The Institute for Research and Engineering for Automation and Productivity in Shipbuilding (IREAPS) is an organization which conducts an industry/government cooperative program for enhancing U.S. shipbuilding capabilities through development and implementation of improved systems and manufacturing technology. The primary thrust of the IREAPS program is the conduct of research and development projects for a variety of design and production processes in the shipyard. Such projects are initiated and pursued only upon consensus of the participating organizations and are not considered complete or successful until they have been implemented under actual shipyard production conditions.

The Research and Engineering for Automation and Productivity in Shipbuilding (REAPS) program aims at increasing U.S. shipyard productivity. The organization, activities and current and planned development projects of the program are reviewed. The 1980 symposium focuses on developing a consensus on a format for long range facility plans, with an emphasis on cost effectiveness and environmental impacts.

The Tenth Annual IREAPS Technical Symposium, held in August 23-25, 1983 in Boston, Massachusetts, represents one element of the IREAPS program which is designed to provide industry with the opportunity to review new developments in shipyard technology. The Symposium highlighted all aspects of the National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) in that presentations were made by all the panel chairmen of the SNAME Ship Production Committee. The 1983 IREAPS Technical Symposium Proceedings contain the papers presented at the meeting.

The Ship Production Committee is made up of representatives from approximately twenty-four shipbuilders plus the American Bureau of Shipping, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy Research and Development and, of course, the Maritime Administration whose budget is the backbone of this vital project. We poll the industries to see who would use the results of a research project. The more yards that would use, the higher the priority; the higher the potential saving, the higher the priority. We then list the projects in priority sequence, see how far the budget reaches for the year, and submit those to the Maritime Administration for approval. When approved and a shipyard agrees to act as sponsor, a suggested contract is worked out between the sponsor shipyard and the Maritime Administration. The most valuable result of this program is that the shipyards are talking to each other at the working level for the betterment of our industry.

Research and Engineering for Automation and Productivity in Shipbuilding (REAPS) today is a shipbuilding industry/government (MarAd) cooperative development program aimed at improving shipyard productivity through the development and implementation of computer and manufacturing aids for shipbuilding. The program is organized as an element of The National Shipbuilding Research Program, which is administered by the Ship Production Committee of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. The program itself is organized as follows. The most important group within the program is the REAPS Representatives. These are the participating shipyard personnel from production management, the loft and design who make the program work. At meetings of the Representatives, MarAd and the Program Manager (held four to five times yearly), the Representatives jointly identify problem areas of mutual concern, discuss alternative solution strategies and formulate development project descriptions and implementation plans.

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.