Defining value and market potential for novel products

The client:

A multi-national company in Northern Europe

The project:

To help guide their research team in raw material product development for the marine market.

The client needed to identify and quantify key market sectors to target for growth, based on its in-house expertise.

The key attributes of the raw material were assessed and valued by linking them to benefits to the end user.

The outcomes:

The valuation of the raw material was used for pricing guidelines.

Safinah went on to provide detailed assistance with paint formulation, test programme development and management. The team identified modifications for the materials to work perfectly prior to releasing them for marine application. The work with this client continues on a regular basis with both new and existing ideas being developed and reviewed.

Paint companies, training:
Understanding the market, the competitor's and the user's needs

The client:

A leading marine paint company in Northern Europe

The project:

To create and deliver a market awareness workshop for the senior marine managers looking at three key segments: new building, dry dock and maintenance at sea.

The outcomes:

New building: demand was projected on a region-by-region basis in terms of litres of paint of the key product types. Safinah generated a model based on the number of vessels and typical vessel areas to develop a market demand forecast. Dry-dock: demand was developed based on the projected demand for repair in the key regions around the world. A specific model was developed to deal with anti-fouling demand.

Maintenance at Sea: was modelled and forecast demands created. This work was updated two years later with a greater emphasis on the Far-East market and the development of potential strategies for the client in this key region.

Shipyards, building
Reducing cost and man-hours by improving coating process integration

The client:

A shipyard in North America

The project:

To assess all aspects of its coating activities at both pre-production and production stages

The outcomes:

Safinah carried out a Coating Activity Review and provided immediate feedback.

They developed short/medium and long-term action plans identifying priority areas. The yard was benchmarked against yards worldwide and local competitors in terms of productivity and cost for the overall parameters of performance.

The yard repeated the exercise three years later to check their progress in key areas and to identify a new set of priorities after significant investment in the facility.

The work identified areas of improvement such as major man-hour savings, improvements in the reporting systems using computerised systems and having coating input at the design stage for the development of a suitable coating strategy.

Coating contractors, market analysis:
Market analysis to develop an international presence

The client:

Company in Northern Europe

The project:

To review key market sectors in the Far-East, Europe and the USA to identify opportunities for acquisition or generic growth.

Safinah developed a corporate strategy for growth and expansion as well as assessing market opportunities in target countries. This included training, market analysis, IPR review and technical support.

The outcomes:

The company has now expanded internationally to become one of the biggest in the world.

Safinah continues to advise this client and is working with senior managers to develop their strategy over the coming five years.

Ship owners/managers, troubleshooting, maintenance, on-site investigations:
Specifications to reduce through life costs and meet functional needs

1. The client:

A manager of over 100 vessels in Southern Europe

The project:

The client had 8 chemical tankers which had been rejected for cargo carriage as a result of perceived problems with the cargo tank coating.

Safinah investigated the nature of the contamination problems and made an independent assessment of alternative cleaning strategies for the client.

This work was the first of its kind to involve the analysis of the major proprietary cleaning agents and how they should be handled without damaging the very expensive coatings.

The outcomes:

Safinah recommended a cleaning procedure and the appropriate materials suitable for the coating and the cargo carried. This has now been implemented by the owner and the ship is back in operation.

2. The client:

The owner of a fleet in Northern Europe

The project:

To develop a method to assess the technical merit of bids from rival paint companies after the owner had put a fleet coating contract out to tender.

Safinah used a functional coating specification approach to identify the key attributes for the client in the critical vessel areas.

The outcomes:

The owner selected coatings based on through life costs and technical merit - rather than simply on the basis of the lowest bid.

The selected products are performing in line with expectations.

The client continues to use Safinah for technical support work.

Insurance & legal, analysis and testing:
Cause, quantification, negotiation support

The client:

A leading European based loss adjusting firm

The project:

To identify the cause of a coating failure and to assess the proposed method of repair.

The loss adjuster, together with a number of Lloyds syndicates, was managing a claim resulting from a coating failure on an offshore structure.

The outcomes:

Safinah identified the extent of the liability by reviewing both shipyard records and on site records to assess if the application had been in line with the manufacturer's specification.

The method of repair was reviewed and an alternative more robust approach recommended for those areas that fell within the terms of the insurance.

Legal, expert witness support

The client:

Ship owner & design consultancy

The project:

To mitigate a claim by charterers for speed loss due to fouling.

The outcomes:

Safinah contributed to the assessment of the coating selected and its suitability for the trading pattern of the vessel and its last dry-docking. It also assessed the expected speed loss based on the naval architecture analysis of the problem.

The client was successful in defending against the claim.

Regulatory bodies; health, safety and environmental management:
Environmental management

The client:

Conseil Europeén de l'industrie des Pintures, des Encres d'imprimerie et des Couleurs d'Art (CEPE)

The project:

To provide urgent technical assistance to develop a definitive scenario model for anti-fouling environmental impacts at the new build and repair phases of ships, leisure craft and aqua culture.

This European Consortium commissioned Safinah to develop the emission scenario and to provide input into an OECD report being prepared by third party consultants.

