside again after collecting the instalment.

As investment in the techniques Mr. Takezawa describes should be governed by financial considerations and estimates of economic trends can the author please add to the paper some guide to the effect of bankers' interest rates on the investment in capital equipment and management, also what measures the Japanese Government takes nowadays to encourage the stability of the industry and to help train staff at various levels? Can an outline please be given of a typical plan of payments in use by Japanese shipbuilders with some indication of how this fits in with building schedules that delay work on the berth until drawings are wellright completed and approved? 'Government encouragement of the Japanese shipbuilding industry in years long past has been described at this Institution by Rear Admiral M. Kondo, (4> Dr. S. Terano and Mr. M. Yukawa(5). These papers describe the technical help given to the Japanese industry by Western European yards at that time, perhaps the time has come for some Europeans to have facilities to study techniques in Japan.

Earlier speakers have mentioned the one company-one union labour system in Japan. However desirable, I think it fruitless for us in Britain to hope for early improvement of our industry with such a system. Now, it would certainly be unworkable. We have almost a tradition of an uneven flow of work in the various trades, steel men have in effect been shared between yards and some fitting-out men with the building trades. The author in 6. 1 states that the Japanese shipyard worker gets steady employment. Unless Britain achieves a steadier flow of shipyard work, I think we must accept labour unions whose structure eases the transfer of men between industries.

Finally referring to Fig. 19, can some more detail be given of 'transportation facilities' and 'indirect facilities'. References

3. Narbeth, J.H.'Three Steps in Naval Construction: "King Edward VH", "Lord Nelson", "Dreadnought".' Trans.I.N.A. Vol.64,1922.

4. Kondo, M. 'Progress of Naval Construction in Japan'. Trans.I.N.A. Vol. 53 (Part II) 1911.

5. Terano S., and Yukawa, M. 'The Development of Merchant Shipbuilding in Japan". Trans. I.N.A., Vol. 53 (Part n) 1911.

The Chairman, Professor J. F. C. Conn, D.Sc: Gentlemen, the author has come a very long way to give us this paper. May I ask you to record your thanks in the usual manner? Thank you very much indeed, Mr. Takezawa.

The vote of thanks was carried with acclamation

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W r i t t e n D i s c u s s i o n

M r . S . J . P a l m e r , O . B . E . , R . C . N . C . ( M e m b e r of C o u n c i l ) : T h i s p a p e r g i v e s s e v e r a l r e a s o n s w h y t h e J a p a n e s e S h i p b u i l d i n g I n d u s t r y i s s u c c e s s f u l . T h e a u t h o r p l a c e s s t r e s s o n t h e n e c e s s i t y f o r c o m p r e h e n s i v e a n d d e t a i l e d o v e r a l l p l a n n i n g b a s e d o n c r i t i c a l p a t h a n a l y s i s m e t h o d s . H e i s r i g h t o f c o u r s e . Y o u c a n n o t b e n e f i t f r o m r a t i o n a l i s i n g d e s i g n s , p r e f a b r i c a t i o n 1 of h u l l p a r t s , a d v a n c e o u t f i t t i n g , c o n t r o l o f m a t e r i a l s a n d m a n p o w e r o r i n t r o d u c i n g n e w t e c h n i q u e s o r p r o c e s s e s u n l e s s y o u p l a n t h e w h o l e o p e r a t i o n m o s t c a r e f u l l y . B u i l d i n g m o d e r n s h i p s , b e t h e y t a n k e r s o r g u i d e d m i s s i l e d e s t r o y e r s , i s a v e r y e x p e n s i v e a n d c o m p l i c a t e d b u s i n e s s . O u r e x p e r i e n c e i n t h e M i n i s t r y o f D e f e n c e s h o w s t h a t n a v a l v e s s e l s c a n n o t b e p r o c u r e d a t r e a s o n a b l e c o s t o r t o t i m e u n l e s s m e t i c u l o u s p l a n n i n g a n d p r o g r a m m i n g i s i m p o s e d r i g h t f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g . I n d e e d c u r r e n t c o n t r a c t s b e i n g p l a c e d f o r R . N . s h i p s i n c l u d e m a n d a t o r y c l a u s e s s p e c i f y i n g r i g o r o u s p l a n n i n g a n d s c h e d u l i n g a n d a n e f f e c t i v e q u a l i t y c o n t r o l o r g a n i s a t i o n . O f c o u r s e t h i s r e q u i r e s t h e s h i p b u i l d e r t o r e c r u i t t h e n e c e s s a r y s t a f f , a n d i n t i m e s o f f i n a n c i a l s t r i n g e n c y h e i s r e l u c t a n t t o d o t h i s u n l e s s he c a n s e e t h a t i t w i l l a l s o i m p r o v e h i s c o m m e r c i a l b u s i n e s s a n d h e l p h i m m a k e a p r o f i t . T h i s p a p e r s h o w s h o w w e l l t h e J a p a n e s e s h i p b u i l d e r h a s l e a r n t t h i s l e s s o n .

I s h o u l d l i k e t o s e e B r i t i s h S h i p y a r d s f o l l o w t h e e x a m p l e o f t h e J a p a n e s e a n d m a k e a n e f f o r t t o o b t a i n l a r g e r n u m b e r s of s u p e r i o r t e c h n i c a l p e r s o n n e l . I n n a v a l w o r k I a m c o n v i n c e d t h a t o u r b u i l d e r s r e l y t o o h e a v i l y o n t e c h n i c a l h e l p f r o m t h e N a v y D e p a r t m e n t . T h e c o m p e t i t i v e a b i l i t y o f o u r s h i p y a r d s w o u l d b e e n h a n c e d i n t h e l o n g r u n i f o u r b u i l d e r s c o u l d d o m o r e of t h i s w o r k t h e m s e l v e s , a n d w e g i v e e v e r y e n c o u r a g e m e n t t o f i r m s t o t a k e o v e r d e t a i l e d d e s i g n w o r k o n o u r b e h a l f .

T h e c u s t o m e r a l s o h a s a n i m p o r t a n t p a r t t o p l a y i n c o n t r i b u t i n g t o s h i p b u i l d i n g e f f i c i e n c y . A t t h e b e g i n n i n g of h i s p a p e r M r . T a k e z a w a s a y s t h a t t w o o f t h e r e a s o n s f o r s u c c e s s i n J a p a n a r e t h e a b s e n c e of u n d u e t e n d e r i n g a n d r e d u c t i o n i n m o d i f i c a t i o n s b y o w n e r s . I n t h e p a s t t h e N a v y h a s b e e n g u i l t y o f b o t h t h e s e h i n d r a n c e s t o o u r s h i p b u i l d e r s b u t w e h o p e f o r a n i m p r o v e m e n t i n t h e f u t u r e . T h e c u s t o m e r c a n a l s o h e l p i n a b i g w a y b y o r d e r i n g i d e n t i c a l s h i p s f o r d e l i v e r y a t i n t e r v a l s w h i c h w i l l e n s u r e a n e v e n l a b o u r l o a d i n g i n t h e s h i p y a r d a n d t h e m o s t e c o n o m i c a l u s e o f r e s o u r c e s . H e s h o u l d t h e n b e r e w a r d e d b y p r i c e s w h i c h ge t p r o g r e s s i v e l y c h e a p e r f o r s u c c e e d i n g s h i p s , i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h a ' L e a r n i n g C u r v e ' — t h i s p e r h a p s i s o n e of t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t l e s s o n s f o r B r i t i s h o w n e r s a n d f o r t h e I n d u s t r y .

