In July this year Intergraph hosted its global APEX technology forum in Shanghai, China. It was the first time this event had been held in China, attracting more than 500 delegates from in excess of 100 companies around the world with over twenty nationalities represented.

As a key partner of Intergraph in the marine industry, DNV Software was invited to introduce the new Nauticus Early Design system which is marketed in close cooperation with Intergraph and their IntelliShip CAD/CAM system, indeed sharing much of the core functionality.

On the first day of the conference, a keynote speech ‘ICT Strategy in a Maritime Business Perspective’ was given by Bjørn K. Haugland, the Regional Manager for DNV Maritime in Greater China. DNV’s ICT strategy and DNV Software’s Nauticus and Brix Workflow Manager software systems were introduced during the presentation. As a key collaborator with Intergraph at the Conference, an introduction to DNV Software and its new Shanghai office was also included in the keynote presentation.

On the second day, Nauticus Early Design, launched at the user conference in Oslo in June, was demonstrated by Niklas Lindwall, product manager in DNV Software. Nauticus Early Design combines the powerful modelling technology of IntelliShip with DNV Software’s wellknown Nauticus solutions for strength assessment and class rule checking. It provides a fully integrated solution, combining a wide range of technologies including finite element analysis, section scantlings, class drawings and code checking, and enables shipyards and design companies to bridge the gap between early design, detailing and production.

The conference attracted a large number of participants from the global marine, offshore and oil & gas industries, many of whom visited the DNV Software exhibition booth. DNV Software personnel were available from the London, Busan, Kobe and Taiwan offices at varying times, providing expertise in risk and asset integrity management, marine and offshore solutions. Many of the delegates came from a process industry background, and there was a great deal of general interest in our Orbit+ and Risk Management solutions, particularly the financial risk extensions to Safeti.

“The APEX conference is an importantmilestone for the collaboration betweenDNV Software and Intergraph in China,”says Øystein Goksøyr, DNV SoftwareRegional Manager in China, who is lookingforward to exploring the markets further in co-operation with Intergraph.