Staying in control of Multi-CAD

Shipbuilding programmes are under constant pressure to move faster. Shipyards are expected to evaluate opportunities quickly, reuse proven designs, adapt existing information to local production methods, and begin planning long before every design detail has been finalised.

This is especially true when a programme starts with an existing design package, which is becoming more common in naval programmes. In these cases, the shipyard rarely starts with a digital twin built using its own systems and practices. Instead, information arrives in mixed forms: native CAD models, neutral exports, drawings, spreadsheets, equipment lists, supplier documents, classification comments and legacy files, some well-structured, some incomplete or inconsistent.

The main challenge is not the use of disparate CAD systems. A single authoring environment may be desirable for long-running programmes, but