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Ship Building and Repairing

NAICS 336611 · Transportation Equipment Manufacturing6 · SBA size standard: 1,300 employees

Shipyards build new vessels and repair existing ones under strict regulatory and classification-society oversight. Custom orders arrive as specifications or repair scopes; the specialists convert inquiries into quoted work, turn approved contracts into production schedules and material orders, track steel, piping and equipment through fabrication and assembly, manage dock and dry-dock usage, and maintain the regulatory paperwork the owner ultimately approves. All welding, coating, electrical and pressure-vessel work stays with licensed trades.

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What makes this business different

  • Large custom projects with owner-furnished equipment, change orders and milestone payments
  • Regulatory and classification-society requirements that govern every stage from design approval through sea trials
  • Long-lead material and equipment procurement with mill certificates and traceability
  • Dry-dock and pier scheduling that must align with tide tables, weather windows and other vessels
  • Welding procedures, NDT records, coating inspections and pressure tests that must be documented per approved plans
  • Subcontractor coordination for specialized trades while prime yard labor handles structural steel and outfitting
  • Asset tracking for cranes, welding machines, scaffolding and portable generators across multiple work sites
  • Progress billing tied to verified milestones and owner or surveyor sign-off

Specialist bots

  • a worker at a large drafting table reviewing ship blueprints and marking material quantities on a printed specification packet

    Estimator

    Convert vessel specifications and repair scopes into accurate labor, material and schedule estimates.

    Works in: Ambitious Sheets, Ambitious Docs, Process Optimizer · Workflows: Bid and proposal development

    Automates

    • Parses drawings and specifications to build takeoff lists
    • Applies historical labor rates by trade and location
    • Builds preliminary schedule outlines
    • Flags long-lead items and owner-furnished equipment
    • Drafts the risk register and milestone payment schedule

    Stops for a person

    • The production manager reviews labor and schedule assumptions
    • The owner approves the final bid price and terms before submission
  • a desk covered with rolled ship drawings, a thick contract binder open to the milestone schedule page and a keyboard ready for data entry

    Contract Administrator

    Review awarded contracts, extract obligations and launch the project master schedule.

    Works in: Contract Analyzer, Ambitious Docs, Ambitious Tasks · Workflows: Contract award and kickoff

    Automates

    • Highlights exceptions in contract clauses
    • Extracts milestone dates and payment terms
    • Creates the initial project task structure
    • Issues requisitions for long-lead material
    • Schedules the kickoff meeting

    Stops for a person

    • The owner reviews and signs the final contract
    • The shipyard manager confirms production feasibility before notice to proceed
  • a worker in a hard hat scanning bar-coded steel plates with a handheld reader inside a large warehouse filled with stacked shipbuilding steel

    Materials Coordinator

    Turn approved drawings into purchase orders, track material deliveries and maintain traceability.

    Works in: Ambitious Sheets, Ambitious Tasks, Ambitious Docs · Workflows: Material and equipment procurement

    Automates

    • Generates bill-of-material purchase lists
    • Tracks vendor lead times and delivery status
    • Logs material certifications and heat numbers upon receipt
    • Issues material to production work packages
    • Alerts when inventory of plate, pipe or consumables drops below reorder points

    Stops for a person

    • The purchasing manager approves and places every purchase order
    • The quality manager inspects and accepts critical materials
  • a scheduler updating a large wall-mounted gantry schedule board showing overlapping trades and dry-dock windows inside a shipyard office

    Production Scheduler

    Build and maintain the master production schedule and dry-dock plan.

    Works in: Process Optimizer, Ambitious Tasks · Workflows: Production and dry-dock scheduling

    Automates

    • Sequences work packages to minimize trade stacking
    • Reserves dock and crane time against tide tables
    • Adjusts for weather and change orders
    • Publishes weekly look-ahead reports
    • Identifies critical-path activities

    Stops for a person

    • The yard superintendent approves the weekly schedule
    • Production foremen confirm daily assignments
  • a technician in coveralls performing ultrasonic thickness testing on a freshly welded ship hull section in a dry dock

    Quality and Inspection Clerk

    Generate inspection plans, schedule surveyors and compile test and as-built records.

    Works in: Ambitious Docs, Ambitious Tasks, Ambitious Sheets · Workflows: Quality assurance and regulatory inspections

    Automates

    • Creates hold-point checklists from approved procedures
    • Schedules NDT and classification surveys
    • Logs test results and inspection reports
    • Maintains welder and procedure qualification matrices
    • Assembles red-line and as-built drawing packages

    Stops for a person

    • The quality manager reviews all inspection results
    • The owner or classification surveyor signs off on completed inspections
  • a worker in a safety vest directing a large crane lowering a pre-assembled deck module onto a ship under construction at the pier

    Dock and Vessel Operations Coordinator

    Manage vessel movements, dock assignments and daily services while tracking safety permits.

