Austal USA
Internship Success Story
Creating Long-Term Savings Through Additive Manufacturing
Austal is one of the largest shipbuilding companies in the world, producing passenger ferries, patrol boats, high-speed support vessels, surface combatants, and multi-role vessels.
Austal USA opened its Mobile, Alabama shipyard in 1999 and has grown into one of the area’s largest employers, with approximately 4,000 employees. The Mobile facility supports major U.S. Navy shipbuilding programs, including the Littoral Combat Ship and Expeditionary Fast Transport programs.
Summer 2019 Internship
Applying Mechanical Engineering in a Shipyard Environment
During the summer of 2019, the Alabama Productivity Center placed Thomas Mercier with Austal USA.
Thomas was a senior mechanical engineering student at The University of Alabama and had recently completed a co-op with Johnson Controls in Geneva, Alabama.
During his internship, Thomas worked on two primary projects: evaluating vendor products for Austal employees and developing replacement parts through additive manufacturing.
Project One
Evaluating Products and Supporting Purchasing Decisions
Thomas met with sales representatives, listened to product presentations, and evaluated the options being proposed to Austal.
He then created reports for Austal employees that summarized the products and helped decision-makers compare which options best met the company’s needs.
Project Two
Replacing Purchased Parts With 3D-Printed Designs
Thomas also worked on an additive manufacturing project. Additive manufacturing creates three-dimensional objects by building material layer by layer.
He met with skilled workers to identify small parts and components they regularly needed to order. Instead of purchasing a replacement part for approximately $30 to $40, Thomas modeled the part in CAD software and produced it with a 3D printer for roughly $1.
Once a design was completed, Austal could save the CAD file and print the same part again whenever it was needed, eliminating repeated purchasing costs and reducing wait time.
The Process
Turning a One-Time Design Into Ongoing Savings
1
Identify the Part
Skilled workers identified frequently ordered parts that could potentially be produced internally.
2
Model the Design
Thomas measured the part and recreated it using CAD software.
3
Print and Reuse
Austal printed the part at a fraction of the purchase price and retained the digital design for future use.
Measurable Results
Additive Manufacturing Impact
Thomas generated approximately $80,000 in cost-saving improvements during the internship, and those savings can continue growing as Austal reuses the completed designs.
$80,000
Estimated Cost Savings
$1
Approximate Cost Per Printed Part
$30–$40
Typical Purchased Part Cost
Long-Term Value
A Project That Continues to Deliver Results
The value of Thomas’s work extended beyond the summer internship. By creating reusable CAD designs, Austal gained a library of parts that could be produced internally whenever needed.
Each future print provides additional savings while also reducing dependence on outside orders and shortening the time required to replace commonly used parts.
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