So, what was the editor of a publication about 3D data capture doing at the International WorkBoat Show? Well, I was wearing another journalistic hat, and covering the market for tugboats and the like, but I was also spreading the gospel of 3D data capture – a topic not many have broached with this crowd.
This is a big show we’re talking about here: 1,100 exhibitors, some 20,000 people in attendance overall. Plus, it’s a big market: Back in September, Bollinger shipyard landed a new Coast Guard contract to build six boats for $250 million. Austal is building 10 ships for the Navy at a cost of $1.6 billion. Lockheed has a $3 billion contract for more of the same ships. All of them were at the WorkBoat show. And then there’s the huge market for repair and repurposing for all the offshore service vessels and the like owned by operators at the show.
I’d hazard a guess that 20 percent of the people there had ever heard of 3D laser scanning, let alone actually employed it in their shipyards to encourage off-site fabrication and reduce welds and monitor deformation.
But that’s why Daryl Johnson, of Summit Engineering and Design, was on site. I got a chance to catch up with him about what he’s doing for laser scanning in the shipbuilding market and where he thinks the opportunity is. You can see my interview here:
