Rodman Lusitania Construçao and Reparaçao Naval, S.A., is the name of the new shipyard of the Rodman Group in Valença do Minho, in the north of Portugal. These new facilities are one of the most modern in Europe, they occupy a total surface of 60.000 square meters, of which 20.000 are built, divided in two sheds, the bigger one having a length of 180,5 meters and a width of 90,5 meters, turning it, with a total surface of 16.335 square metres and six cranes of 12,6 tons into the largest industrial shed in the north of Portugal and the largest one in yachting industry of the Iberian Peninsula. These facilities have a production capacity for yachts of up to 16 meters length, the theoretical limit for their later transport by road. At the moment the models of the new Rodman range Fisher Cruiser Series are manufactured in these facilities, and in the future the smallest models of the Rodman Muse range, up to 16 meters length, will be manufactured here, with a capacity for a simultaneous production of 25 boats. With these new facilities Rodman’s joint production capacity can reach 400 yachts per year and is positioned at the highest segment regarding technology, quality control, workforce health and safety and respect of the environment.

EFFICIENCY AND ECOLOGY
At the new shipyard an underfloor heating system is used; this means that the heating runs below the floor, so that the moulds and the pieces that are manipulated, due to the simple fact that there are close to the floor, there are at a proper temperature for their manipulation, with no need to warm up the whole factory. In addition, the factory is warmed up by devices called aerothermos, that allow to warm up more specific areas by means of air movements. This happens for example in the lamination areas, where styrene emissions are produced and have to be eliminated; styrene is heavier than the air, so that it tends to descend towards the floor; for this reason grids have been installed on the floor that gather these gaseous components and, by means of extractors, they are eliminated through carbon filters. In order to make easier the stability of the inner temperature the air is expelled to the outside or it is partially reintroduced, after filtering it, more often in summer and less in winter, because it is more interesting to take advantage of the highest temperature of the air inside. The regulation is made of automatically. The management of the production of the group is based on the usage of the techniques and of the “Lean Manufacturing System” philosophy, like the Kanban, for the control of the different productive processes, by means of cards that show at any time at which stage is the production process and allows to adjust the production to the demand. This methodology was applied for the first time by Toyota. For the best usage of the materials the cut of the fibre and boards is made by means of numerical control robots and automated feeding.

HAND AND RTM LAMINATE
The large pieces such as the hulls or the decks are hand laminated, in the conventional way.The shipyard is also making vacuum laminate tests by means of infusion. However, some pieces of moderate dimensions are made by means of a of mould and plug system, called RTM Light (Resin Transfer Moulding), consisting in placing the different layers of fibre glass onto a mould that closes by means of its plug, then vacuum is applied and the resin is injected. With this system three things are obtained: a uniform thickness on all the pieces, a perfect finish of both sides and the absence of air bubbles inside, which means a constant quality, plus the elimination of the styrene emissions. Once the large pieces are extracted from the moulds they are moved to an independent cabin where the surplus is trimmed. The trimming is made in a separate cabin with a strong vacuum to eliminate particles generated during the process avoiding that these materials in suspension propagate throughout the rest of the facilities. The shipyard also has three painting booths separated from the rest of the installation, with their own inner micro-climate regarding humidity and temperature, and with a size of 30 by 9 meters each.

ASSEMBLY
The deck and the hull are manipulated separately during most of the process, to ease the movements of the workers, to avoid the concentration of workers inside of the boat and to avoid therefore the damage during the constructive process. 65 % of the boat is built on an open hull. For the assembly work made on each boat there are placed in a comb shape by the central quay, in a similar way as the por t moorings, in such a way that each work station has its own electrical connections and a high pressure air intake that sucks in the dust produced by the trimming and the fitting of the pieces. Metallic assembly work surfaces have the references that allow to place the reinforcements, floor frames, frames, and bulkheads in their right position; this system avoids misalignments during the assembly process that, if there were to happen could be cumulative, with the corresponding time cost per hour that carrying out the required corrections would imply. Once inner elements in place the whole is laminated in a structural way, with no screws, so that the vibrations are eliminated, with no rigid joints between the bulkheads and the hull, but what is used are absorbent elements, so that the transmission of the impacts is reduced. Once the boat is finished the quality control is made and it is tested in an inner swimming pool with water tightness, static stability (the dynamic stability is made at sea) tests, etc. ... The swimming pool has a capacity of 500 cubic meters, water purifier and acts as a deposit for the fire fighting system, because the factory has 3.500 sprinklers. The swimming pool has petrol pumps and a deeper area just in case a sailboat has to be tested. Curtains and long cushions are assembled later, because they are more delicate. All the components, from the woodwork to the metalwork, going through the upholsteries, are made in-house, with the exception of the electrical wiring that is ordered to external companies.
The second shed welcomes the offices, the stores and one of the jewels of the Rodman crown: a five axes milling machine. It is the largest milling machine on the whole Iberian Peninsula; placed in a 21 meters length by 7 metres width and 4,80 metres height shed, in which it is possible to produce 1:1 scale models that will allow the construction of the moulds of any piece, regardless of how big it might be. The five axes refer to the addition of the Cartesian coordinates plus the polar coordinates, that is to say: length, height, width, radius and angle. For the time being, the Rodman Group is integrated by Rodman Polyships S.A.U.; Metalships Docks, S.A.U. Conafi S.A. with headquarters in the south of Portugal; and Rodman Lusitania S.A., with headquarters in the north of Portugal. The annual turnover of the Rodman Group exceeds 100 million euros, with around 500 direct jobs and as many indirect ones, around 500 units produced every year and 14.000 boats cruising the waters all around world.