At Damen Shipyards Group, field service engineers fly all over the world to provide service and carry out repairs. Besides mechanics and electronics, communication networks are increasingly important, with Modbus as the standard protocol. To update their staff's knowledge, Damen sought Modbus training. The shipbuilder chose itsme because of the customized solutions and flexibility the industrial service provider offered. "You couldn't find this level of service anywhere else."“
Damen Shipyards Group builds all kinds of ships—such as tugs, ferries, yachts, coastal vessels, and patrol vessels—for the civil and military markets. The group has more than thirty operating companies, serving customers worldwide and also providing service. At the headquarters in Gorinchem, Theo Ouwehand is responsible for this as service coordinator operations. "Just like with cars, we offer a warranty on our ships. If something breaks, we have to fix it, and we fly in our mechanics. These could be welders, but also electronics engineers or people with expertise in communication networks. Our service department has a total of approximately 250 employees, including fifty field service engineers.".
A ship is essentially one big machine and is therefore full of PLCs, sensors, recorders, and controllers for control. Modbus is the standard protocol for communication between them. "It's the cheapest network and is used on many systems and components," explains Arjen Schutte, technical sales engineer at itsme. "It works with simple codes. In the past, we had the two-wire serial version via Modbus RTU (Remote Terminal Unit); nowadays, it's over Ethernet with Modbus TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)."“
“We were able to discuss in advance which things we wanted to see covered”
Knowledge of Modbus is therefore essential for technicians who have to troubleshoot. Ouwehand therefore started looking for training for his technicians. He was already familiar with itsme from its occasional component deliveries and ultimately chose the industrial service provider for its Modbus training. "We wanted a customized training where we could discuss the topics we wanted to cover beforehand with one of our field service engineers. itsme offered that, and I couldn't find it at this level elsewhere." Schutte: "They were looking for basic training where they could learn about the codes and IP addresses, how to make connections, and so on. The great thing was that they really asked questions about what they wanted to know. I focused on that as much as possible. If you have a group of four or five people, it might be difficult for one, while I can delve deeper for another. But I think I've found a good balance between the two. The great thing is that you see people teaching each other."“
The biggest challenge, according to Ouwehand, was scheduling the training days. "You could schedule them for a longer period, but then you might find one of the trainees has to go to a ship for a job." Fortunately, Schutte was very flexible. "I don't teach standard courses; I always do specials. Of course, I prefer a training day to be scheduled a week in advance, but if they say they can go tomorrow, that's no problem for me either."“
“They actually see the codes moving back and forth across the line.”
The course is primarily very practical, Schutte reports. “I explain what the protocol entails, how it works, how you can measure it, and what you might be doing wrong. After an hour of explanation, the participants can get started themselves. I've sourced software from all over the place that allows them to send messages across the network and measure what's happening. They see exactly how the codes for the various Modbus functions flow back and forth across the line between the master and slave: if they send this message, they get that response back. They can listen to all of this using the Wireshark tool, which they can download for free to their PC. They receive this software along with the handout for their work.”
The first course was held at the beginning of this year. Ouwehand was pleased with it. "My people were really satisfied with what they learned. About half of our fifty field service engineers need to have Modbus knowledge; we want them all to take the course in the next two years. And if they want to learn more after that, we'll return to itsme to take things a step further." Schutte points out, among other things, the importance of cybersecurity, which is only becoming more important due to the increasing threat and recent European regulations. "You don't want a ship to become rudderless because of a hack." Ouwehand is certainly open to it, but that will be for his successor. "After almost forty years in the navy and twelve years at Damen, I'll be retiring soon. Of course, I'll hand this over properly." For now, thanks to his efforts, Damen is getting sufficient Modbus knowledge on board through the itsme training.
