Special Contribution (Part 2) "On the Front Lines of European Shipbuilding: The Lindø Shipyard and the Days of Struggle," by Niels Roed
Phase 2: 1987–2005
The Lindø (Odense) Shipyard Era
In 1987, at the request of Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, the owner of MAERSK at the time, I transferred from the Copenhagen headquarters to the Lindø (Odense) Shipyard, a MAERSK-owned shipyard located on the island of Funen, Denmark. There, I took on the role of head of procurement and logistics.
This period was the most stimulating and rewarding time of my career. At the same time, it was an era in which the European shipbuilding industry was struggling for survival amidst fierce competition from shipyards in the Far East.
At the Lindø Shipyard, we sought survival through three main initiatives:
Expanding part of our production capacity to low-cost regions (the Baltic states)
Modernizing domestic Danish facilities (robotization, introduction of CAD, etc.)
Promoting the international procurement of shipbuilding equipment and components
As the head of procurement, I was deeply involved in all three of these, but in this article, I would like to focus particularly on (2) and (3).
To promote these, we built close cooperative relationships with major shipyards around the world. It began with a partnership with Hitachi Zosen, through which we advanced the introduction of CAD systems and robotization. Later, this cooperation expanded to Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea and the Newport News Shipbuilding in the United States, developing into a collaborative system that included the internationalization of procurement and supply chains.
We called this framework the "Global Shipbuilding Family." The insights gained from it were invaluable. In particular, Newport News in the U.S., with its background in traditionally building naval vessels, had a cost structure significantly different from other shipyards and struggled to enter the commercial shipping market.
Meanwhile, the South Korean shipbuilding industry grew rapidly, skillfully fusing modern shipbuilding technology with low costs and high productivity, ultimately surpassing the European and even some parts of the Japanese shipbuilding industry. Hitachi Zosen remained the closest partner to the Lindø Shipyard until the end, and we were evenly matched in design capability and quality, but even that was not enough to sustain shipbuilding operations in Denmark.
The European shipbuilding industry subsequently almost disappeared, but today, politicians are finally beginning to regret the loss of the capability to build naval vessels.
Shipbuilding at the Lindø Shipyard ended in 2012, but many "Odense-built ships" remain active in the MAERSK fleet to this day. The fact that the crews continue to call them "the highest quality ships" is a great encouragement to me. Was the "Total Cost of Ownership" really evaluated correctly back then? This question remains with me even now.
(To be continued)
.....
Niels Roed
For over 50 years, he has been at the heart of purchasing, procurement, and logistics at MAERSK, and stood on the front lines of European shipbuilding as the head of procurement and logistics at the Lindø (Odense) Shipyard in Denmark.
In recent years, he has been based in Shanghai, China, engaged in port operations and container crane manufacturing.
He is one of the rare practitioners who understands both the field and management.
He has consistently maintained an attitude of respecting both the field and people, transcending national and cultural differences.
His belief that procurement is not merely price negotiation, but the accumulation of trust has remained consistent throughout his long career.
The background of this contribution, as well as Mr. Roed's journey and character, are introduced at
AMCO-Chiken Lab.