Industry overview
What is shaping shipbuilding
Shipbuilding and maritime services depend on a deep supplier ecosystem, skilled workforce and port infrastructure, with long project cycles and strict standards.
- Supplier capability limits how fast yards can scale
- Skilled trades are scarce and ageing
- Port users judge performance on turnaround and reliability
Client background
A shipbuilding company, working in Kerala. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A shipbuilding company
- Sector
- Shipbuilding
- Team engaged
- IT & Development
- Services
- Custom business applications, Mobile app development, ERP development
Client challenge
Steel plates, pipes and fittings were moved between stores and workshops without consistent records. Materials were lost or reordered unnecessarily, delaying work.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: tracking materials across a shipyard with a mobile app.
- Define requirements and success criteria the solution would be tested against.
- Deliver a reliable, secure solution the team can run and extend.
Target audience
Scope: Stores and workshops across one yard.
Audiences we typically reach in shipbuilding
Shipyards and project managersMarine equipment suppliersSkilled workers and traineesPort users and shipping linesMaritime regulators
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Kerala. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
An iterative delivery approach: discovery, design, build and test in short cycles, with the client reviewing each step.
- 1Brief
- 2Process mapping
- 3Barcode-based app
- 4ERP integration
- 5Insight
We mapped material flows with stores and production staff, then built a mobile app using barcodes to record receipts, issues, transfers and returns, integrated with the company’s ERP. The app worked offline in areas of the yard with poor connectivity. Storekeepers and supervisors were involved from the first prototype, and the barcode labels were designed to survive outdoor storage and handling.
Custom business applicationsMobile app developmentERP development
Sampling strategy
- Users and stakeholders from every affected team took part in discovery workshops and acceptance testing.
Data collection
- Requirements were gathered through workshops, process walk-throughs and a review of existing systems and data.
Data quality & validation
- Peer code review on every change
- Automated and manual testing
- User-acceptance testing with the client
- Release checklist and rollback plan
Data analysis
- Usage and performance monitoring after launch
- Defect and support-ticket trends
- Process time before and after
Key findings
- Material locations became visible in real time, unnecessary reorders fell and production delays caused by missing materials reduced noticeably.
Offline capability was essential in a yard full of steel structures.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: offline capability was essential in a yard full of steel structures.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: material locations became visible in real time, unnecessary reorders fell and production delays caused by missing materials reduced noticeably.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The planning team also used the data to schedule material deliveries closer to when work packages actually needed them, freeing space in crowded stores.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Deployed solution with documentation and handover
- Support and maintenance plan
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: how do port users rate service?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.