The question of whether to outsource drafting for shipbuilding usually only comes up once your own team is already behind. By then there is a pile of revisions nobody is picking up, an as-built file has been on the list for months and the detailing of drawings keeps slipping by another week.
The consequences are predictable: production carries on working from outdated sheets, fitters ask about things that should have been on the drawing, and by the end of the project the documentation no longer matches what has actually been built.
We solve that by taking over the drafting. We draft and model; we do not do engineering and we do not make calculations. All of our drafters have more than ten years of CAD experience and work from our own office on our own licences. This is high-volume work with a lot of repetition, and that is exactly the type of job we are set up for. We respond to an enquiry within 1 to 2 working days.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
What we deliver in shipbuilding drafting
We deliver 2D drafting and, where needed, 3D modelling, as-built drawings and revisions. In concrete terms, that means updating existing sheets to the current situation, converting a set that grew up by hand into a clean digital file, working up detail sheets that refer back to a base model, and supplementing drawings as soon as a change has been made during construction. A shipbuilding client supplies us with the starting points and decides what needs to be drawn. We translate that into a set that is correct and consistent. What we do not do is just as important to state.
We do not make strength calculations, we do not advise on structural matters and we do not handle permits. Our role is that of a remote drawing office, with the emphasis on volume and repetition. This kind of work involves a great deal of repetition: the same detail recurring in dozens of places, a series of pipe components in different sizes, a run of sheets that follow the same layout. There is time to be gained by building it up smartly rather than redrawing every sheet by hand.
For example, we build parametric components that adapt to a different size, so a part does not have to be redrawn every time. In comparable work in greenhouse construction, that approach saves at least seventy per cent of the time. We only say how big the gain will be in a specific set once we have seen the documents. We scale with the scope: our large, variable team deploys as many drafters per project as needed, and when it is urgent we add people straight away. A short first job is a good way to start.
Software, versions and file formats in shipbuilding drafting
Our core software is Revit, AutoCAD and Rhino. We also use Inventor and Grasshopper, and to a limited extent Dynamo and Vault. Rhino and Grasshopper are useful for double-curved shapes and free-form geometry, Inventor for parts that come from mechanical engineering, and AutoCAD remains the workhorse for two-dimensional sheets. We deliver in DXF, DWG, Revit formats and STEP files, and in practice in any common CAD format you use. STEP is often the bridge between packages, for example when a supplier has built a part in a different system.
We always work with the latest versions. If your supply chain still runs on an older release, we deliver in that version so that nothing is lost when the files are opened. We agree that at the start, not halfway through, because back-converting half a set causes unnecessary rework and corrections. We connect to the existing set by first reviewing it in full. We look at how the layers are structured, which blocks recur, which naming conventions are used and where the set deviates from itself internally.
We report that review as our findings before we start drafting. We draft in our own environment on our own licences, so you do not need to set up workstations, licences or network access. Files go back and forth by email, and on larger projects we use software you can log in to and follow progress. We stick to the folder structure you use yourself.
No ongoing payroll costs and no idle staff once the peak is over. If one of our people is off sick or on holiday, we replace them and the work simply carries on.
Working to the client's drawing conventions
We do not impose a drafting style of our own. We work to your standards and drawing conventions, and you supply them to us. In practice, that covers the layer structure, the naming of files and sheets, the symbols and blocks used, the dimensioning style and the way a revision is shown in the set. A company that has drafted in the same way for years has good reasons for it. We adapt to that. If we receive a template plus two or three representative sheets, we almost always have enough to derive the rest. If there is no written standard, we reconstruct the conventions from the existing material and submit our conclusions for confirmation. That takes half an hour of discussion and prevents hundreds of corrections further down the line.
In larger sets, we regularly see that the standard has been stretched over the years: old sheets follow one approach, new sheets another. We then ask which approach to follow and document that decision, so that every drafter who joins does the same. In this work, consistency is worth more than elegance. We keep track of the agreements made in a short project note that travels with the set. If the team grows considerably halfway through, everyone still works in the same way. We see that as a precondition for keeping outsourced drafting workable, and it is exactly what you as a client are entitled to expect. Without that basis, every delivery causes unnecessary rework on both sides.
The delivered set and what happens next in the shipbuilding process
With us, a delivery is not just a folder of files and nothing else. We deliver the drawings in the agreed format, in the version you use, following your naming and with the layer structure you apply. It comes with a short note listing the assumptions we made and the points where the source material was unclear. That note is often the most valuable part, because it shows the project lead where they still need to make a decision.
We deliver in stages rather than all at once at the end. After each stage, we gather feedback, process it and move on to the next block. That way, the set fits in with what happens to it next: work preparation ordering materials, production working from the sheets, and assembly feeding back the latest changes for the as-built version.
Every drawing passes through at least three review layers before delivery. A drafter produces the work, a second team member checks it, then Sam, our team leader, reviews it, and finally Barry, our project manager, assesses the set. In practical terms, this keeps the number of errors to a minimum.
The intellectual property of everything we draw belongs to you, including the interim files and the components we have built. If a company later wants to continue the work in-house, it can do so without anything being left behind with us. We consider that a matter of course, because we add capacity and claim no position in the client's process. We also remain available afterwards for any questions about a delivered set.
Frequently asked questions about outsourcing drafting for shipbuilding
Hand your shipbuilding drafting over to us
Send us your documents and drawing conventions and we will let you know within one to two working days what we can take on and when.