Ships produced by shipyards in the Far East, where production is rapid and standardised, have traditionally been cheaper than those produced in Western countries. One advantage for European shipbuilders is their ability to offer greater flexibility in tailoring ships' characteristics to customers' specific requirements. Indeed, pre-design flexibility has become more and more important as the complexity of ships has increased. But the preparation of a clear and detailed offer, crucial to contract negotiations, is a poorly integrated process, fraught with uncertainty and estimation.

The ARGOSHIP project was aimed at developing software for rationalising the important process of pre-contractual design. The new system guides the operator from the customers' specifications through to the final technical preparation of the offer, allowing rapid formulation of alternative designs and reducing the manpower and time required for the preparation of an offer. Project partners included four of Europe's largest shipyards.

The ARGOSHIP system has been adopted by the Italian Navy and project partners say it can be adapted to other industrial environments.