SNAME Panel SP-C on Marine Industry Standards is one of ten technical panels operating under the SNAHE Ship Production Committee. Priority shipbuilding research. and development standardization projects are funded jointly by the Maritime Administration, -the U.S. Navy, and the maritime industry. Projects which focus upon the publication and implementation of national standards are coordinated closely with Committee E-25 on Shipbuilding of the American Society for Testing and Materials. The results of these standardization projects have marine industry-wide applications that result in direct cost and time saving benefits in the construction and repair of Naval and commercial vessels.

This paper provides an overview of standards developed or invoked by national and international organizations for the marine industry. Data on standards promulgated by U.S. voluntary and government organizations are presented and compared with those standards available to shipbuilders in other nations. The sources of international and national mandatory standards are reviewed and the U.S. standards system is compared with other nations. A critical deficiency in the U.S. is the relatively small number of fully definitive voluntary standards that can be used for competitive procurement. Recommended action by the marine industry and the standardization community is presented, focusing on the need to effectively apply the limited resources that are available.

The NSRP 1985 Ship Production Symposium was held in Long Beach, California on September 11-13, 1985. It was sponsored by the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and the Ship Production Committee. The thrust of the program was "Moving Ahead With Implementation of Advanced Technology" and focused on the ongoing projects of the panels of the Ship Production Committee. Each panel was responsible for one of the symposium sessions and selected the 2-4 papers to be presented within that session. An additional session was added to cover Navy Production and Ship Repair. The symposium was a project of the SP-9 Education Panel and was financed through SP-9 with financial contributions from each of the other panels. It is one of many projects managed and cost-shared by The University of Michigan for the National Shipbuilding Research Program. The Program is a cooperative effort of the Maritime Administration's Office of Advanced Ship Development, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. shipbuilding industry, and selected academic institutions.

The deep depression of the shipbuilding industry in the United States has brought into sharp focus the fact that broad and sweeping changes must be rapidly implemented if the industry is to survive. The factors leading to the decline of U.S. shipbuilding are many and complex and there are no quick and easy solutions. However, it must be recognized that many of our traditional manufacturing procedures and techniques are prominent among those factors. Although some of the industry's problems may be outside the influence of technical societies, manufacturing procedures and methods are not, and are, in fact, already being dealt with through the Society's participation in the National Shipbuilding Standards program. The task is not easy, however, since there has been considerable indifference, if not outright resistance, to standardization by marine equipment suppliers, particularly deck machinery manufacturers.

In 1981 the Ship Production Committee established the Education and Training Panel (SP-3). The panel's purpose is to develop and maintain educational programs in: (1) skilled trades training, (2) pre-entry professional training, and (3) middle management training.