M r . T . E . M a c k e n z i e ( M e m b e r ) : I w a s m o s t i n t e r e s t e d t o r e a d t h i s p a p e r a n d m a k e c o m p a r i s o n s b e t w e e n t h e m e t h o d s b e i n g u s e d i n J a p a n a n d t h o s e i n t h i s c o u n t r y . I w o u l d l i k e M r . T a k e z a w a t o a m p l i f y t h e f o l l o w i n g p o i n t s : -

(a) I t i s s t a t e d t h a t s t e e l a r r i v e d i n t h e s t o c k y a r d n i n e d a y s p r i o r t o b e i n g r e q u i r e d f o r p r o d u c t i o n . D o M i t s u b i s h i H e a v y I n d u s t r i e s L t d . , o f w h i c h M r . T a k e z a w a ' s y a r d i s a d i v i s i o n , p r o d u c e t h e s t e e l u s e d b y t h e y a r d a n d t h e r e f o r e g i v e t h e s h i p y a r d p r i o r i t y o v e r o t h e r u s e r s ?

(b) F i g . 13 i n d i c a t e s t h a t a 1 2 , 0 0 0 t o n b u l k c a r r i e r i s t h r e e m o n t h s o n t h e b u i l d i n g b e r t h a n d t h e n a f u r t h e r t h r e e m o n t h s o u t f i t t i n g . B e a r i n g i n m i n d t h e t i m e r e q u i r e d f o r ' s t e e l a s s e m b l y ' , t h e o u t f i t t i m e a p p e a r s l o n g i n v i e w o f t h e a m o u n t o f ' a d v a n c e d o u t f i t t i n g ' i n d i c a t e d i n F i g s . 3 , 4 , 5, 6 & 7 . C o u l d M r . T a k e z a w a e x p l a i n w h y t h i s s h o u l d b e ? I w o u l d a l s o b e i n t e r e s t e d t o k n o w w h a t t i m e i s r e q u i r e d f r o m d a t e o f c o n t r a c t t o d a t e o f d e l i v e r y f o r a 12 , 0 0 0 t o n b u l k c a r r i e r a n d w h a t t i m e e l a p s e s b e t w e e n d a t e o f c o n t r a c t a n d m a t e r i a l s t a r t i n g t o b e p r e p a r e d i n t h e s h o p s f o r u n i t a s s e m b l y .

O f a l l t h e r e a s o n s f o r t h e s u c c e s s o f t h e J a p a n e s e i n d u s t r y l i s t e d b y M r . T a k e z a w a , I c o n s i d e r n u m b e r s 2 , 6 & 7 t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t . I f e e l , h o w e v e r , t h a t o n e v e r y i m p o r t a n t r e a s o n h a s b e e n o m i t t e d , n a m e l y f i n a n c e . W i t h o u t t h i s f a c i l i t y t h e f o r e i g n

s h i p o w n e r p r o b a b l y w o u l d n o t h a v e o r d e r e d s t a n d a r d v e s s e l s f r o m J a p a n , e n a b l i n g t h e b u i l d e r s t o i n s t i t u t e t h e p r o d u c t i o n t e c h n i q u e s d e s c r i b e d i n t h i s p a p e r .

M r . K . A . S lade ( A s s o c i a t e - M e m b e r ) : R e a d i n g t h i s p a p e r o n e r e a l i s e s w h y J a p a n l e a d s t h e w o r l d i n s h i p b u i l d i n g . W i t h s u c h a p r o v o c a t i v e p a p e r t h e r e i s b o u n d t o b e a l i v e l y d i s c u s s i o n t h a t I s h a l l c o n f i n e m y s e l f t o o n l y a f e w c o m m e n t s .

W i t h t h e a c c e n t o n s t a n d a r d i s a t i o n a n d r a t i o n a l i s a t i o n , o n e r e a l i s e s t h a t f o r t h e b e s t e c o n o m i c g a i n , n o y a r d c a n o p e r a t e o n i t s o w n . I s t h e r e a c o n t r o l o r g a n i s a t i o n t h a t i m p l e m e n t s a n d c o n t r o l s t h e o v e r a l l s t a n d a r d i s a t i o n , s o t h a t a l l y a r d s d o t h e s a m e ?

W i t h r e g a r d t o t h e s t e e l s t o c k b e i n g o n l y 9 d a y s s u p p l y , h o w w a s t h i s e x c e l l e n t s t e e l d e l i v e r y a c h i e v e d ? H o w w e r e t h e s t e e l m a k e r s w o n o v e r s o e a s i l y , o r a r e c e r t a i n s t e e l m a k e r s g e a r e d u p t o s u p p l y i n g s h i p y a r d s o n l y ?

S i m i l a r l y , I w o u l d l i k e t o k n o w h o w t h e s u b - c o n t r a c t o r s w e r e b r o u g h t t o h e e l s o t h a t " J u s t i n T i m e D e l i v e r y ' b e c a m e p o s s i b l e . T w e n t y d a y s b e f o r e b e i n g r e q u i r e d s e e m s t o o g o o d t o b e t r u e a n d I w o u l d a p p r e c i a t e i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h e m e a n s u s e d b y t h e s h i p y a r d s t o e d u c a t e t h e m a n u f a c t u r e r s a n d w h a t w a s i m p l i e d i n t h i s p r o c e s s . It i s d i f f i c u l t t o b e l i e v e t h a t d e a l i n g s w i t h s u b - c o n t r a c t o r s a r e a s s m o o t h a s t h e p a p e r s u g g e s t s a n d I w o u l d w e l c o m e a n i n d i c a t i o n o f t h e m a j o r d i f f i c u l t i e s e n c o u n t e r e d .

T h r o u g h o u t t h e p a p e r t h e a c c e n t i s o n d e t a i l , g r e a t d e t a i l , d o w n t o s l a b a s s e m b l y , a l l o c a t i o n c h a r t s , d a y b y d a y w o r k s c h e d u l e s , m a n h o u r c h a r t s ; w h a t i s t h e t r u e r a t i o of b a c k g r o u n d w o r k e r s t o p r o d u c e r s ? I s u s p e c t t h a t t h e t r u e p i c t u r e i n t h e t a b l e ( F i g . 16) m a y b e d i s g u i s e d s i n c e a l l t h e p e r s o n n e l a r e l i s t e d , a n d t h i s m i g h t n o t r e f l e c t t h e a c t u a l s i t u a t i o n r e g a r d i n g P r o d u c t i o n a n d P l a n n i n g s t a f f s i n t h e y a r d .

W i t h r e g a r d t o c o s t c o n t r o l , t h e o b j e c t o f w h i c h i s t o b r i n g t h e c o s t o f t h e s h i p d o w n w o u l d t h e a u t h o r s u p p l y i n f o r m a t i o n o n w h o a r b i t r a t e s b e t w e e n t h e f i n a n c e d e p a r t m e n t a n d t h e t e c h n i c i a n s o t h a t q u a l i t y i s n o t s a c r i f i c e d f o r q u a n t i t y ?

R e a d i n g t h a t t h e l a b o u r e r s a r e c o n s i d e r e d t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e c l e r k s i s h e a r t e n i n g , a n d u n d e r l i e s n o d o u b t t h e r e a s o n w h y J a p a n ' s s h i p b u i l d i n g t e c h n o l o g y i s s o w e l l a d v a n c e d . I t s e e m s t h a t t h e T e c h n i c i a n r e c e i v e s m o r e a n d t h e C l e r k l e s s r e c o g n i t i o n i n J a p a n t h a n t h e i r c o u n t e r p a r t s i n t h i s c o u n t r y .

F i n a l l y , I w o u l d a p p r e c i a t e t h e a u t h o r ' s v i e w o n t h e q u a l i t y o f w e l d i n g a c h i e v e d w i t h t h e ' g r a v i t y w e l d e r s ' . W o u l d h e a l s o p r o v i d e i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h e a m o u n t o f n o n - d e s t r u c t i v e t e s t i n g c a r r i e d o u t , w h o d e c i d e s w h e t h e r a d e f e c t i s t o b e r e p a i r e d o r n o t a n d s o m e i n d i c a t i o n of t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f w e l d i n g r e q u i r i n g r e p a i r .

