For shipyards and ship repair
Quote what the job will actually take.
For shipyards and repair yards: dry-dock estimates built from your own history, overruns traced to their cause, and supplier invoices controlled against the specification.
Start a DiagnosticShipyards are the least digitalised segment of the industry, and the one where a single estimate can decide a year's margin. Specifications arrive as PDFs and emails, quotes are built from memory, and when a docking overruns nobody can say which of the work items caused it. Helmwize starts with the yard's own history: every past docking resolved into a structured record of specification, quote, actual hours, materials and variations, so the next estimate is grounded in what this yard actually took. The Diagnostic runs in two to four weeks on one yard. We prove the first workflow on live tenders, then the platform runs in your own environment where the specification and pricing data stay.
Where we start
Which workflows are worth fixing first?
Dry-dock and tender estimation
The incoming specification read into work items and matched to your historical actuals, with the items that carried overrun risk last time flagged before the quote goes out. L5 Forecast accuracy. Ledger: Margin per docking.
Overrun root cause
Completed dockings compared to their plan, with delay and cost attributed to work items, trades and suppliers rather than to the docking as a whole. L6 Yield. Ledger: Yard slot utilisation.
Spec-to-quote document intelligence
Specifications, class recommendations and owner's lists structured into one work list, so the estimator starts from a checked list rather than a stack of PDFs. L2 Cycle time. Ledger: Estimating hours per tender.
Supplier invoice control
Every supplier invoice matched to its purchase order and the variation trail, with unexplained lines staged for review. L3 Cost per transaction. Ledger: Subcontract and materials cost.
One real decision
A recommendation should be something you can inspect.
Dry-dock scope variance against the original specification
- What changed
- Steel renewal item 42 quoted at 18 t from the specification; ultrasonic thickness report received on day 3 indicates 31 t. Two adjacent items carried the same pattern on the last three dockings for this vessel class.
- Evidence
- Specification item 42UT report, day 3Job history: dockings 2024-11, 2025-06, 2026-02
- Exposure
- Estimated 210 additional hours and 13 t steel; variation order not yet raised
- Confidence
- High on measurement; medium on owner acceptance
Suggested step
Raise the variation order today; re-plan the adjacent items before the blasting crew moves.
Illustrative workflow, not a client result. This example changes nothing outside the page: no payment, no operational record, no message.
Systems of record
What stays authoritative?
Project and planning system, Estimating tools, Finance. Helmwize connects the context. It does not replace these systems.
For shipyards and ship repair
From specification to award without the spreadsheet.
Yard quotations arrive as PDF. Specifications arrive as Word. The platform reads both into typed records, normalises them by work package and shows the superintendent where the money moves.
Dry-dock spec-to-quote comparison
Reads: Repair specification, Yard quotations, Prior dockings, Currency and unit conventions. A normalised comparison by work package with outliers and clarification questions listed. GATE: The technical superintendent decides the award.
PLANNEDBUILD
Maritime document schemas
Reads: Bills of lading, Charter parties, Statements of facts, Survey reports, Crew certificates, Yard quotations. Typed records from paper and PDF, with page and field provenance for every value. GATE: Low-confidence fields are queued for a person, never guessed.
PLANNEDPACKAGE
IACS UR E26 / E27 evidence pack
Reads: Onboard and shore asset inventory, Vulnerability scans, Network zoning, Test procedures. An evidence pack mapped to the five functional aspects and seventeen requirements of UR E26, with gaps stated. GATE: The designated person ashore or CISO signs the pack.
PLANNEDPACKAGE
What you receive
A comparison the tender board can sign.
Illustrative examples. Figures are representative, not client data.
Dry-dock spec-to-quote comparison
Three anonymised yard quotes normalised by work package, with outliers and clarification questions. Audience: Technical superintendent, tender team.
Illustrative
Value Diagnostic report
A ranked opportunity portfolio with sized levers, data readiness per system and a recommended Proof of Value scope. Audience: Managing director, CFO, fleet director.
Illustrative
IACS E26 / E27 evidence pack summary
Asset inventory extract, vulnerability status and a mapping to the seventeen requirements with gaps stated. Audience: Designated person ashore, CISO, superintendent.
Illustrative
What you stop paying for
Extraction and comparison, in the estate.
Representative ranges by category.
Costs are representative ranges by category · not vendor price lists
| Function | Incumbent | Representative cost | With Helmwize | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quotation and specification extraction | Manual re-keying or per-page cloud OCR | Representative: engineer hours per tender | Read into typed records in your estate | replace |
| Project reporting | Commercial BI suite | Representative: per-seat licences | Dashboards built on your own data | replace |
| Yard ERP and project system | ERP | Stays | The platform reads work orders and costs | integrate |
Compliance
Newbuilds contracted after July 2024 must show it.
| Instrument | Body | Effective | Affects | Evidence needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IACS UR E26 and E27 cyber resilience | International Association of Classification Societies | 2024-07-01 | Ships contracted for construction on or after the date, Yards, Equipment suppliers | Asset inventory, test procedures and evidence for seventeen requirements |
| India GST e-invoicing above the notified turnover threshold | Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs | 2023-08-01 | Chandlers, Suppliers, Yards | IRN-registered B2B invoices and e-way bills |
FAQ
Questions
Our estimates live in spreadsheets and people's heads. Where do we start?
With your last twenty dockings. The Diagnostic structures them into a job history and shows what your estimates have systematically missed. That alone changes the next quote.
Does the specification data leave the yard?
No. Deployment in your own environment is the default for yards. Pricing history, specifications and owner correspondence stay inside your boundary.
Is this only for large yards?
No. A repair yard doing thirty dockings a year has enough history to estimate from. The licence is priced by site.