Siemens Expands Marine Design and Engineering Capabilities with Acquisition of FORAN Software

The integrated platform will be included in Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio of products and services.

FORAN will be included in Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio for marine design, construction and engineering applications. (Image courtesy of Siemens.)

FORAN will be included in Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio for marine design, construction and engineering applications. (Image courtesy of Siemens.)

Industrial software solutions developer Siemens Digital Industries Software recently announced that it will be acquiring the FORAN marine design software business of Sener Engineering, an engineering and technology company based in Spain. This move is part of Siemens’ plans to enhance the marine design and engineering capabilities of its Xcelerator portfolio.

FORAN’s technology will provide Siemens’ marine customers with the ability to leverage a digital twin approach to ship design and construction. This includes access to several services involving various areas of a ship’s life cycle, such as concept design, production and operations, and optimized service life cycle management. The two companies signed the agreement in late July and are expecting to complete the acquisition before the end of 2021.

FORAN is a multidisciplinary system that combines computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided engineering (CAE), and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software to assist in the design, construction and engineering of marine structures such as naval ships and offshore units. FORAN’s fully integrated setup allows users to work on every phase of the ship design and production process through various disciplines. The software also stores all information under a single, unified database, providing easy and efficient access to relevant project data at any time.

FORAN can accommodate the different phases in the shipbuilding and operational process. (Image courtesy of Sener.)

FORAN can accommodate the different phases in the shipbuilding and operational process. (Image courtesy of Sener.)

Key features include full 2D drafting functionality, unique 3D model capabilities, part modeling, 2D-3D transparency, assembly management simulations, and production information management. In addition, FORAN automatically generates customized shop floor information for manufacture and assembly. The platform also provides opportunities for collaborative engineering, which allows shipyards, engineering firms, and subcontractors to work simultaneously in either a concurrent or distributed environment. FORAN’s open architecture ensures open data exchange between technical and management systems.

According to Siemens, the integration of FORAN into the Xcelerator portfolio will allow the company to better service the marine industry as it shifts into a Shipyard 4.0 model.

Shipyard 4.0 aims to increase productivity through the application and optimization of various advanced technologies, including additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), modern ICT infrastructure (i.e., cloud), big data and analytics, robotic process automation, and new materials. This is geared toward establishing and supporting the digital twin concept for both the shipyard and the ship, enabling new products and processes to be simulated at virtual workstations. This not only accelerates workflow processes but also ensures sustainable performance in the age of digitization.

“The acquisition of FORAN enhances our marine digital twin, adding preeminent capabilities to our integrated ship design and engineering digital thread solution,” shared Tony Hemmelgarn, CEO and president of Siemens Digital Industries Software. “By adding FORAN’s extensive tools to the Xcelerator portfolio and leveraging the team’s industry expertise, we will be able to offer commercial and naval shipbuilding customers better control of their ship design and manufacturing process as they transition to Shipyard 4.0.”

Siemens and Sener will also be working together to integrate their expertise for commercial marine projects, regulation compliance, and defense industry standards. Sener will continue to retain its traditional marine engineering business line, which includes design, engineering and consultancy services for ships and offshore vessels.

For more information, visit the Siemen Digital Industries Software official website.