M r . R . J . Johnstone B . S c . S . M . , ( A s s o c i a t e - M e m b e r ) : I w a s v e r y i m p r e s s e d b y t h e s p e c t a c u l a r r e d u c t i o n i n t h e s t e e l s t o c k y a r d l e v e l s h o w n i n F i g . 1. E v e n a l l o w i n g f o r t h e s i z e o f t h e s h i p y a r d a n d t h e h i g h p r i o r i t y w h i c h s h i p y a r d w o r k c o m m a n d s i n J a p a n , i t h a s b e e n a r e m a r k a b l e a c h i e v e m e n t . I w o u l d l i k e t o a s k t h e a u t h o r s o m e q u e s t i o n s o n t h i s s e c t i o n of t h e p a p e r .

1. D o t h e m i l l s w h i c h s u p p l y t h e s t e e l b e l o n g t o t h e s a m e p a r e n t c o m p a n y a s t h e s h i p y a r d ?

2 . I s s o m e p r e l i m i n a r y s o r t i n g c a r r i e d o u t a t t h e s t e e l m i l l s , i n o r d e r t o d e l i v e r i n 5 - d a y b a t c h e s ? T h i s w o u l d m e a n t h a t , w h e r e a s t h e s t o c k l e v e l i n t h e s h i p y a r d w o u l d b e r e d u c e d , t h e r e w o u l d b e a c o r r e s p o n d i n g i n c r e a s e i n f i n i s h e d s t e e l h e l d a t t h e s t e e l m i l l s .

3 . C a n y o u g i v e t h e p e r c e n t a g e of s t a n d a r d p l a t e s a n d s e c t i o n s u s e d ?

4 . W i t h t h e 5 - d a y d e l i v e r y p e r i o d , t h e a v e r a g e s t o c k l e v e l c o u l d b e r e d u c e d t o 5 - d a y s s u p p l y . I s t h e s h i p y a r d w o r k i n g t o w a r d s t h i s g o a l ?

4 3 9

1fii>Bf-l)ii • •Kh.rtVm-.-M


Author's Reply

1. Reply to questions common to Messrs. W. Muckle, K. G. Evans, B. Baxter, M. H. Chambers, J. A. Teasdale and K. A. Slade.

1.1 The breakdown chart given in Fig. 16 is made on the actual data concerning the number of university graduates in the total employed in shipbuilding departments of five shipyards of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., which reveals that the ratio of university graduates to the total employees of this company does not differ much from that of other major shipyards in Japan.

Also, the ratios of naval architects, mechanical engineers and electrical engineers are almost the same as those of the national average.

1. 2 In Japan, at present, we have seven universities offering courses on shipbuilding engineering which send out about 300 graduates annually to shipbuilding companies and also other firms, government offices and laboratories concerned with the shipbuilding business. (These figures are the same as given by Dr. H. Shinto of I.H.I.)

In addition to these employees, many university graduates having majored in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and other courses are also employed by Japanese shipbuilding companies every year, and they will be trained in planning or field work to become competent engineers or administrators. For some time to come, the number of these employments will either maintain the present level or may increase it slightly and it is not likely that the number will decrease in the near future.

In answering Mr. Evans1 questions, I would like to state that 'the second biggest factor in Japan's success, I am convinced, is that Japan has a sufficient number of able university graduates in her shipbuilding industry. '

1. 3 The education to be given to university graduates in the shipbuilding and engineering departments is naturally of a nature mainly related to shipbuilding or engineering sciences. The majority of administrative graduates are those who have majored either in law, economics or business management. Most of these are educated in Japan, but in a few cases these graduates are sent overseas for an advanced education for special purposes.

1.4 It appears that the university education in Japan is of a standard nearly as high as the one in the United Kingdom, Japanese university degrees corresponding to the Higher National Certificates in the United Kingdom. However, accurate comparison of the above is not known.

2. Reply to Mr. K. G. Evans

2.1 We firmly believe that 'one company-one union' system is one of the most important factors in our success in the shipbuilding industry, though it may not be the strongest and the only factor in our great achievement.

2. 2 The members of Japanese labour unions are fully aware of the fact that the security of their life cannot be assured without prosperity of the company to which they belong. Therefore, they are quite willing to co-operate with the management in carrying out various rationalisation programmes for the increase of productivity.

3. Reply to Mr. B. Baxter

3.1 It seems to us that 10 to 1570 of the existing difference in shipbuilding cost between Japan and the United Kingdom may probably be attributed to the following reasons:

(a) Higher wage rates and lower efficiency of the workers which are generally considered prevalent in the United Kingdom shipbuilding industry.

(b) Unfavourable effects on costs of establishment charge

rate, caused by insufficient amount of work which is below the construction capacity.

(c) Lack of co-operation with the management on the part of labour union members.

(d) Unfavourable effects of a long construction period upon cost.

However, we are not quite certain as to whether the above reasons have any reality or not.

3.2 The approximate average monthly salaries of a 30-year old shipyard manager, draughtsman, foreman, plater and welder are shown in Fig. 20.

Approximate Job average monthly classification salary

shipyard manager approx. £120

draughtsman " £ 63

foreman " £ 75

plater " £ 63

welder " £ 63

Fig. 20. Average monthly salaries, including fringe benefits, paid to the major shipyard workers at the end of 1966.

3. 3 Generally speaking, when an enterprise has few orders on hand, its management tends to go into cut-throat competition for the acquisition of orders, employing unfair tactics. However, competition of this sort will do more harm than good, not only to the shipbuilding companies in the form of the acceptance of orders at an unreasonably low price, but also to shipowners in the form of receiving ships of a poor performance or delay in ship delivery.

We believe that the enterprise is entitled to a proper amount of profits and that there is no other way but to rely upon the mutual co-operation of the sensible people concerned both in shipbuilding and shipowning enterprises, and without such cooperation the industrial progress of the country could not be achieved.

4. Reply to questions common to Messrs. M. H. Chambers and Hotchkiss.

4.1 It is needless to say that in the Japanese shipyards network analysis is widely used, not only for designing and administration in materials departments, but also for the planning and production control in the hull and outfitting departments. This is the reason why advanced outfitting is being carried out smoothly in the steel work and outfitting stage.

4. 2 Our SMACC system, which is based on network analysis, is used, at present, only for the control of steel work, and a study is being made on its application to the control of outfitting work. I am sure that it will be completed within this year.

4. 3 As you have already pointed out, the outfitting, steel drawings and materials should be made available at the time of construction in order to carry out smoothly the advance outfitting system. It is therefore easy to apply it to series of identical ships but, in the case of one-off ships, one would find it more advantageous to delay steel work until the drawings for the outfitting work are completed. It is interesting to note that 'advance outfitting system' is called 'delayed steel work system', which is a good description. Recently, it has also been called 'synchronised system for hull and outfitting'. Fig. 21 is a rough diagram of the standard process in the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Yard. The diagram shows a marked difference in the construction method of the Japanese and English shipyards. In the Japanese shipyards plenty of time has been assigned to the period from the contract time to the beginning

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of s t e e l m a r k i n g o r k e e l l a y i n g , a n d d u r i n g t h a t p e r i o d t h e d r a w i n g s a n d m a t e r i a l s n e c e s s a r y f o r s t e e l a n d o u t f i t t i n g a r e o b t a i n e d f o r a t h o r o u g h d e t a i l e d p l a n n i n g f o r t h e p r o d u c t i o n c o n t r o l , w h i l e i n t h e E n g l i s h s h i p y a r d s t h e p e r i o d a p p e a r s t o b e no t q u i t e l o n g e n o u g h f o r s u c h p u r p o s e s .

I w o u l d l i k e t o p a y m y r e s p e c t t o M e s s r s . C h a m b e r s a n d H o t c h -k i s s f o r t h e i r c o r r e c t u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h i s d i f f e r e n c e .

t i v e i n d e t e r m i n i n g t h e p r o p e r o p e r a t i o n , t h e p r o d u c t m i x i n g , i n v e s t m e n t s a n d p e r s o n n e l p l a n n i n g , i s g r a d u a l l y b e i n g a d o p t e d i n t h e i n d u s t r y f o r t h e r a t i o n a l i s a t i o n o f t h e w h o l e s h i p b u i l d i n g i n d u s t r y .

