PGZ SW and OChK Platform as a safe environment for modern frigate design
Deployment date: 2023
Sector: heavy industry
OChK Platform
The OChK Platform has enabled the rapid deployment of applications needed for ship design. PGZ Naval Shipyard has gained access to large amount of computing power that can be flexibly adjusted to current needs.
PGZ Naval Shipyard designs, repairs, reconstructs, modernizes and builds warships and vessels for other uniformed and state services. It is the oldest Polish shipyard operating since 1922, carrying on the tradition of the Polish Naval Shipyard and the Naval Port Workshops that were established in Puck before the Second World War and later moved to Gdynia.
Today it is part of the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ), one of the largest defense companies in Central and Eastern Europe. PGZ Naval Shipyard is the main contractor of the consortium implementing the “Miecznik” (Swordfish) program, which aims to provide the Polish Navy with three modern frigate class vessels.
Challenges
PGZ Naval Shipyard was faced with the challenge of starting the design and construction of frigates in a short period of time. Due to the scale of the project, the specialized CAD software used in the process required a great deal of computing power, resulting in a significant expansion of the local IT environment in use.
With a traditional approach, this would have taken at least several months to implement. A further difficulty came from the fact that the demand for IT resources was not evenly distributed. In the initial design phase, the demand for computing power is increased, but as the work progresses it decreases rendering purchased servers largely unused.
To overcome these challenges, PGZ Naval Shipyard decided to use cloud computing, which not only allows for the automation of repetitive processes significantly speeding up project execution, but is also flexible and scalable. As a result, it took only a few weeks to set up a suitable environment, the size of which can be adjusted to subsequent stages of work according to requirements, resulting in lower costs for the overall solution.
Solutions
The entire IT environment was configured and operational in a matter of weeks. A more conventional approach using in-house resources would have taken at least several months from the time the hardware and software was ordered until the finished IT environment was up and running. PGZ Naval Shipyard was able to quickly acquire a properly secured and highly efficient environment to run the application required for ship design. As a result, the consortium will be able to move quickly into the implementation phase of the Swordfish program.
In addition to performance, application virtualization (VDI) offers a high level of security as data never leaves the secure space of the cloud. Even the physical loss of an access station will not give unauthorized individuals access to the data.
The OChK team not only designed and implemented the security architecture of the overall solution, but also performs round-the-clock monitoring of the IT environment in its Security Operations Center (SOC). Furthermore, OChK provides support services to ensure continuous monitoring of the environment and its high level of availability (SLA) to the end user.
Technologies used
As PGZ Naval Shipyard operates in the defense sector, the IT tools it uses must meet the highest requirements in terms of security and confidentiality of the data processed. To ensure this, the decision was made to use a private cloud and OChK Platform technology with installed CAD application components providing an architecture that ensures high availability and fault tolerance. The entire infrastructure was deployed in two separate and independent OChK data centers.
The implemented work environment uses virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and is equipped with high-performance graphics cards (GPUs) to significantly speed up the design process. Such a solution ensures that each designer has access to the computing power needed to work on large design models. At the same time, all data resides in a secure cloud and is not processed locally on end-user devices.
OChK Platform
VDI
CAD
GPU
Results
Moving the design environment to a secure cloud is an important step for PGZ Naval Shipyard on its digital transformation journey. The next steps are to integrate the design application with the other company's systems, including CNC machine tools, which will produce individual frigate components directly from the design documentation, or with the ERP system, which will facilitate the management of all production, including supply chains.
The use of cloud technology not only speeds up the process of modernization of the design and production of warships, but also streamlines and facilitates the daily work of those involved in the project.
Heavy industry companies can use advanced digital tools in the cloud to increase efficiency, improve the quality of manufactured products and complete projects faster.
The OChK Platform has enabled the rapid deployment of applications needed for ship design. PGZ Naval Shipyard has gained access to large amount of computing power that can be flexibly adjusted to current needs. The working environment for designers is properly secured, highly available and fault-tolerant. The graphics cards installed on a dedicated part of the OChK Platform guarantee top performance available for the designers. The use of desktop virtualization technology allows the designers to share resources and streamline their work while maintaining appropriate security standards.
With partners like OChK, the digital transformation of our company becomes reality. Thanks to the solutions implemented jointly in our shipyard, it is possible to integrate digital systems at machine and CNC equipment level with our ERP system. We are already thinking about the next step and further development of the shipyard within the boundaries of Industry 4.0.
Paweł Lulewicz
President of the Management Board of PGZ Naval Shipyard