THE PLACE OF ENGINEERING IN THE LIFE CYCLE INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS

Abstract

In undertaking the exploration, the authors endeavored to disseminate to the readership a developed comprehension of the essence of engineering as a distinct form of economic endeavor and its positioning within the lifecycle of generating consumer value. Emphasis is placed on shipbuilding artifacts, considering their pivotal role in both the global and, by extension, national economies increasingly enmeshed within the international economic milieu. It is discerned that the upsurge in demand for Engineering services is attributable to the steep ascension in fleet size, notably within its most robust segment - the commercial sector. The doubling of the fleet size for transporting various types of cargo over the past twenty years has been confirmed by visualized statistics. This phenomenon is not merely a result of a surge in maritime freight transportation, which has increased by nearly three hundred percent over the analyzed period. Simultaneously, there is a growing interest among shipowners in extending the operational lifespan of vessels. In this context, they place hopes on vessel repair, modernization, and conversion. Furthermore, even the disposal of these complex engineering structures, in accordance with the requirements of the International Maritime Organization and the standards of the European Union and participating countries, should occur without causing harm to the personnel of specialized shipyards and the environment. It has been demonstrated that solving this problem is also impossible without engineering support. A model has been provided, defining the role of Engineering in the life cycle of industrial products (using shipbuilding as an example). It confirmed the working hypothesis regarding the parallel-sequential organization of relationships between Engineering and other stages of the life cycle of mechanical engineering products. Attention is focused on the fact that addressing the challenges that arise at each stage is facilitated by digital twins of physical objects. The "lives" of both are completely synchronized, as events occurring during the real-time operation of the offline object and their consequences are automatically reflected in the virtual "twin". This conclusion is of particular significance in the context of applying the concept and corresponding tools of Product Lifecycle Management in practice.