5. 5 I h a v e a l s o r e a d t h e ' G e d d e s R e p o r t ' w i t h g r e a t i n t e r e s t a n d a g r e e d e n t i r e l y w i t h e a c h i t e m of ' F a c t o r s S u b j e c t t o t h e I n f l u e n c e of M a n a g e m e n t ' i n t h e c l a u s e u n d e r t h e h e a d i n g

MOlllTH ~T 18 i 17 i 16 ! 15 i 14 j 13 ! 12

i , I • i I 1 i S E T T L E j O F P R I N C I P A L P A R T I 6 u L A k s

S E T T L E | 0 F S P E C I F I C A T I O N S

S E T T L E ' O F ( t O N T ( l A C f

4 S T A R T O F P U R C H A S E O F O U T F I T T I N G COMPI

S T A R T O F I S S U E ! O F C O N S T R U C T I O N PRjOFIlj,:

S T A R T CjF P l j l R C H A S E j)F IjARGlj] C A S T I N G S

S T A R T O F P l J R C H f t S E p F P J I P E S

S T A R T OF P U R C H A S E b F H U L L | S T E E L

S T A R T O F R J C E I V I NG, O F H U L L S T f E L

S T A ^ T OF R E C E I V I N G OF P I P E S

F i g . 2 1 . S t a n d a r d m a s t e r s c h e d u l e f o r n e w b u i l d i n g ( 7 0 , 0 0 0 - 1 2 0 , 0 0 0 t o n s d . w . t a n k e r ) .

5 . R e p l y to M r . R . Vaughan

5 . 1 I n t h e J a p a n e s e s h i p b u i l d i n g i n d u s t r y , ' P E R T ' i s u s e d m o s t e f f e c t i v e l y i n t h e d e p a r t m e n t s o f d e s i g n i n g , m a t e r i a l s , h u l l , o u t f i t t i n g a n d f o r t h e p r o c e s s c o n t r o l s o f t h e s e d e p a r t m e n t s . T h e S M A C C s y s t e m i s a l s o u s e d , w h i c h r e n d e r s i t p o s s i b l e t o m a k e t h e m o s t u n i f o r m a n d e c o n o m i c m a n - h o u r a l l o c a t i o n t o t h e w o r k i n a l l s t a g e s o f h u l l a n d o u t f i t t i n g , e l i m i n a t i n g u n n e c e s s a r y w o r k , t h e r e b y c o n t r i b u t i n g a g r e a t d e a l t o w a r d s c o s t c o n t r o l . I n t h e w o r k o f t h e S M A C C s y s t e m , I B M 7 0 4 4 t y p e c o m p u t e r s a r e b e i n g f u l l y u s e d .

5. 2 T h e m a j o r s h i p y a r d s i n J a p a n a r e g o o d c u s t o m e r s o f t h e s t e e l m i l l s , b e c a u s e o f t h e l a r g e v o l u m e o f w o r k i n t h e s h i p y a r d s . T h e r e f o r e , t h e r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n t h e t w o a r e v e r y f r i e n d l y , a l t h o u g h t h e r e i s n o s p e c i a l f i n a n c i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n of o n e c o m p a n y , a n d t h e s t e e l m i l l s a r e w i l l i n g t o c o - o p e r a t e i n t h e s u p p l y o f s t e e l f o r t h e m a i n t e n a n c e o f p r o g r e s s o f t h e w o r k i n t h e s h i p y a r d s .

5. 3 T h e i n v e s t m e n t s i n t h e d o c k b u i l d i n g p r o j e c t s d u r i n g 1 9 5 5 t o 1 9 6 6 w e r e r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l i n a m o u n t b e c a u s e t h e s e i n v e s t m e n t s w e r e m a d e m o s t l y i n b u i l d i n g t h e d o c k s a t f o u r s h i p y a r d s : I . H . I . Y o k o h a m a , M . H . I . N a g a s a k i , M i t s u i - C h i b a a n d H i t a c h i - S a k a i D o c k y a r d s . A p a r t o f t h e d o c k b u i l d i n g i n v e s t m e n t i s i n c l u d e d i n t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n c o s t f o r b u i l d i n g b e r t h s a n d o u t f i t t i n g q u a y s . H o w e v e r , t h e a m o u n t o f t h e d o c k b u i l d i n g i n v e s t m e n t s i s e x p e c t e d t o i n c r e a s e g r e a t l y i n t h e f u t u r e , b e c a u s e s i n c e 1 9 6 6 t h e y h a v e s t a r t e d t o b u i l d s e v e r a l s u p e r d o c k s f o r t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 t o n s d . w . m a m m o t h t a n k e r s .

5. 4 I n d u s t r i a l d y n a m i c s h a s b e e n p a r t l y u s e d i n t h e J a p a n e s e s h i p b u i l d i n g i n d u s t r y f o r t h e l a s t f e w y e a r s b u t i t h a s n o t y e t f o u n d w i d e a p p l i c a t i o n . L i n e a r p r o g r a m m i n g , w h i c h i s e f f e c -

' A n a t o m y of C o m p e t i t i v e n e s s ' o f A p p e n d i x - N . T h e r e f o r e I h a v e q u o t e d t h e s e i t e m s i n m y p a p e r , ' E l e m e n t s t h a t m a k e S h i p b u i l d i n g E n t e r p r i s e C o m p e t i t i o n ' . I n t h e J a p a n e s e s h i p b u i l d i n g i n d u s t r y , h o w e v e r , w e h a v e n o t y e t s u f f e r e d f r o m l a b o u r s h o r t a g e s o b a d l y a s t o e n g a g e i n a b a t t l e o f e n t i c i n g w o r k e r s f r o m o t h e r c o m p a n i e s b y o f f e r i n g u n r e a s o n a b l y h i g h w a g e s .

T h e a d j u s t m e n t s o f l a b o u r s u p p l y a r e b e i n g m a d e i n J a p a n t h r o u g h a l i a i s o n a n d c o - o p e r a t i o n b y t h e n a t i o n a l l a b o u r u n i o n a n d a l s o t h e A s s o c i a t i o n o f S h i p b u i l d i n g I n d u s t r i e s , a n a t i o n w i d e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f s h i p b u i l d i n g e n t e r p r i s e s . It i s t h e r e f o r e m o s t u n l i k e l y t h a t t h e y w o u l d r e s o r t t o a n i n o r d i n a t e m e t h o d of a c q u i r i n g m a n p o w e r a t t h e p r e s e n t t i m e . T h i s i s t h e r e a s o n w h y I h a v e i n t e n t i o n a l l y e l i m i n a t e d t h e c l a u s e s , ' n o u n d u e b i d d i n g u p f o r l a b o u r ' . I f s u c h a b i d d i n g f o r l a b o u r i s b e i n g c a r r i e d o u t i n t h e U n i t e d K i n g d o m o r o t h e r c o u n t r i e s , t h i s p r o b l e m s h o u l d n a t u r a l l y b e t a k e n u p a s o n e o f t h e i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r s .

6 . R e p l y to M r . J . A . T e a s da le

6 . 1 T h e f u n c t i o n a n d m i s s i o n of c r e a t i v e d e s i g n i s d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h o s e o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n d e s i g n . It i s n e e d l e s s t o s a y t h a t t h e c r e a t i v e d e s i g n d e p a r t m e n t , i n p r i n c i p l e , s h o u l d b e f a r m o r e i m p o r t a n t a n d p o w e r f u l i n f u n c t i o n t h a n t h e c o m m u n i c a t i o n d e s i g n d e p a r t m e n t , t h e s o c a l l e d p r o d u c t i o n d r a w i n g o f f i c e . W e t h e r e f o r e s t a f f t h e c r e a t i v e d e s i g n d e p a r t m e n t w i t h t h e b e s t g r o u p o f u n i v e r s i t y g r a d u a t e s w e h a v e i n o u r c o m p a n y , a n d h a v e t h e m e n g a g e d i n n e w d e v e l o p m e n t a n d d e s i g n i n c l o s e c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h t h e b e s t g r o u p i n t h e l a b o r a t o r y .

