In plain terms: Forge rebuilds a ship’s real structure as a 3D model from the
legacy 2D drawings, dead CAD files, and inspection records you already have, then
keeps that model true as the ship is repaired, retrofitted, and surveyed for the
rest of its life.
The short version
A ship coming in for repair usually has no reliable model of what is actually inside it. What exists instead is decades of paper drawings, CAD files nobody can edit anymore, survey reports, and work orders that contradict each other and no longer agree with the steel. Forge reconstructs a structured 3D model from those legacy sources, reconciles it against current inspection and Class records, and flags every conflict before the ship reaches drydock. That is the difference between planning a job and discovering its real scope after the hull is opened. This is not a one-time conversion. Every commercial vessel runs a mandated five-year survey cycle, and every repair, retrofit, and steel renewal pushes the model further from the ship. Reconciliation is the part that has to keep running.What Forge does
Reconstruction
Builds the 3D model from legacy 2D drawings, STEP files, dead CAD files, and
inspection records. It works from what you have, not from a model you were
supposed to receive and never did.
Reconciliation
Keeps the model updated as repairs, retrofits, and drydock work change the
ship, so the model still describes the vessel that is actually in the water.
One source of truth
Pulls paper drawings, dead CAD, Excel bills of material, and work orders into
one live state instead of four records that disagree.
Review gate
Every change passes through your engineer, superintendent, or surveyor before
it is approved. Nothing becomes authoritative on the AI’s say-so.
What you get out of it
Forge is built for the technical departments that manage repair, drydock, and Class compliance. The practical results are:- Drydock planning against real scope. Conflicts surface during planning rather than after the yard cuts the ship open.
- No Class surprises. You know the vessel’s real condition before the surveyor does.
- Less manual reconciliation. Stop hand-checking paper drawings, dead CAD, and conflicting work orders before every planning cycle.
- A record that holds up. Every part of the model traces back to the drawing, survey, or measurement it came from, and to the person who approved it.
What makes it trustworthy
Two commitments shape everything else in these docs. The first is that gaps stay visible. When the drawings do not resolve something, Forge marks it as an open question with the evidence envelope around it. It does not generate plausible geometry to fill the hole. An unresolved region stays selectable and inspectable, so it becomes a research task rather than a false certainty. The second is that the reasoning is kept, not just the result. The records which source supported a choice, which rule version applied, who approved it, and what it replaced. That is what makes a reconstructed model defensible later, in front of a surveyor, an owner, or a regulator.Your data stays yours
Sensitive designs are isolated at the database level, so no customer’s data is visible to another. On-premise and private-cloud deployment are both supported. Models export to open formats, STEP and glTF, with OCX support for structural exchange, so there is no proprietary format holding your ship hostage.How to read these docs
Start Here
The plain-language case: the problem, why it matters, and how Forge fits your
existing tools. No technical background needed.
Concepts
How Forge thinks, one idea at a time. Starts with how a drawing becomes a 3D
model.
Research Cases
A complete vessel reconstructed from historical drawings, inspectable in your
browser.
Research Log
Our weekly progress updates.