The outcomes:

The analysis carried out was the first of its kind.

Safinah created a model to look at a range of facilities from good to poor and developed emissions ratings and scenarios for an overall assessment.

Safinah's team met the tight time schedule requested.

The report findings were incorporated into the final OECD report, which is available through the European Chemicals Bureau at www.ecb.jrc.it/biocides.

Support for independent assessment of regulatory development

The client:

A government ministry in Asia

The project:

To provide an independent view on proposed IMO regulations on anti-corrosion measures to be implemented for the worlds' fleet.

The outcomes:

Safinah used its world-wide network of clients and shareholders to obtain up to the minute assessments from over 7 major shipbuilding nations.

They identified the key problem areas and challenges being imposed by the regulations proposed as well as identifying points of weakness/contradictions within the regulations themselves.

Classification societies, training:
Support in guideline development and training

The client:

A leading classification society in Northern Europe

The project:

To identify the range of services it should offer to support the growing IACS involvement in protection against corrosion and control of coatings through the life of the vessel.

The outcomes:

Safinah suggested a number of initiatives which were developed.

This client is now established as a leading provider of advice and guidelines for marine coatings.

Safinah trained 20 senior surveyors in the process of coating during new construction. This was part of the initiative to develop an expertise in coating.

Technology and innovations, managing innovation and IPR, through independent assessment of technology

The client:

A company in Northern Europe

The project:

To carry out research to understand the potential of new technology.

The company had identified specific areas of new technology and their applications to investigate as part of their upstream research plan. Safinah's research consisted of literature searches, speaking to key developers and academics, patent searches and mapping.

The outcomes:

Safinah prioritised the technologies based on key parameters such as cost, development risk and potential to deliver the benefit.

The top ranked project ideas were taken up for further development.

Shipyard, audit/benchmark of the application process to improve productivity

The client:

One of Europe's leading cruise ship builders

The project:

Safinah used its proprietary Coating Audit System to review the application activities of the yard and made recommendations.

The outcomes:

Short and medium term plans were put in place to improve productivity and bench mark the client against competitors.

Over the last four years the client has implemented many of the recommended changes and confirms that performance has improved.

Decommissioning, identifying the challenges of decommissioning in Europe

The client:

European Commission

The project:

Safinah worked with two other companies, Det Norske Veritas and Appledore International Ltd., to identify the potential for decommissioning ships in various sites throughout Europe.

Safinah made a significant contribution to the end of life scenarios for the coatings on board the vessels as well as providing input to all other aspects of the project.

The outcomes:

A number of potential sites and scenarios were identified indicating that it would be possible to decommission ships in an environmentally sustainable manner in Europe.

The report has been widely disseminated and referenced in subsequent studies. http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/maritime/maritime_industrial/studies.htm

Marine, developing a coating approach for a complex build programme

The client:

A major defence contractor

The project:

To develop solutions for coating issues associated with the largest warships to be built in the UK for many years.

Safinah had to develop common standards, strategies and a cost reduction approach for this four site build programme to achieve both cost and quality requirements.

The outcomes:

Safinah developed a common coating strategy to fit with the proposed build strategy and recommended a common set of standards for the work to be carried out.

At the same time, Safinah developed a cost model to show how cost reductions of 30% could be achieved against the base specification without compromising the integrity of the coating process and scheme.

Protective, keeping expensive oil refining capacity protected

The client:

The insurers of a large oil-refining complex in Eastern Europe

The project:

The passive fire protection systems on both the fabric and production facilities of this major refining site had failed.

Safinah carried out an in depth investigation into the cause of the failure and solutions to restore the first of the three different systems used.

The outcomes:

The first system has been restored and the client is completely satisfied with the work.

As a result, Safinah has been re-appointed for the assessment of the remaining two systems, as the sole independent assessor by both parties involved in the claim.

Offshore, identifying the cause of paint failure and defining and negotiating the cost of the means of repair

The client:

The world's largest marine insurance market place and the world's leading loss adjusting firm.

The project:

Insurers faced a significant claim by a major oil company after a coating failure on an offshore structure.

Working on behalf of the insurers, Safinah was able to assess the nature of the failure and recommend an alternative solution reducing the claim value by 30%.

The outcomes:

The claim was ultimately settled for the amount stipulated by Safinah and Safinah was awarded the contract for five other similar structures with coating problems.

Construction Companies / Facility Management

The client:

A Facilities Manager

The project:

A review of coating failure on major MOD facility was requested to assess cause of failure and propose repair procedure and products.

The outcomes:

The cause of the failure was identified and repairs recommended which were carried out successfully.

Defining coating procedures for a mega yacht

The client:

A leading European Mega-yacht builder and their customer

The project:

To ensure that the build of a new mega-yacht could be completed on time and to budget.

Safinah worked with both parties to define procedures and methods. We provided on the ground advice and equipment for measuring the cosmetic finish and detailed procedures for monitoring the progress of the work.

The outcomes:

Client was extremely satisfied with Safinah's work and has retained Safinah for further consulting in order to complete the project.

Improved communication between client and yard, improved progress of the work and improved quality of the application with a reduction in re-work.