조선해양산업의 협력업체 운영 개선 방안 분석

Analysis on Improvement Approaches for Managing Subcontractors in the Shipbuilding Industry

Recent changes in the shipbuilding industry show that it is difficult for Korean big ship makers to lead the global shipbuilding market with technologies only. Price has recently become the key factor of competitiveness for global ship orders due to tighter competition and decreasing demand. Thus, it is very imperative to secure competitiveness in terms of manufacturing costs. Among others, it is one of the most important factors to cut labor costs for competitions with international shipbuilders. This research carries out a case study on a Korean big shipbuilder, along with a Japanese ship maker, Imabari, and a Singapore company, Sembcorp Marine. Imabari has grown to become the largest shipbuilder in Japan with continuous profits, while Sembcorp Marine has surfaced as one of the strongest competitors against Korean shipyards in part of the shipbuilding sector. This paper analyzes approaches and strategies to boost competitiveness in terms of manufacturing costs by saving labor costs for Korean big shipbuilders. This study also presents meaningful implications for the Korean shipbuilding industry by providing the Korean government with guidelines for its policies.