A comprehensive methodology for the design of ships (and other complex systems)

This paper takes as its starting point the paper published in the Phil. Trans. R. Soc. in 1972 entitled ‘A design methodology for ships and other complex systems’. It was written before computers had made much impact on the design as opposed to the analysis of ships and similarly large complex constructions. Not only have computers become synonymous with design practice, but there has also been a burgeoning of literature on all aspects of design, with it often being treated as a discipline in its own right. Taking ships in general, and the specific example of naval ship design in particular, a comprehensive design methodology is proposed. While giving due regard to the importance of management oriented design procedures, the methodology also draws on both engineering and architecture based versions of the design process. Particular attention is given to initial design since it is the most crucial phase in determining the overall configuration and because of its added importance with the current emphasis on concurrent engineering. The methodology proposed is considered to be flexible not only in the scope of its potential for application across a wide range of innovative solutions but also because of its basis in an architecturally derived synthesis. This methodology is contrasted with an alternative systems engineering based design approach, applicable to complex software oriented design but crucially lacking the capability to readily cater for the human element within the entity, which is always a significant concern in the design of physically large as well as complex systems.