First LPD 17 class ship designed within an Integrated Product Data Environment (IPDE) passed major milestone - 80 percent of design is completed at keel laying. The Avondale Alliance developed technology projected to save more than $4 billion over the life cycle of the ship. The IPDE enables shipbuilders to build the ship virtually before construction using 3D product modeling and simulation, and maintains ship data into the future for planning alterations and upgrades. These capabilities have reduced manufacturing re-work and will deliver dramatic time and cost savings throughout the program's 40-year life.

The Avondale Alliance, which includes prime contractor Litton Avondale, Intergraph Corporation, General Dynamics/Bath Iron Works and Raytheon Corporation, is a partnership assembled to design, build and maintain a powerful amphibious assault platform while reducing the U.S. Navy's total cost of ownership. Intergraph's team provided hardware, software and the customization necessary to implement the IPDE.

IPDE integrates technologies for computer-aided design, engineering and manufacturing (CAD/CAE/CAM), data management, configuration management and life-cycle support, with Intergraph's Integrated Ship Design and Production (ISDP) and Asset Information Manager/Ship Information Repository (AIM/SIR) products providing the core functionality. This software environment enables ship designers, production planners, logisticians and team members to develop, modify, query and access the ship's configuration information. ISDP provides a toolset to build a 3D ship product model, test for interferences and conduct virtual walkthroughs prior to construction. This technology, which is applicable to any complex manufacturing product requiring life-cycle configuration management, offers dramatic savings for large construction programs. The LPD 17 team has already seen a very substantial decrease in rework for new construction of the first six units.