Common Project Phases – Selecting Strategy

In history, defense contractors were under great pressure
to build weaponry at an intense level. To accelerate construction
of ships and planes in particular, many new assembly
methods were invented. Avondale shipyards, for example, worked
on the method of building ships. The traditional way had always
been to build the ship in an upright position. However, ships built
from steel required welding in the bottom, or keel area of the
boat, and this was very difficult to do. Avondale decided to build
its ships upside down, to make the welding easier, and then turn
them over to complete the structures above the top deck. This
strategy was so effective that Avondale could build boats faster,
cheaper, and of higher quality than their competitors, and the
strategy is still being used today, nearly seventy years later.