    Works in: Ambitious Tasks, Ambitious Docs · Workflows: Dock and vessel operations

    Automates

    • Prepares docking calculations and stability sheets
    • Coordinates tugs, pilots and line handlers
    • Tracks daily utility services to each vessel
    • Issues and logs hot-work and confined-space permits
    • Compiles daily progress and surveyor photographs

    Stops for a person

    • The dock master approves every vessel movement
    • The safety officer reviews all permits before work begins
  • a worker at a workstation surrounded by printed inspection reports and progress photos preparing a milestone payment package

    Progress Billing Specialist

    Calculate percent complete, compile supporting records and draft milestone invoices.

    Works in: Ambitious Sheets, Ambitious Docs, Ambitious Tasks · Workflows: Progress billing and closeout

    Automates

    • Pulls verified progress from the production schedule
    • Assembles inspection and test documentation
    • Calculates amounts due per contract milestones
    • Tracks change orders against the original contract sum
    • Prepares final closeout and warranty packages

    Stops for a person

    • The project manager verifies all progress claims
    • The owner or lending institution approves every invoice before payment

Workflows

Bid and proposal development

Starts when: Request for quote or repair specification arrives

  1. Parse the vessel specifications, drawings and scope of work
  2. Break the job into work packages and estimate labor hours by trade
  3. Draft material and equipment takeoff from drawings and historical data
  4. Assemble the bid package with schedule outline and terms
  5. Produce a risk register and proposed milestones for owner review

Watch for: Accurate takeoff of steel weights, pipe lengths and cable runs directly affects margin; Owner-furnished equipment and government-furnished material must be identified early

Contract award and kickoff

Starts when: Customer awards the contract or issues a purchase order

  1. Review contract clauses against standard terms and flag exceptions
  2. Extract key dates, milestones, liquidated damages and payment terms
  3. Create the master project task list and assign work packages
  4. Order long-lead items and issue subcontractor requests for quotation
  5. Schedule the pre-production meeting and first progress meeting

Watch for: Change-order process must be established before steel is cut; Classification society and flag-state approvals required before production begins

Material and equipment procurement

Starts when: After contract award and at each design freeze

  1. Explode bill of materials from approved drawings
  2. Generate purchase requisitions with material certifications required
  3. Track mill orders, vendor lead times and delivery to yard
  4. Inspect and log receipt of steel plates, pipe, valves and outfitting items
  5. Maintain heat numbers, mill certificates and traceability records

Watch for: Certain grades of steel and pressure-vessel materials have long procurement cycles; All material must be stored and protected from corrosion until issued to the job

Production and dry-dock scheduling

Starts when: Weekly and before each dry-docking

  1. Load approved work packages into the master schedule
  2. Sequence steel erection, piping, electrical and outfitting to avoid trade stacking
  3. Reserve dry-dock or pier space against tide tables and other vessel commitments
  4. Adjust schedule for weather delays and change orders
  5. Publish weekly look-ahead and daily work assignments

Watch for: Critical path often runs through crane lifts, welding sequences and coating windows; Dry-dock usage is limited and must be coordinated with port authorities

Quality assurance and regulatory inspections

Starts when: At each hold point and milestone

  1. Generate inspection and test plans from approved procedures
  2. Schedule third-party NDT, coating inspectors and classification surveyors
  3. Log results of visual, ultrasonic, magnetic-particle and hydrostatic tests
  4. Track welder qualifications and procedure specifications in use
  5. Compile red-line drawings and as-built documentation

Watch for: Certain inspections must occur before the next trade covers the work; Regulatory bodies may require independent verification at key stages

Dock and vessel operations

Starts when: Vessel arrival or undocking request

  1. Prepare docking plan and calculate stability conditions
  2. Coordinate line handling, tugs and pilot services
  3. Track daily vessel services such as power, water, waste removal and compressed air
  4. Monitor hot-work permits, fire watches and confined-space entries
  5. Record daily progress photos and surveyor notes

Watch for: Safety and environmental rules govern every activity on the water; Vessel movement requires coordination with harbor authorities

Progress billing and closeout

Starts when: End of each agreed milestone or month

  1. Calculate percent complete by work package against verified progress
  2. Compile supporting documentation and inspection records
  3. Draft invoice and application for payment for owner approval
  4. Track change orders and adjustments to contract sum
  5. Assemble final as-built drawings, test reports and warranty documentation

Watch for: Payment is released only after owner or surveyor verifies the milestone; Final closeout requires all regulatory certificates and release of liens

Bot templates for this industry

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Size Standards, Table of Small Business Size Standards Matched to North American Industry Classification System Codes, version March 2023 (effective 2023-03-17, NAICS 2022). Size standards are shown for reference only.