I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e d r a w i n g o f f i c e , c o s t c o n t r o l d e p a r t m e n t , a n d p l a n a n d p r o d u c t i o n d e p a r t m e n t , w e h a v e t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n

4 4 1


department as a co-ordinating organ of the departments mentioned above. The administrative department is a centre of communication loops, which is responsible for feeding back to the creative design team such items as the application of the new techniques to the actual production, the sales activities of the products newly developed by that team, and the new knowledge and experience gained in the field. Therefore, the administration department is also staffed with the best personnel in our company.

7. Reply to Mr. M. R. Hargrove

7.1 There are various standards regarding tolerance ranges of three-dimensional block assembly in ship hull construction, but the standard which is generally used in Japan at the present time is the one adopted by the Japan Shipbuilding Quality Standard (J.S.Q.S.). The tolerances for three-dimensional block determined by the J.S.Q.S. are shown in Fig. 22. These figures are subject to the minor modifications by mutual consultation between shipyards and shipowner's supervisor at the time of the actual construction.

7. 4 The manpower productivity in Japan may be slightly lower than that of the best European shipyards. However if we compare the average values, our manpower productivity seems to be almost the same as that of the highly efficient European shipyards.

7. 5 It is true that the building cost can be reduced by an extensive use of the block construction for cargo liners. Block construction is now used by some of the Japanese shipyards. However, it is not used extensively because it requires large cranes having a considerable lifting capacity, while the medium-sized shipyards, which usually construct the cargo liners, are not well equipped with such large cranes. The large shipyards having such cranes are too busy with the construction of super tankers.

8. Reply to Mr. A. B. Hotchkiss

8.1 The average percentage of the assembly at the point of laying the first unit is about 60 to 65% of the man-hour consumption of the steelwork.

Tolerance in millimetres

in length

in breadth

in bending and distortion

Block with plane surface ± 6 ± 6 20

Block with curved surface

± 8 ± 8 20

3-D Block with plane surface

± 6 x 6 20

3-D Block with curved surface

± 8 ± 8 25

Fig. 22. Tolerance table for block assembly in ship hull construction.

In the construction of super tankers ranging from 120, 000 tons d.w. to 200, 000 tons d.w. a piece of the block often weighs 200-250 tons. However, if we maintain the accuracy listed above for these blocks, there would be no trouble worth mentioning at the time of erection. In the case of difficulties, however, we would do the fairing for the adjacent block before the erection and carry out the trimming of the block butt completely by burners, and as a rule, this has proved to be a satisfactory process.

7. 2 By the introduction of the large deckhouse outfitting system on the ground we not only can save about 10% of the man-hours as compared with that of the small deckhouse block outfitting, but also expedite the progress of work and increase the safety rate. We can also eliminate the danger of damaging the various outfitting equipment at the time of erection and fairing of deckhouse by the introduction of the system, which, if once carried out, can be operated much more smoothly than expected.

7. 3 Progress is being made every year in the technique of processing the steel materials at the shipyard. The E. P. M. system, which we are using at present, has been introduced with the purpose of marking a large quantity of steel plates faster and more accurately at lowest possible cost.

On the other hand, remarkable progress has been made with the numerically controlled automatic gas cutting machine. However, as long as the gas cutting speeds remain as they are, we cannot increase production by the required amount even if we use several torches simultaneously. If the gas cutting speed of these machines increases by a factor of three, we would not hesitate to discontinue the use of the E. P. M. system.

9. Reply to Mr. J. M. Girling

9.1 I do not know when and how the decisions were made to increase the number of the management people and their skills. Since the Japanese people are very keen on the education of their younger generation, we have a large number of universities throughout Japan, which send out annually many graduates to be employed by the enterprises. These university graduates will be brought up to be skilled management through rigorous on-the-job training in their own fields. Therefore, it seems to me that the management comes first, to be followed by the controlled innovation as a result of the former.

10. Reply to Commander T. B. Wilson

10.1 Since the companies working for the shipyards have so far been co-operating with us very well and delivering our orders punctually, there is no question of fines imposed for delayed delivery. However, if there should be any conduct contrary to the business morals on the part of these companies, we would discontinue to place our future orders with them, which may be considered to be the severest possible punishment.

10. 2 In Japanese shipyards, ships for domestic use are all made of home-made materials, but in the case of ships for export, we are often requested by the shipowner to use imported materials or materials supplied by the shipowner. Some examples are life saving equipment, emergency generating sets, feed-water pump de-oilers, viscosity meters, logs, radar and radio equipment, and galley equipment. Generally speaking, the cost of these items comprises about 2-5% of the total material cost per ship. Sometimes we are compelled to use foreign made equipment at the strong request of the shipowners, but it is considered as a special case. All the work related to these materials has been carried out in the Japanese shipyards and has never been done overseas.

11. Reply to Mr. A. F. Warner

11.1 The present long-term and short-term bank rate. The bank rate differs according to the size and credit situation of the enterprises and the nature of the banks, namely, city bank, local bank, trust bank, long-term credit bank. It also depends upon whether the money market is easy or tight. The present long-term interest rate is about 8-4% and the short-term rate is about 5'84% for the loans made by the large enterprises, because of the present easy money market conditions. However, in the case of the small and medium sized enterprises, the interest rate would be higher than the above.

But when the capital is to be borrowed from a bank, the enterprises are normally obliged to deposit an amount which is equivalent to 15 to 20% of the amount of the loans they are going to borrow. As it is necessary for them, therefore, to

442


b o r r o w 1 1 5 t o 1 2 0 % o f t h e c a p i t a l t h e y w i l l n e e d , a n d , b e s i d e s , t h e i n t e r e s t f o r t h e d e p o s i t i s l o w e r t h a n t h e i n t e r e s t f o r l o a n s , t h e a c t u a l a m o u n t o f i n t e r e s t f o r t h e l o a n s t h e e n t e r p r i s e s w i l l n e e d , i . e . t h e a c t u a l r a t e o f i n t e r e s t , w i l l i n f a c t b e c o m e 1 t o 1"57 0 h i g h e r t h a n t h e i n t e r e s t f o r l o a n s , t h a t i s t h e n o m i n a l r a t e o f i n t e r e s t . A c c o r d i n g t o t h e a n n o u n c e m e n t o f t h e B a n k o f J a p a n , t h e a v e r a g e i n t e r e s t r a t e ( w e i g h t e d a r i t h m e t i c m e a n ) o f c i t y b a n k s i n A p r i l 1 9 6 7 i s 6 " 9 2 7 0 . I t i s e x p e c t e d t h a t t h e r a t e w i l l t u r n u p w a r d s i n f u t u r e b e c a u s e o f t h e r e c e n t e c o n o m i c a c t i v i t i e s i n J a p a n .

