Germany's Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft mbH & Co has become the first shipbuilder to benefit from a revolutionary electronic drawing approval service that negates the need for mailing or couriering ship drawings and documentation back and forth around the world.

The shipbuilder used DNV's state-of-the-art eApproval solution during the construction of two ro-ro car carriers for Und Ro/Ro Isletmeleri AS.

DNV, the first class society to be able to offer electronic drawing approval as a complete and secure service, expects eApproval to become the standard approval service of the future - a sentiment echoed by Markus Brinkmann, Naval Architect and eApproval co-ordinator at Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, who remarked that eApproval was 'the missing link in customer oriented plan approval'.

"It was much easier to handle documents and to keep the overview of documents. And now we are able to see if the drawings have reached DNV. When sending drawings via email or paper mail, you don't know when and if they arrive," he said.

For the end user the system is far from complicated. First the shipyard or designer logs on to DNV Exchange, which provides the secure web environment needed to work effectively. Once online, drawings and calculations for approval can be uploaded and approved documentation downloaded in few minutes or even seconds. The documentation is then available to DNV almost immediately. Additionally, the client has continuous access to the status of submitted documentation. A further boon is that drawings and documents can be 'posted' at anytime from anywhere in the world as the system is based on Internet technology.

At the approval centre, systems are in place to allow comments and stamp to be added electronically as well, so the end result is 'a fully stamped and approved drawing' returned to the client's user account on DNV Exchange.
The gains in both delivery time and paper handling costs are obvious, but the move to electronic approval also leads to opportunities for increased collaboration and co-operation. Smart boards, video conferencing or just PCs can allow both parties to discuss and work on drawings at the same time even if separated by oceans. Problem solving is made that much easier.

Throughout eApproval's development, DNV maintained a high focus on security. As a result, a number of measures have been included to control user-access: user name and password after an eApproval contract is signed, encrypted file transfer and virus protection together contribute to a very secure web service.
With a faster exchange of information to assist with shorter design times; easy access and overview of documentation status; a reduction of paper, mailing time and associated costs; and more efficient communications, DNV believes its eApproval solution will improve the level of service it can offer its clients and ease the flow of information between all parties.

Markus Brinkmann's appraisal of the service is such that he told Classification News: "I'd like to take this opportunity of thanking DNV for introducing the system and the possibility for us to be the first company to use it. We hope that you will continue working on this new tool to be one step ahead compared to other classification societies."
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