HII focuses on robotization of the American shipbuilding industry

The American shipbuilding company HII intends to commission Path Robotics and GrayMatter Robotics to work up to $900 million in seven years. The company wants to accelerate welding, grinding, painting, assembly and quality control thanks to robotization, and later use these solutions in the construction of warships for the US Navy.

The HII informed of the conclusion of the agreements on 6 August. These include the development of solutions for aircraft carrier construction programmes, submarines, destroyers, landing ships, future frigates and navigable unmanned systems. This is not only about the purchase of further industrial robots, but about the creation of automated production lines capable of performing part of the work currently carried out in shipyards and factories cooperating with HII.

Up to $900 million, but under certain conditions

Seven-year agreements with Path Robotics and GrayMatter Robotics are part of the High-Yield Production Robotics program (HYPR). HII assumes that the total value of the work entrusted to both companies can reach $900 million, but this is not guaranteed. Subsequent orders will depend on whether the solutions will reach the required maturity and whether the expected costs, deadlines and quality can be maintained.

The first stage will include the development, testing and qualification of autonomous welding, grinding, streaming, painting, assembly and quality control technologies. Individual stations are then to be connected to an automated production line meeting the requirements for the construction of ships for the US Navy.

Only later does HII intend to entrust both companies with the production of the actual components of ship structures. Initially, these are to be small steel elements, and if the technology confirms the proper quality and timeliness, the scope of the work will be gradually extended to larger sections and modules.

More work is to be created outside the main shipyards

Robotization is only part of a wider change in the way production is organised. The HII is developing a model in which more and more elements of future ships are being built in external plants, and the main shipyards are being built further. In 2026 the company intends to commission more than 2.5 million man-hours of shipbuilding work outside its own facilities, or 30% more than a year earlier. In parallel, a network of companies involved in the production and assembly of steel structures is being developed.

This is particularly relevant in the case of HII, whose shipyards belong to the basic facilities Industrial U.S. Navy. Newport News Shipbuilding is responsible, among others, for the construction of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and participates in nuclear submarine programs, while Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagouli builds rocket destroyers of type Arleigh Burke and landing ships and is one of two U.S.-type destroyers.

Robotization as a response to the problems of American shipyards

HII's decision doesn't come out of nowhere. We have already written about the growing problems of the American ship industry on our portal on the occasion of Pentagon plans to exploit the capacity of the shipyards in South Korea and Japan. The delays in the most important programmes, the shortage of skilled workers and the limited capacity to increase production mean that the U.S. Navy needs not only further orders but, above all, shipyards capable of timely delivery.

The HYPR program is intended to help HII in this area. Robotization is intended to increase production pace, relieve employees with the most repetitive tasks and allow wider use of companies cooperating with the company.

For the United States, however, the problem is far greater than that of a single shipbuilding group. Washington has been looking for a way to increase the potential of its own shipbuilding industry for several years, while China has incomparably larger production facilities. Hence, parallel attempts to cooperate with allied shipyards, to support national plants and to introduce technologies that will allow to build ships faster. The program developed by HII is one such solution.