01
Enquiry
The vessel, the machinery concerned, and the decision the study has to support. An initial technical response within two working days.
Engagement
How work is taken on
What happens between a first enquiry and a delivered study: the sequence, what each stage requires and produces, what to send with an enquiry, and the terms on which documents and results are held.
The sequence
How a job starts
One sequence applies to all four services. Its purpose is that scope, input data, assumptions and acceptance criteria are agreed before calculation begins, and that nothing material is settled after the result is known.
02
Data and scope
Review of the drawings and records available, a written list of what is missing, and a defined scope of conditions, cases and criteria.
03
Proposal
Scope, method, the rules and standards applied, deliverables, schedule, commercial terms, and an explicit statement of exclusions.
04
Execution
The calculation on one model, with interim findings reported when a result changes the question, and closed out on review.
| Stage | Requirement and output |
|---|---|
| Enquiry | Vessel particulars, the machinery involved, and the decision to be supported. A non-disclosure agreement can be executed before any drawing is exchanged. An initial technical response is issued within two working days, stating whether the question is within scope and what would be required to answer it. |
| Data review | Assessment of the drawings, manufacturer data, service records and measurements supplied. Missing items are listed with the effect their absence has on the result and on the confidence attaching to it. No missing value is substituted without being declared. |
| Scope and proposal | A written scope: the conditions and load cases, the rules and standards applied, the acceptance criteria, the deliverables, the schedule, the commercial terms, and the exclusions. Assumptions required in the absence of data are declared here, before work begins, not reported at the end. |
| Model build | One case holds the geometry, the machinery data and the operating conditions. It is checked against the source documents and issued for client confirmation before any result is produced. Later results are read from that case, not re-entered by hand. |
| Calculation | Results are produced in sequence from the confirmed model. Where an intermediate result changes the question, such as an unloaded bearing, a resonance inside the operating range, or a pump well off its duty point, it is reported before the remaining work proceeds, so the scope can be adjusted while that remains practicable. |
| Reporting | A report carrying the model description, the assumption register, the result tables, the result plots, the comparison against any measurement supplied, and conclusions in the terms of the original question. Numerical results are issued in a form the client's own engineers can check. |
| Review and close-out | A technical review with the client's engineers, yard or superintendent. Comments and late data are incorporated; where a revision changes an input, it is issued as a numbered revision and the change and its effect are recorded. |
| Support in service | Questions arising during installation, sea trials or the first period of service are answered against the issued model. Re-analysis after a measurement, a modification or a repair is a defined extension of scope. |
To open an enquiry
What to send first
- Vessel type, principal particulars and, where relevant, the classification society and notation.
- The machinery or system concerned, and whether the work is a newbuilding, a conversion, a repair or a problem in service.
- The decision the study has to support, and the date by which it has to be made.
- The documents that exist: shafting arrangement, machinery arrangement, piping diagrams, manufacturer data, service and damage records.
- Any measurements taken: jacking curves, gap and sag, bearing temperatures, wear-down, vibration records or performance trials.
Terms
Confidentiality and ownership
Documents supplied by the client remain the property of the client and are treated as confidential. A non-disclosure agreement can be put in place before any technical information is exchanged.
Calculation models, software and methods developed by Advik Protofab remain its property. The results, the reports and the engineering conclusions issued under an engagement are the client's to use, including for submission to a classification society by the party that society recognises for the vessel. We support that submission through review, answering the society’s questions on our work until they are closed.