Dassault Systèmes, AITAC Partner on Digital Shipbuilding

A New Bridge Between Design and Classification

Dassault Systèmes has entered a partnership with marine engineering firm AITAC aimed at advancing model-based design and approval processes in shipbuilding, according to a report by Smart Maritime Network. The collaboration centres on the OCX (Open Class 3D Exchange) open data standard, which is intended to replace traditional 2D structural drawings with interactive 3D models.

Under what the companies describe as an official Component Application Architecture partnership, AITAC will lead development, commercialisation, and deployment of a new system called OCX eXchanger. This tool is designed to enable exchange of OCX data within Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform, allowing shipyards, designers, and classification societies to work from a shared digital format rather than conventional drawings.

Supporting the Shift to Model-Based Approval

The partnership is positioned to support the broader shipbuilding industry’s move toward fully digital, model-based design and classification workflows. Jean-Benoît Bensoussan, Marine & Offshore Director at Dassault Systèmes, said shipbuilding is moving rapidly toward model-based engineering and approval, and that OCX eXchanger represents a capability meant to help customers accelerate digital continuity from design through to classification while cutting down on manual data preparation.

According to the report, adoption of the OCX standard is expanding across the industry as a method for 3D model-based approval, giving shipyards, designers, and classification societies a standardised way to exchange vessel structural information digitally.

What OCX eXchanger Will Do

The system will let users of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform import, export, and manage OCX-compliant data directly within their digital twin environment. The stated aim is to close gaps between 3D design work and class approval processes, and to improve collaboration across the shipbuilding ecosystem.

Marijan Lorencin, Chief Executive of AITAC, said the OCX eXchanger tool for the 3DEXPERIENCE platform addresses a need the industry has had for some time — connecting 3D design directly to class approval.

The move reflects a wider trend in shipbuilding toward digital continuity, where structural and engineering data is expected to flow more seamlessly between design teams, shipyards, and classification societies without repeated manual conversion between formats.

Apeks view — Replacing static 2D drawings with a shared, standardised 3D data format is a sound direction: it reduces the manual re-entry and interpretation errors that creep in when design, yard, and class each work from separate files. The real test will be adoption depth — whether classification societies and shipyards actually converge on OCX in practice, not just pilot it. Standardised, exchangeable structural data is a genuine efficiency gain, provided engineers still verify what the models say before approval hinges on them.”