HD Hyundai chooses Siemens Xcelerator for digital shipbuilding platform
Siemens has been selected by HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), the intermediary holding company of HD Hyundai, as a preferred partner to establish an integrated platform that will help manage the shipbuilding process as a single data flow, ensuring consistency across HD Hyundai's global shipyard facilities
The planned platform will serve as the core foundation of HD Hyundai’s “Future of Shipyard” project, a future-oriented shipyard it aims to complete by 2030. The project is part of HD Hyundai’s efforts to address data discontinuities across ship design and production processes and to establish a more structured, digitally enabled shipbuilding environment. HD Hyundai aims to reinforce collaboration between engineering and manufacturing functions through the integrated platform and support the stable execution of complex shipbuilding projects.
Taejin Lee, executive vice president and head of digital innovation office, HD Hyundai, said, “The selection of Siemens Xcelerator represents an important milestone in advancing HD KSOE’s digital shipbuilding strategy. By establishing an integrated digital platform that ensures consistency from design through production, we aim to address long-standing data discontinuity challenges and create a more structured and collaborative shipbuilding environment. This initiative will strengthen our ability to execute increasingly complex projects while enhancing efficiency, quality and competitiveness across our global shipyard operations.”
Tony Hemmelgarn, president and CEO, Siemens Digital Industries Software, said, “Since 2022, Siemens’ collaboration with HD Hyundai has been focused on the future of shipbuilding and the development of next-generation digital design and production platforms. Siemens Xcelerator and our comprehensive digital twin technologies are well-positioned to support a unified digital thread across design, engineering and production. We look forward to helping HD Hyundai establish a scalable, open and future-ready manufacturing innovation platform that supports sustainable growth and operational excellence.”
Based on the Siemens Zcelerator open digital business platform, HD Hyundai’s “Integrated Platform for Ship Design-Production Consistency” project will provide a consistent digital thread of key data from design through production. Design and production will be connected in real time via a unified data backbone, reducing inefficiencies and errors that data discontinuities between processes can create.
This unified digital environment will enable standardised data flows and system interoperability to connect key domains, including computer-aided design (CAD), product lifecycle management (PLM), digital manufacturing, and automation and simulation- allowing major shipyard activities to be reviewed in a virtual environment prior to on-site implementation.
HD Hyundai is also expanding the application of model-based engineering practices and improving collaboration efficiency across organisations and functional teams. Block assembly, welding information, piping, and electrical data will be managed in an integrated 3D model, enhancing design accuracy and production planning, and standardising shop-floor operations.
The content of the integrated digital platform is expected to extend across a variety of vessel types. Key areas of application will include structured management of equipment and component data, digital model-based performance analysis, lifecycle-oriented maintenance engineering and technical support frameworks for overseas shipbuilding projects.
HD Hyundai is also developing an Industrial Metaverse-based digital representation of ships and shipyard sites, implementing “Physical artificial intelligence” technology that can be used in complex production environments by applying reinforcement learning to synthetic data and industrial intelligence in a virtual learning environment built utilising Siemens’ Digital Twin technology.
The two companies will take a phased implementation approach set to begin in 2026, with application to operational vessels targeted from 2028.