1 1 . 2 C u r r e n t m e a s u r e s t a k e n b y t h e J a p a n e s e G o v e r n m e n t t o p r o m o t e i n d u s t r i a l s t a b i l i t y

(a) T h r o u g h t h e ' L a w C o n c e r n i n g t h e P r o h i b i t i o n o f P r i v a t e M o n o p o l y a n d S e c u r i n g o f F a i r T r a d e ' , t h e G o v e r n m e n t h a s p r o h i b i t e d t h e p r i v a t e m o n o p o l y , u n f a i r c o n t r o l o f t r a d e , a n d u n f a i r t r a d e p r a c t i c e s a n d p r e v e n t e d t h e e x c e s s i v e c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f c o n t r o l b y b u s i n e s s e n t e r p r i s e s . B y r e m o v i n g t h e u n f a i r l i m i t a t i o n s o n p r o d u c t i o n s , s a l e s , p r i c e s a n d t e c h n o l o g y t h r o u g h s u c h m e a n s a s a m a l g a m a t i o n a n d a g r e e m e n t s , a s w e l l a s b y e l i m i n a t i n g a l l o t h e r u n f a i r r e s t r i c t i o n s o n t h e b u s i n e s s a c t i v i t i e s , t h e G o v e r n m e n t i s p r o m o t i n g f a i r a n d f r e e c o m p e t i t i o n , p r o t e c t i n g t h e i n t e r e s t s o f c o n s u m e r s a n d p r o m o t i n g t h e d e m o c r a t i c a n d s o u n d d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e J a p a n e s e e c o n o m y . H o w e v e r , j o i n t a c t i o n t o c o u n t e r r e c e s s i o n o r j o i n t a c t i o n a i m e d a t t h e r a t i o n a l i s a t i o n o f t h e e n t e r p r i s e s w o u l d b e a p p r o v e d b y t h e G o v e r n m e n t . T o a c h i e v e t h e o b j e c t o f t h i s L a w a ' F a i r T r a d e C o m m i s s i o n ' h a s b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d .

(b) E x p o r t a n d I m p o r t T r a d e L a w

T h e p u r p o s e o f t h i s L a w i s t o p r e v e n t u n f a i r e x p o r t p r a c t i c e s a n d t o a c h i e v e o r d e r l y e x p o r t a n d i m p o r t t r a n s a c t i o n s , t h u s b r i n g i n g a b o u t a s o u n d d e v e l o p m e n t o f f o r e i g n t r a d e . I n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h t h i s L a w , a g r e e m e n t s r e l a t i n g t o e x p o r t t r a n s a c t i o n s b y e x p o r t e r s a n d t o i m p o r t s a s w e l l a s a g r e e m e n t s r e l a t i n g t o a d j u s t m e n t s o f e x p o r t s a n d i m p o r t s m a y b e c o n c l u d e d . M o r e o v e r , t h e v a r i o u s b u s i n e s s g r o u p s a r e p e r m i t t e d t o f o r m e x p o r t a s s o c i a t i o n s t o p r e v e n t u n f a i r e x p o r t p r a c t i c e s b y t h e i r m e m b e r s a n d t o s e e k t h e m a i n t e n a n c e a n d d e v e l o p m e n t o f o v e r s e a s m a r k e t s , i n c l u d i n g r e s e a r c h , p u b l i c i t y a n d i n t e r c e s s i o n i n e x p o r t t r a n s a c t i o n s a s w e l l a s t h e r e v i s i o n o r i m p r o v e m e n t i n t h e p r i c e , q u a l i t y a n d d e s i g n of t h e g o o d s t o b e e x p o r t e d . W i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e s h i p b u i l d i n g i n d u s t r y , t h e r e i s t h e ' J a p a n e s e S h i p E x p o r t e r s ' A s s o c i a t i o n ' w h i c h d e a l s w i t h t h e a b o v e m a t t e r s .

(c ) F o r e i g n I n v e s t m e n t L a w

T h i s L a w r e c o g n i s e s o n l y t h o s e i n v e s t m e n t s o f f o r e i g n c a p i t a l w h i c h a r e d e e m e d t o c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e i n d e p e n d e n c e a n d s o u n d d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e J a p a n e s e e c o n o m y a s w e l l a s t o J a p a n ' s b a l a n c e o f p a y m e n t s p o s i t i o n . I t p e r m i t s t h e r e m i t t a n c e o f t h e i n t e r e s t a c c r u e d f r o m f o r e i g n i n v e s t m e n t s a n d p r o v i d e s f o r t h e a p p r o p r i a t e m e a s u r e s t o p r o t e c t f o r e i g n c a p i t a l , t h e r e b y a i m i n g t o e s t a b l i s h a s o u n d f o u n d a t i o n f o r i n v e s t m e n t o f f o r e i g n c a p i t a l i n J a p a n . F o r t h i s p u r p o s e a F o r e i g n I n v e s t m e n t C o u n c i l h a s b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d t o a p p r o v e t h e c o n t r a c t s o f t e c h n i c a l ( k n o w - h o w ) a s s i s t a n c e a s w e l l a s t o a p p r o v e t h e a c q u i r i n g o f s t o c k s o r e q u i t y .

(d) L a w f o r t h e R e - o r g a n i s a t i o n o f C o r p o r a t i o n s

T h i s l a w a i m s a t r e g u l a t i n g t h e i n t e r e s t s o f c r e d i t o r s , s t o c k h o l d e r s a n d o t h e r i n t e r e s t e d p e r s o n s w i t h r e s p e c t t o j o i n t -s t o c k c o r p o r a t i o n s i n e x t r e m i t y f o r w h i c h w e c a n s t i l l h a v e a h o p e o f r e h a b i l i t a t i o n , t h u s h e l p i n g t o m a i n t a i n a n d r e h a b i l i t a t e t h e i r b u s i n e s s a c t i v i t i e s .

(e) T h e P e t r o l e u m I n d u s t r y L a w

T h i s L a w h a s a s i t s o b j e c t t h e s e c u r i n g of a s t a b l e , l o w -p r i c e d p e t r o l e u m b y r e g u l a t i n g t h e a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e o i l r e f i n i n g i n d u s t r y , t h e r e b y c o n t r i b u t i n g t o t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e n a t i o n a l e c o n o m y a n d t h e e l e v a t i o n o f t h e s t a n d a r d o f l i v i n g o f t h e p e o p l e . It h a s e s t a b l i s h e d t h e P e t r o l e u m D e l i v e r a t i o n C o u n c i l , w h i c h d e t e r m i n e s a n n u a l l y a p l a n f o r t h e s u p p l y o f p e t r o l e u m f o r t h e n e x t f i v e y e a r s . T h e C o u n c i l a l s o g i v e s a p p r o v a l

f o r t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f t h e o i l r e f i n e r y b u s i n e s s a n d f o r t h e n e w e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f f a c i l i t i e s , p r o v i d i n g f o r t h e e l i m i n a t i o n of e x c e s s i v e c o m p e t i t i o n i n t h e f i e l d . D e p e n d i n g u p o n f u t u r e e c o n o m i c d e v e l o p m e n t s , t h e r e i s a p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t a S t e e l I n d u s t r y L a w a n d A u t o m o b i l e I n d u s t r y L a w w i l l b e e n a c t e d .

(f) S h i p b u i l d i n g L a w

W i t h r e s p e c t t o s h i p b u i l d i n g , t h e r e i s t h e S h i p b u i l d i n g L a w w h i c h h a s a s i t s p u r p o s e t h e r a i s i n g o f s h i p b u i l d i n g t e c h n i q u e s a s w e l l a s e n s u r i n g s m o o t h o p e r a t i o n o f t h e s h i p b u i l d i n g i n d u s t r y . I n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h t h i s L a w , t h e G o v e r n m e n t a p p r o v e s t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f t h e s h i p b u i l d i n g i n s t a l l a t i o n a n d f a c i l i t i e s u n d e r t h e f o l l o w i n g c r i t e r i a : -

(1) T h a t t h e b u i l d i n g a n e w o f s u c h i n s t a l l a t i o n s o r f a c i l i t i e s o r t h e a u g m e n t a t i o n o r e x p a n s i o n o f s u c h i n s t a l l a t i o n s w i l l n o t r e s u l t i n t h e a p p r o p r p p r i a t e s h i p b u i l d i n g c a p a c i t y r e l a t i v e t o J a p a n ' s e c o n o m y b e i n g e x c e e d e d .

