Digitalisation, a movement that is in obvious full force, has also infiltrated the yachting industry. This shift has also found its way into RINA, the well known multi-business certification and engineering company very active in the yachting sector. In response to this, RINA has identified three separate, but closely-related, market-driven pillars by which it operates under: optimisation, sustainability and resilience. 
Optimisation takes place in the form of implementing overarching systems to help record data on different technical systems such as engines, generators, pumps and more. An automated instrument not only helps to do this efficiently, but also more accurately than by hand. The next pillar – sustainability – is one that may be heard by some as a buzz-word, but is a tangible guiding force in this transformation. It is so aligned with optimisation that the two pillars are basically conjoined – by optimising, naturally a reduction of waste occurs. Resilience, the final pillar of RINA, has permeated the brand’s very DNA and can be felt at every turn.
Motivated by its three carefully-identified pillars, RINA has set out to build software that can truly revolutionise the ways in which yachts are designed, maintained and assessed. As a classification society first and foremost, RINA knows firsthand how complicated the inspection, repair, and design can prove to be. By creating comprehensive 3D models data exchange can be optimised to help perform complicated calculations and provide analyses. 
Having harnessed this technology in the shipping industry, Fiorenzo Spadoni, the EMEA Commercial Director of RINA and yachting global coordinator, sees a great potential for the application in the yachting industry. It’ll be an invaluable tool for designers, shipbuilders, refit and maintenance specialists, classification societies, and anyone else involved at any stage of a yacht’s lifespan. RINA is currently in the early stages of applying this technology to the yachting industry, with ongoing talks with some industry giants who have shown great excitement about the prospects of the software.
The core function of the software is to ensure information quality, consistency, and efficiency, at every stage. This translates into seamlessly assisting designers, shipyards, or owners to have access to comprehensive and accurate data, which help to inform the design, construction, refit, maintenance or health of a vessel.
“Today, yacht concepts and new builds are developed on a 3D platform. The RINA 3D software platform uses these 3D models to create a RINA 3D model where data is collected to its own server. Once this environment is created, it can be accessed live with the designer, builder, or any other party involved and the compliance to the rules of structure of machinery components can be more promptly evaluated,” explained Spadoni. 
He continues, “Typically, the designer would send a set of drawings to our planning approval centres. We would start to mark up the drawings with corrections and issues which we would then send back to the designer. During this process, much would be lost in translation because a degree of interpretation was required from the designers, who needed to make sense of the notes. This process is incredibly time consuming and can result in information being lost. Instead with our 3D platform, we can directly collaborate with the designers to produce a model that adheres to rules, and which, importantly, can be interpreted clearly and accurately. Our goal was to make an inefficient process more streamlined and clearer, guaranteeing a flow of ship design data and information between a shipyard and a designer.” 
But the application of this tool does not stop with the design process. Once these precise 3D models are produced, they can be used in a variety of ways, During inspection for instance. “When the 3D model is complete, it can be used for inspection by our surveyor. They would, in essence, use a tablet to use the 3D model to check the structure on board instead of 2D drawings, which would require more interpretation. Here, the surveyor can make use of multiple models and they have access to metadata in addition to dimension and position,” said Spadoni.
Another advantage of this system is that the data can be used for training purposes or can be integrated with other software to make analysis like noise and vibration, FEM and CFD, easier. “As we are a classification society, it helps to expedite calculations by using real time data taken throughout the vessel’s lifetime. This method saves about 50 percent of the time that performing these calculations would typically take,” he said.
Building familiarity with onboard systems is valuable for crew who troubleshoot problems onboard. Having an all-in-one system will only assist the crew in performing service more accurately and ensuring the safety of everyone onboard. Also, this 3D tool offers the ability for guests to be acquainted with onboard systems, as it helps provide a full awareness of safety mechanisms.
Refit and maintenance are additional aspects of the vessel’s lifecycle. Systems must periodically be taken apart and looked at directly in order to determine what, if anything at all, needs to be serviced. “Often when the component is working properly, if you open it up to inspect it, you end up creating more damage than solving any actual problem. By using the 3D platform and all of the relevant, real-time data it has stored, you are able to perform in a reliable and efficient way for the so-called conditioned based maintenance,” remarked Spadoni.
With endless applications of RINA’s 3D platform, it is only a matter of time before it is used in full force in the yachting sector. As an industry steeped in technological advancement, having an all-in-one software to manage the lifecycle of a superyacht is logical when there is a clear affinity and necessity for efficiency.
For more information about RINA and its innovative 3D platform, get in touch via the contact details below.