As a result of structural changes and outsourcing, the modern production processes of the shipbuilding industry are complex and embedded in a network of yards, subcontractors, suppliers of marine equipment, suppliers of engineering services and classification societies. Thus, nearly seventy to eighty percent of a ship’s value is generated by equipment and suppliers. Today, shipyards are the coordinating body of the shipbuilding value chain: from design over procurement, production, testing and certification to after-sales services.

The marine equipment industry is composed of manufacturers of specific equipment or of manufacturers of raw material solely for the use in ships. These suppliers manufacture both simple components and complex systems. Furthermore, there are also manufacturers of generic equipment, technologies and raw material, which are also used by other industries. The shipbuilding industry is a purchaser of basic metals, metal products, electronics, electrical machinery, engineering as well as business and financial services.

Commercial vessels can be subdivided into bulk cargo ships (tankers, bulk carriers, container ships), other cargo carrying vessels (chemical tankers, LPG tankers, Roro and Ferry) and specialised vessels (cruise ships, LNG carriers, special ships). Although it is easier to build bulk cargo vessels than other cargo carrying ships or cruise ships, shipbuilding is an industry not suited to mass or serial production. The nature of shipbuilding is still a one-of-a-kind production with very few series-production features. In fact, the production of a ship might take up to three years.

The commercial shipbuilding market is a global market that depends on several other markets. The demand for ships is influenced by the development of world trade, the shipping industry, the cruise holiday industry, environmental standards and the demand for ships to replace obsolete ones (European Community 2003; VSM 2004).

Despite fierce global competition, the European Maritime Industry has proved a strong player, due to intense co-operation between the members in its cluster. The total added value of the European Maritime Industry amounts 111 billion EURO. Direct and indirect, almost 2,5 million people are being employed.

In such a large network, with strong interdependencies, clear communication is essential. The need for clarity and unambiguous communication is essential especially when electronic means of communication are used. This is true for both internal processes within companies as well as external communication with clients, partners and suppliers.

In view of this trend, EUROMIND identifies solutions for optimising communication, co-operation, speed, cost-effectiveness, quality and security. EUROMIND enables companies to optimise their business processes in the business model of the future. It is a key issue for effective global business and therefore a must for our high tech maritime industry. However, some essential requirements must be fulfilled.

The first requirement is the need for standardisation on a European level in order to communicate efficiently. Reference can be made to several national initiatives, STEP Application Protocols and Marine Trading Markup Language (MTML). However, a lot of coordination still has to be done in the field of standardisation of technical, financial and logistical data. Secondly, a European standardisation of data elements is required. This comprises a uniform “European maritime dictionary” including synonyms and the “grammar” which is being referred to as classification.

Communication standards will be identified in Best Practice studies of Shipbuilding Supply Chain Collaboration using XML and standardised drawing formats. Finally the application of virtual private networks (VPN) is most promising, to effectuate unambiguous, fast and secure communication between all parties involved.