Damen Shipyards
Damen Shipyards Group is a Dutch shipbuilding conglomerate with over thirty subsidiaries both domestically and internationally, headquartered in Gorinchem. The company is distinguished by extensive standardization and modular construction. Smaller vessels such as tugs, workboats, and patrol vessels are built 'off the shelf.' The conglomerate delivers a wide range of vessels of various sizes.
Damen Business Solution
- SAP S/4HANA Extended Warehouse Management
What does the client say?
Step-by-step implementation
Because migrating to a new ERP system can be quite disruptive, we opted for a phased implementation rather than a 'big bang' approach. Damen assumes full project responsibility. Han states, 'For this project, we've engaged senior consultants from the market. The project is divided into functional streams, such as Record to Report (R2R), Order to Cash (O2C), Inventory to Fulfill (I2F), and Purchase to Pay (P2P). Each project team consists of one or two functional consultants per stream, key users, and a technical team based in India. The project is characterized by pragmatism with a mindset of 'delivering, not just talking.' We have set up a template in SAP beforehand, incorporating the basic processes that all Damen divisions can utilize. This template, built without complex modifications, is now in production at the Yachting division, serving approximately four hundred users, primarily in the Netherlands. The solution is as 'plain vanilla' as possible to support integrated collaboration across shipbuilding projects, even across divisions. It is now being rolled out to other divisions, with innovations being added along the way.
Han Coenraad
IT Project Manager @ Damen Shipyards Group
Challenges and Solutions
Challenges
- The construction of a ship is a lengthy process aimed at producing a single end product.
- The approach taken during the implementation of Supply Chain Report differs from the solution with Baan or IFS that had been in use for twenty years - and to which employees were accustomed.
- Supply Chain Report is customized to track the logistics chain for each ship individually: how materials are planned, procured, stocked, and then delivered to construction or transportation.
Advantages
- Damen is capable of building luxury yachts and other vessels with the support of integrated planning, logistics, and financial handling.
- Opting for SAP provides standardized processes that are closely interconnected.
- Users experience clear benefits of SAP S/4HANA compared to Baan or IFS. In the old system, material planning was still highly manual.
Solutions
- We paid extra attention during the implementation to start using the new process and report.
- A template was set up in SAP beforehand with the basic processes that all Damen divisions can use.
- Introducing a modern warehouse with the latest technologies, such as RF scanners, label printers, and RFID kanban bins.
Damen Group
Damen constructs a wide variety of vessels including coasters, ferries, tugs, patrol vessels, and crew tenders for both civilian and military markets. Tugs and workboats have traditionally been standardized and categorized into classes with names like Stan Tug, Pushy Cat, Mini Cat, Multi Cat, Stan Tender, and Shoalbuster. The abbreviation 'Cat' therein refers to the engine brand Caterpillar, with which they have been collaborating since early on. Damen builds approximately 40% of all tugboats worldwide.
The shipyard prefers standardized ship hulls that can be quickly outfitted based on the diverse needs of customers. The hulls are supplied by foreign branches, and the ships are outfitted at Dutch shipyards.
In January 2020, it was announced that Damen has been awarded a contract to build four frigates for the German Navy, pending approval from parliament. The contract is valued at 4.5 billion euros. Damen is the prime contractor and is responsible for design and project management, but the ships will be built in Hamburg at the shipyard of Blohm + Voss. Much of the equipment on the ships will be supplied by the Dutch branch of Thales. These are vessels of the MKS 180 type, 155 meters long, which can also be used in anti-piracy missions and submarine detection. In June 2020, the contract was finalized, and the ships will be delivered between 2027 and 2031.
We are proud to say that we have also built the solution for this project.
About Damen
Employees: 12,000
Revenue: €2.5 billion
Damen Shipyards Group has grown significantly through standardization and off-the-shelf delivery of ships, resulting in short lead times. To further secure growth, scale up, and enhance efficiency, modernization is a top priority at Damen. This entails significant focus on digitizing and harmonizing business processes and technology, with particular attention to the people who work with them.
