By: Lars Hofman and Marcel Kruithof

Everyone in yacht and shipbuilding knows that changes have an impact. Especially when a project has already progressed. As a vessel moves further into engineering or construction, going back to earlier decisions becomes more expensive.

That is not really a surprise. What is often underestimated, is that changes in a much earlier phase can also have major consequences. And that has everything to do with one simple reality.

We have to keep moving. And the project keeps moving as well. Fast, in fact. Disciplines continue their work. Supplier information gets processed. Available space gets filled. More and more people start building on the same information. And that is when it becomes clear that the real impact of a change often does not sit in the change itself, but in everything that has already become dependent on it.

Looking back, the biggest impact did not always come from the biggest changes. In fact, many issues originated from changes that initially looked quite manageable. As a result, the consequences often grow faster than the change itself. In practice, managing changes is mainly about understanding dependencies.

A change rarely starts where the biggest consequences appear

Take a massage room that changes into a sauna. At first sight, this mainly looks like an interior matter. Yet the consequences rarely stay there. Ventilation requirements change, routing needs to be reassessed and structural provisions may have to be modified. Class and flag documentation also move along. An updated fire class plan can then introduce new requirements for the same structure and ventilation systems.

The change starts in one place. The consequences often become visible somewhere else.

Lars Hofman:

“Everyone understands that a change in a late phase has a lot of impact. A change is always bigger than the adjustment itself. Interestingly enough, the technical question itself hardly changes. A room remains a room, a system remains a system and the discussion itself usually does not become more complicated. What does change are the dependencies.”

Routing has already been developed further. Structural provisions have been fixed. Supplier engineering has built on the same assumptions. Other disciplines have based their own decisions on that same information. As a result, it is not so much the complexity of the change that grows, but the impact of revisiting earlier decisions.

Marcel Kruithof:

“Exactly. The further a project progresses, the greater the chance that multiple disciplines have already built on the same information. At that point, the question itself has not changed. The size of the consequences has.”

“The owner will pay for it” is not the whole story

Changes are part of custom yacht building. Nobody expects a project to be fully fixed from day one. That is why the idea sometimes arises that a change is not really a problem, as long as the additional hours are paid for.

But we know better. The cost of a change does not always sit in the engineering hours themselves. A change requires additional alignment between disciplines. Supplier engineering may have to go back to earlier assumptions. Planning comes under pressure. Freeze moments move. Suppliers have to reassess the consequences for their own scope.

Lars Hofman:

“Solving a change is usually not the difficult part. Understanding the consequences is much more important. Which assumptions are changing? Which disciplines are affected? Which suppliers have already built their work around them? Which class and flag documentation is involved? And what are the consequences for planning, engineering and execution?”

That is why we always start with two situations

When a change comes in, there is often a tendency to immediately focus on the new situation. Over the years, we have learned that much of the impact becomes visible when the original situation is placed next to the desired situation. What is actually changing? Which assumptions change with it? And which disciplines have already become dependent on those assumptions?

That difference forms the starting point of an impact analysis and creates an initial understanding of the consequences for structure, routing, class, safety, interior and other disciplines.

And something else happens as well. A common starting point is created. Not only for engineering, but also for the other disciplines, suppliers and subcontractors. Everyone is looking at the same change and can determine the impact on time, cost and engineering from that same starting point.

By literally and visually placing the original situation next to the desired situation, it often becomes surprisingly clear where the consequences may appear. In many cases, the difference between the original situation and the desired situation provides a much better starting point than the change itself.

Marcel Kruithof:

“You do not need to know everything immediately. But you do want to understand what the rest of the project may already depend on. Once everybody is looking at the same situation, a change becomes manageable. That does not prevent a project from revisiting earlier decisions. It does prevent the consequences from becoming visible only after other disciplines have already moved on.”

Because Basic Engineering within the HOFF team is approached from a multidisciplinary perspective, interfaces between structure, routing, systems, safety and class become visible early. This allows disciplines, suppliers and subcontractors to determine the impact on their own scope much more effectively, while the project itself keeps moving forward.

Want to know more? Feel free to contact Marcel Kruithof or Lars Hofman. There is a way to stay in control. HOFF connects to the yard’s existing way of working and systems and, after a proper intake, quickly becomes part of the team.

Want to know what our engineering can mean for your team at the yard? Whether you’re active in yacht building or shipbuilding, feel free to send a message to Lars Hofman or Marcel Kruithof.

HOFF • Partners in Engineering

Stationspark 950
3364 DA Sliedrecht
The Netherlands