Safeguarding the fleet with CADMATIC Wave
Naval shipbuilding is among the most demanding engineering endeavors. Defense yards must build highly complex vessels under strict security, quality, and lifecycle requirements that far exceed commercial standards.
Construction often begins before all systems are fully designed, requiring continuous collaboration between design teams, production planners, suppliers, and naval authorities. Traditional product management tools rarely meet these needs. A naval vessel is not just an assembly of parts but a living ecosystem of systems, compartments, and stakeholders.
CADMATIC Wave addresses these challenges by providing a secure, shipbuilding-centric digital backbone that connects every deck and department. While some parts of the ship are being welded, engineers are still refining cable routes and equipment selections. This concurrency creates fragmentation, and manual handovers often lead to delays, rework, and compliance risks.
Designed for shipbuilding reality
Wave models a vessel from two intersecting perspectives:
- Functional systems (e.g., propulsion, ventilation, weapons)
- Spatial zones (decks, compartments, bulkheads)
Tags preserve the identity and location of every system element throughout design, procurement, and installation. Replacing a pump doesn’t break traceability.
This marine-specific topology lets shipyard teams start projects quickly – without excessive customization.
Security at the core
Defense projects demand trust. Sensitive data, classified designs, and mission-critical updates must be protected at every stage. Wave is built with security-first principles:
- Role-based access control – Only authorized users can access or modify content
- Encryption by default – Data is protected during transfer and at rest
- Audit-ready architecture – Built to support defense-grade compliance standards
For naval yards, this means confidence that the digital backbone of the fleet remains safeguarded – now and into the future.
Integrated project management and connected data
Wave is more than a document repository. It connects the entire vessel lifecycle from early sales estimates to system design, drawings, material take-offs, work orders, commissioning, and warranty records.
Procurement, project management, quality, and supply chain teams all access the same up-to-date dataset. That ensures purchases, schedules, and design approvals stay aligned.
When suppliers update drawings or classification societies request documentation, the changes are instantly available to all stakeholders.
Built for concurrent design and construction
Naval construction starts before designs are finalized. This makes issue resolution on the shop floor critical.
With Wave, production foremen can raise issues directly from the 3D model or engineering document by marking the affected component or zone. Engineers see the exact context, apply the fix, and – once approved – the update is propagated to all relevant sister ships. For example, if a vibration issue is solved by adjusting a pump mount, Wave links the fix to the pump’s tag. The updated solution is automatically applied to hulls 2–4 where the same tag exists, thereby preventing future oversights.
Enabling collaboration across the value chain
Shipbuilding involves a wide network: designers, subcontractors, suppliers, naval authorities. Wave enables controlled document transmittals with secure sharing, acknowledgment tracking, and full audit trails.
Procurement teams can see exactly where each component is used, thanks to equipment-tag-level traceability. This connected collaboration reduces misalignment and prevents costly rework.
Built for naval and marine realities
What sets Wave apart is its deep alignment with the unique demands of naval shipbuilding – where precision, security, and readiness are non-negotiable.
Wave reflects how shipbuilders view the vessel: as a dynamic network of systems and compartments, not just disconnected drawings. Functional systems like propulsion or combat are mapped to spatial zones, so every stakeholder – designer, planner, or maintainer – navigates the same connected picture.
Because naval construction evolves during execution, Wave supports controlled concurrency:
- Mature work packages are released early
- Ongoing areas evolve under full traceability
- Every deviation, approval, and change is automatically captured and linked to sister vessels
Your digital backbone from concept to warranty
In short, Wave is not just an engineering tool – it’s the thread that connects every compartment, system, and stakeholder in your naval projects.
With Wave you get:
- A marine-specific data model
- Strict security and compliance support
- Agile issue management
- Sister ship propagation
- Seamless pathway to digital twins
Wave adapts to how shipbuilders actually work – enabling secure, traceable, and efficient collaboration from concept to warranty.