(2) T h a t b y b u i l d i n g a n e w , b y o b t a i n i n g o r r e n t i n g s u c h i n s t a l l a t i o n s , o r b y t h e b u i l d i n g a n e w , a u g m e n t a t i o n o r e x p a n s i o n o f s u c h f a c i l i t i e s , w i l l n o t g i v e a r i s e t o s u c h c o m p e t i t o n a s w o u l d i m p a i r t h e s o u n d d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e s a i d s h i p b u i l d i n g i n d u s t r y .

(3) T h a t t h e t e c h n i c a l a n d a c c o u n t i n g b a s i s s h o u l d b e s o u n d .

1 1 . 3 C u r r e n t m e t h o d s e m p l o y e d b y t h e G o v e r n m e n t f o r t h e t r a i n i n g o f v a r i o u s l e v e l s o f t h e s t a f f o n e a s f o l l o w s , p r o v i d e d , h o w e v e r , t h a t t h o s e u n d e r t h e S c h o o l E d u c a t i o n L a w ( u n d e r t h e j u r i s d i c t i o n o f t h e M i n i s t r y o f E d u c a t i o n ) a r e e x c l u d e d .

(a) P u b l i c V o c a t i o n a l T r a i n i n g I n s t i t u t e ( u n d e r t h e j u r i s d i c t i o n o f t h e L a b o u r M i n i s t r y )

F o r t h e t e c h n o l o g i c a l t r a i n i n g o f j u n i o r h i g h s c h o o l g r a d u a t e s a n d p e r s o n n e l i n t h e m i d d l e a n d h i g h e r a g e b r a c k e t s .

(b) R e s i g n a t e d V o c a t i o n a l T r a i n i n g I n s t i t u t e

T h e s e a r e t o b e e s t a b l i s h e d w i t h i n p r i v a t e e n t e r p r i s e s u n d e r t h e V o c a t i o n a l T r a i n i n g L a w t o p r o v i d e a t h r e e y e a r t e c h n i c a l t r a i n i n g c o u r s e f o r t h e j u n i o r h i g h s c h o o l g r a d u a t e s .

(c) V o c a t i o n a l T r a i n i n g C o l l e g e ( u n d e r t h e j u r i s d i c t i o n o f t h e L a b o u r M i n i s t r y )

E d u c a t i o n a n d t r a i n i n g o f s u p e r v i s o r s a n d l e a d e r s .

(d) J a p a n e s e I n d u s t r i a l T r a i n i n g A s s o c i a t i o n ( o r g a n i s a t i o n a f f i l i a t e d t o t h e L a b o u r M i n i s t r y )

C a r r i e s o u t t h e e d u c a t i o n o f m a n a g e r s a n d s u p e r v i s o r s o f t h e r e s p e c t i v e t e c h n i c a l s k i l l s . It a l s o e d u c a t e s t h e t r a i n e r s o f t h e v a r i o u s e n t e r p r i s e s .

(e) F o r e i g n T r a d e C o l l e g e ( u n d e r t h e j u r i s d i c t i o n o f t h e M i n i s t r y o f I n t e r n a t i o n a l T r a d e a n d I n d u s t r y ) M a r i n e a n d F i s h e r i e s C o l l e g e ( u n d e r t h e j u r i s d i c t i o n of t h e M i n i s t r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e a n d F o r e s t r y )

T h e s e r e p r e s e n t s o m e o f t h e d i f f e r e n t V o c a t i o n a l C o l l e g e s ( e x c l u d i n g t h o s e c o m i n g u n d e r t h e S c h o o l E d u c a t i o n L a w ) .

(f) J a p a n P r o d u c t i v i t y C e n t r e

T h i s C e n t r e c a r r i e s o u t t h e e d u c a t i o n o f m a n a g e r s a n d o w n e r s e n g a g e d i n b u s i n e s s .

1 1 . 4 A n o u t l i n e o f t y p i c a l p l a n of t h e p a y m e n t u s e d i n t h e s h i p b u i l d i n g y a r d s i n J a p a n i s a s f o l l o w s : -

(a) I n t h e c a s e o f s h i p s t o b e e x p o r t e d

a - 1 D e f e r r e d p a y m e n t c a s e

T i m e o f C o n t r a c t 57„ O n e y e a r a f t e r c o n t r a c t 57 0

L a y i n g of k e e l 57 0 T i m e of d e l i v e r y 5%

R e m a i n i n g 8 0 7 o t o b e p a i d o v e r 8 y e a r s i n h a l f - y e a r l y i n s t a l m e n t s

o r T i m e o f C o n t r a c t 57 , L a y i n g o f k e e l 57 0

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Time of launching 5% Time of delivery 5%

Remaining 80% to be paid over 8 years in half-yearly instalments

a-2 Cash payment case

Time of contract 10% One year after contract 10%

Laying of keel 20% Time of launching 20%

Time of delivery 40% (remaining)

(b) In the case of ships for domestic use

b-1 Case of a planned shipbuilding

Time of contract 25% Laying of keel 25%


The approval of loans from the Development Bank or approval for the construction by the Ministry of Transportation tends to be delayed, so that in extreme cases the payment to be made at the time of the contract coincides with the payment to be made at the time of the laying of the keel. The Shipbuilding Industry Association has been requesting that the payments to be made at the time of the contract should be made at least 6 months prior to the launching (2-3 months prior to laying of keel).

b-2 Ships built by their own funds (those not using the Development Bank funds)

Time of contract 10% Laying of keel 10%


Remaining 50% to be paid over 5 years in half-yearly instalments. Recently, in Japanese shipyards, the so-called advanced outfitting is frequently being carried out as a result of rationalisation. Advanced outfitting is made possible only when there is a full discussion between the shipowner and the shipyard as to the specifications. Also the approval of the Ship Classification Association is obtained and full preparations are made to meet the requirements of constructing the vessel, such as the blue-prints and other necessary materials before starting the construction. For this purpose, in Japanese shipyards the various preparatory activities are set forward from the date of the contract to the date of the laying of the keel. The actual date of laying of the keel is therefore, well in advance of its nominal date, and it is a fact that considerable funds are spent on the preparations for laying the keel. Consequently, while there are no problems to be mentioned in case of the ships destined for export, for the construction of the domestic ships under the so-called planned shipbuilding there is a conflict of interests between the shipowner and the shipyard concerning the determination of the date of the keel-laying for the purpose of making the required payment. Consequently due to the delay in determining the so-called date of the keel-laying, the payment to be made under the contract at this time is being delayed, which often results in a lack of balance between the demand for funds and the funds actually spent. Thus it is necessary for considerable improvements to be made in the method of determining the actual date of the keel-laying.

11. 5 The 'Transportation facilities' mentioned in the paper refer to such items as cranes, trailers, tractors, floating cranes, and tug boats, which are necessary for a shipbuilding yard.

The 'Indirect facilities' refer to the facilities, excepting those mentioned above, necessary for the building of ships, which are indirectly needed for the operation of a shipyard, such as housing, schools, hospitals, clubs, transportation systems and other welfare facilities for the personnel, as well as the billets for the crews of repair ships and mooring facilities in the harbour.

12. Reply to Mr. T. E. Mackenzie

12. 1 Our Nagasaki Yard does not manufacture its own steel. The main steel supplier for the Nagasaki Yard is Yawata Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. Our relationship is very close and we co-operate fully in order to maintain the production process.

12. 2 The period of three months required for the outfitting of the 12, 000 tons d. w. cargo vessel is certainly long when we consider the rate of progress of the present 'advanced outfitting' at the time of launching. Judging from recent actual results, 2^ months should be adequate. However, by carrying out the thorough tests during the remaining two week period, we seek to eliminate breakdowns after delivery.

12. 3 'The number of days required from the date of the contract to the date of delivery' and 'the time required from the date of contract to the date of procuring materials to commence the unit outfitting at the shop' are shown in Fig. 21.

According to this chart, it will be noted that approximately 90 days are required from the date of the contract to the date of placing orders for the outfitting components and it is therefore necessary to start about 330 days prior to the date of launching.

