01 — Challenge
Overview is hard in 2D
Royal Huisman builds custom superyachts of world top standard. Size and complexity demand close cooperation between architects, designers and the yard’s departments — yet each department receives almost all of its information as 2D drawings.
The ever-growing stack of drawings is impossible to overview and leads to clashes. The yard was looking for a central 3D environment to find those problems at an early stage.
02 — Approach
One concept model, every department
At a Dutch Rhino User Meeting, CAD manager Lambertus Oosterveen asked Tobias to visit the yard and talk about what Rhino could offer. Two years later every project had a working concept-design group: one modeller per department — structure, systems, interior and deck equipment — filling one central 3D model.
The group meets regularly. Problem areas are discussed in the model and, most of the time, solved on the spot.
Figures



03 — The work
Proving it, then teaching it
Integrating Rhino into a complex CAD environment with dozens of workstations was a challenge in itself. With no modellers yet, Tobias first had to prove that Rhino could handle the amount of data — by drawing everything himself.
The first benefits showed quickly. Next came training: for the modellers, and for the people who need to view the model and extract data from it.
In his words
“First I had to prove that Rhino is capable of handling this massive amount of data — and since there were no modellers, I had to draw everything myself.”
— Tobias Nagel
04 — Outcome
Clashes solved on screen
A working concept-design group for every project, with the central model as the place where disciplines meet. Next steps were moving from concept model to production model — extracting as much data as possible from the detailed 3D model — and scripts for consistent settings across the yard and further automation of the modelling.
Credits
Teamwork with Lambertus Oosterveen, CAD manager at Royal Huisman — “without his commitment and motivation it would never have been possible.”



