HOOPS Helps Naval Architect Jumpstart Development of Powerful Ship Information Modeling Platform
“Most of the front end of our application – the view, what the customer sees – is built around HOOPS Communicator. In our experience, HOOPS Communicator is the only technology out there that does such an outstanding job of displaying 3D CAD data in the web browser, so we’re very proud to use it in our software, and it has allowed us to really jumpstart our application development with out-of-the-box web viewing capabilities.”
Sebastian Greshake, Founder & CEO, Naval Architect
The Challenge
Headquartered in Rostock, Germany, Naval Architect is a young company focused on building the next-generation cloud design platform for shipbuilding. “Our mission is to connect the stakeholders of shipbuilding projects in order to get the right information to the right people at the right time,” explained Sebastian Greshake, Founder & CEO of Naval Architect. “We are doing that through browser-based software that puts a digital ship model and all the relevant project information in a single place.” In this way, Naval Architect is allowing the digitalization that has taken place in industries like building & construction to gain more of a foothold in the world of shipbuilding. “The AEC space has embraced building information modeling, or BIM,” said Derrick Wan, Co-Founder and Head of Business Development at Naval Architect. “We’re trying to get the shipbuilding industry to move towards SIM: ship information modeling. It’s based on the same ideas and concepts, and it has the same benefits of enhancing collaboration and optimizing processes on very large and complex projects, helping to eliminate costly errors.” To bring its innovative product to market, Naval Architect set an ambitious development schedule for itself. “We plan to release a closed beta version by the end of this year, an open beta in the new year, and then the full commercial system by the end of next year” said Sebastian. “We’re not a huge company; in order to meet those development deadlines, we knew we’d need technology partners that could support our vision and help us meet our goal.”
Comprehensive Array of Tools Accelerate Development
Turning to Tech Soft 3D, a leading global provider of development tools, provided Naval Architect with a series of powerful SDKs to help expedite the development of their platform. The company is making use of HOOPS Communicator for web based visualization and HOOPS Exchange for data import and translation. Additionally, the company is using Parasolid, the world’s premier 3D geometric modeling kernel technology, which is resold by Tech Soft 3D and tightly integrated with HOOPS SDKs. For a browser-based platform like Naval Architect, advanced 3D web visualization is a necessity, and HOOPS Communicator delivers stunning graphics for 3D and 2D engineering data. This enables even the largest ship design to be visualized in order to show the design to other stakeholders, prepare marketing materials, or better understand complex spatial relations within the ship. “The 3D viewer of our application is built around HOOPS Communicator,” said Sebastian. “In our experience, HOOPS Communicator is the best technology out there that does such an outstanding job of displaying 3D CAD data in the web browser, so we’re very proud to use it in our software, and it has allowed us to really jumpstart our application development with out-of-the-box web viewing capabilities.” Similarly, HOOPS Exchange is helping Naval Architect to build robust data translation technology – including access to over 30 CAD file formats – into its platform. “Data exchange is a top concern for many naval architects and other people in the shipbuilding world,” said Sebastian. “With HOOPS Exchange, we are laying the groundwork to import ship components from suppliers in a variety of formats, as well as providing the ability to export our data to all the standard file formats used across the shipbuilding world.” Meanwhile, Parasolid provides Naval Architect with access to an ideal core for 3D modeling application development, reducing development costs and risks. “3D modeling is a small but important part of our product,” said Sebastian. “Parasolid lets us deliver that capability without us having to take resources away from our core development focus: providing a ‘single source of truth’ that brings together relevant information and allows users to collectively work on a digital representation of the ship throughout the entire project lifecycle.” Overall, Naval Architect is excited about its path forward and its potential to effect substantial change in the shipbuilding world. “Our platform is the first solution on the market that enables a true digitalization of processes and comprehensive digital transformation of the shipbuilding industry,” said Derrick. “We have an opportunity to make ship information modeling the norm within the industry, and Tech Soft 3D is helping us make that happen.”
Industry: Shipbuilding
Challenge: New company looking to bring innovative ship information modeling product to market - Browser-based offering needed to support advanced visualization and robust data translation to handle large, complex shipbuilding projects - small development team tasked with ambitious release schedule for platform.
Solution: Tech Soft 3D provides leading SDKs that accelerate development of powerful engineering web applications.
Results: Leverage third-party components for web visualization, data translation, and 3D modeling, providing powerful out-of-the-box functionality - Free up development resources to focus on core value proposition around digitizing shipbuilding processes - Reduce time required to bring next-generation cloud design platform for shipbuilding to market, helping to secure position as industry innovator.