13. Reply to Mr. K. A. Slade

13.1 There is no management system that can enforce standardisation in all the shipyards in the country. However, within a particular group, such as our M. H.I, we can, with respect to the five shipyards under our management, lay down various common standards such as, the quality standard, accuracy standard, operation standard and standard manual for drawings. We attempt in this way to maintain the same high technical level and managerial capacity.

13. 2 Japan's steel makers maintain very close contacts with the shipyards. To enable the shipyards to purchase as much steel material manufactured by them as possible, they make great efforts to maintain a steady supply of steel to the shipyards. This does not mean that, because a certain shipyard has a special relationship with a steel maker, a special service is being afforded. It merely means that all the shipyards in Japan are maintaining the same kind of a good co-operative relationship with all the steel makers.

13. 3 The co-operation that related industries and sub-contracting enterprises enjoy with the shipyards has been achieved as a result of efforts made by the shipyards as parent corporations, in sending supervisors and extending financial assistance over a long period, and thus contributing toward raising the technical level and managerial capacity of such enterprises.

13. 4 While I do not understand the precise substance of the terms 'background workers to producers' contained in the question, if the reference is to the planning or administrative staff for production managers working in the front line of production, it might be said that some 7 to 10% of the 613 naval architects in Fig. 16 Technical (A) are background workers. The ratio is less in the case of mechanical engineers, being probably around 5%, while it is still less in the case of electrical engineers and others. The highest decision-making organ, which regulates and adjusts the manufacturing costs and qualities in the various enterprises, relative to cost control, is the top management of the respective enterprises, while the regulatory function between the manufacturing costs and quality control in the yard is also carried out by the top management at the yard. In the Japanese shipyards we are fully conscious of the fact that 'supplying ships of good quality pays off the best in the long run.' Therefore, it is our policy never to permit the curtailment of necessary work or material for the purpose of lowering the cost, and 'always to place a priority on quality before finance.'

13. 5 The quality of welding achieved by the gravity welder is as follows: -

444


(a) t h e r a t i o o f t h e w e l d l e n g t h b y t h e g r a v i t y w e l d e r t o t h e t o t a l w e l d l e n g t h i s a b o u t 5 0 7 o .

(b) a n o n - d e s t r u c t i v e t e s t f o r g r a v i t y w e l d i n g i s n o t a p p l i e d .

(c) t h e d e c i s i o n f o r r e p a i r w o r k t o t h e w e l d i n g i s m a d e b y t h e f o r e m a n a s a r u l e , b u t i s s o m e t i m e s r e q u i r e d b y t h e i n s p e c t i o n s t a f f o f t h e y a r d o r b y t h e s h i p o w n e r ' s s u p e r i n t e n d e n t s .

(d) t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f w o r k c a r r i e d o u t b y g r a v i t y w e l d e r s r e q u i r i n g r e p a i r a m o u n t s t o a b o u t 27» o f t h e t o t a l w e l d i n g l e n g t h d o n e b y t h e g r a v i t y w e l d e r .

14. R e p l y to M r . R . J . Johnstone

1 4 . 1 T h e r e a r e s i x l a r g e s t e e l m i l l s i n J a p a n , o n e o f w h i c h h a s a S h i p b u i l d i n g D i v i s i o n . T h e o t h e r f i v e m i l l s do n o t h a v e a n y s p e c i a l c a p i t a l a f f i l i a t i o n w i t h t h e s h i p y a r d s , a l t h o u g h t h e s h i p y a r d s a n d s t e e l m i l l s h a v e v e r y c l o s e c o n t a c t s w i t h e a c h o t h e r t h r o u g h t r a n s a c t i o n s o f t h e i r p r o d u c t s .

1 4 . 2 T o m a k e p o s s i b l e t h e d e l i v e r y o f s t e e l p r o d u c t s i n 5 -d a y b a t c h e s , t h e s t e e l m i l l s d o n o t n e c e s s a r i l y c a r r y o u t a p r e l i m i n a r y s o r t i n g . W e u s e t h e e l e c t r o n i c c o m p u t e r t o d r a w u p a 5 - d a y u n i t o f t h e p u r c h a s e o r d e r s h e e t , w h i c h i s s e n t t o t h e m i l l , c o n t a i n i n g t h e t y p e , q u a n t i t y a n d t h e d a t e o f p r o c u r e m e n t o f t h e n e c e s s a r y s t e e l p r o d u c t s , t o m a t c h t h e b u i l d i n g s c h e d u l e o f e a c h s h i p . T h e n t h e m i l l , u t i l i s i n g t h e p u r c h a s e o r d e r , w i l l t r y t o s e n d t h e r e q u i r e d s t e e l o n a r e q u e s t e d d a t e .

N a t u r a l l y , t h r o u g h t h e d i s p o s a l o f t h e p o o r q u a l i t y p r o d u c t s w h i c h f a i l e d t h e t e s t o r t h r o u g h m i s t a k e s i n t h e o r d e r o f t h e p r o d u c t i o n , t h e d e l i v e r y o f a v e r y f e w p r o d u c t s i s s o m e t i m e s d e l a y e d . T h i s p r o b l e m c a n b e r e s o l v e d i m m e d i a t e l y e i t h e r t h r o u g h a u s e o f s t o c k s of s t a n d a r d i s e d s t e e l p r o d u c t s o r b y r a p i d c o u n t e r - m e a s u r e s b y t h e m i l l . T h u s t h e s h i p y a r d d o e s no t e n c o u n t e r a n y g r e a t i n c o n v e n i e n c e . B a s i c a l l y s p e a k i n g , a s t h e s t e e l p r o d u c t s u s e d b y t h e s h i p y a r d s a r e q u a n t i t a t i v e l y l a r g e , i t i s e a s y f o r t h e m i l l s t o c a r r y o u t t h e l o t p r o d u c t i o n o f t h e m a t e r i a l s o f t h e s a m e c a t e g o r y a n d m e a s u r e m e n t , t h u s e n a b l i n g t h e m t o t a k e e m e r g e n c y m e a s u r e s w i t h o u t a n y d i f f i c u l t y . T h e f a c t t h a t t h e s t e e l s t o c k l e v e l a t t h e t h e s h i p y a r d d e c l i n e d t h r o u g h t h e 5 - d a y b a t c h e s w o u l d n o t n e c e s s a r i l y m e a n t h e a u g m e n t a t i o n o f t h e s t o c k s o w n e d b y t h e m i l l .

1 4 . 3 T h e r a t i o o f t h e s t a n d a r d - s i z e s t e e l i n t h e p r o d u c t s i s n o t s o h i g h . T h e f i g u r e f o r s u c h a r a t i o w o u l d d i f f e r w i t h t h e d i f f e r e n t t y p e s o f t h e s h i p s , b u t i n c a s e o f a c a r g o v e s s e l i t i s r o u g h l y 107 o-157„ o f t o t a l w e i g h t o f t h e s t e e l p r o d u c t s , w h i l e t h e f i g u r e w o u l d b e 2 0 % - 3 0 o / o i n t h e c a s e o f t a n k e r s o r b u l k c a r r i e r s .

1 4 . 4 E v e n e m p l o y i n g t h e 5 - d a y d e l i v e r y p e r i o d s y s t e m , i t w o u l d n o t b e p a r t i c u l a r l y a d v a n t a g e o u s t o r e d u c e t h e a v e r a g e s t o c k l e v e l o f t h e s t e e l t o 5 - d a y s ' s u p p l y . T h e r e a s o n i s t h a t i f t h e s t o c k i s u n d u l y r e d u c e d , i t w o u l d b e c o m e d i f f i c u l t t o c o p e w i t h a s u d d e n l y c h a n g e d s i t u a t i o n . W e c o n s i d e r t h e p r e s e n t l e v e l t o b e s a t i s f a c t o r y .

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Management Control in Shipbuilding in Japan

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