How Astican Shipyard Uses OpenSpace
to Improve Issue Resolution and Provide
Accurate Budgets
Based in Spain’s Canary Islands, Astican Is Using 360° Photo Documentation
Technology for Complex Ship Repairs

Goal: Improve Collaboration and Budgeting
Process

Astican sometimes doesn’t have architectural drawings

Astican is a privately-owned ship repair yard off the coast

documentation key for coordination, but the process ofof northwest Africa in Spain’s Canary Islands. The facility

capturing and sharing photos hasn’t traditionally been

(where more than 1,500 employees clock in to work daily)

scalable. A worker might have photos on their phone

contains seven dry docking lanes. A range of marine

showing the condition of steel works or paint, but theirvessels comes there for repairs, including ferries, ro-co-workers have no way of knowing those photos exist.

to refer to, since the original plans for decades-old ships
have been lost to time. This makes detailed, accurate photoros, cruises, HSCs, containers, tankers, offshore vessels,tugs, fishing boats, drillships and semisubmersibles. Their

Astican wanted a photo documentation solution that wasservice menu includes underwater inspections, mechanic

intuitive enough to be used by workers in the field—notworks, engine repair and propulsion maintenance.

just IT employees with technical skills. Another objectivewas“Ship repair is a fast-paced industry,” said Augustín Tapia

toimprove

collaboration

workflows

betweenstakeholders in different countries to save time.

Quesada, Astican’s Head of IT. “Each project might only
last two weeks, but it will mobilize hundreds of workers
and involve dozens of companies.”
Not only does Astican manage a large site where employees
and subs work on condensed timelines, but the projects
are typically multinational, involving project managers andowners from around the world. Since engines and othercomponents from far-flung parts of the world often havelittle in common, every ship presents a unique challenge.

With OpenSpace, we can share
everything with them—they cansee how their ship came in, how
we are repairing it, and how theship is leaving.”
Tapia Quesada, Head of IT, Astican

“With any new technology, we are looking for ways to
cut business costs, improve quality, increase efficiency
and avoid errors, and OpenSpace was no different,” Tapia

TENS OF THOUSANDS

Quesada said.

EUROS SAVED

Strategy: Deploy OpenSpace Across aVariety of Functions

90%

LESS TIME SPENT ON PHOTO
DOCUMENTATION

Astican’s IT department was the first to bring OpenSpace
into the field to capture the condition of incoming ships
and assess needed repairs, but the technology was simple

board the ship or visit the yard. Instead, they can drop inenough for project managers and others to learn quickly.

on the project remotely—just like ship owners can. This
allows for transparency, as well as avoidance of disputes,

To capture a project, all they need to do is strap a 360°

streamlining

camera to their hard hats and walk. From there, captured

operation.

workflows

across

Astican’s

expansive

imagery is automatically uploaded to the OpenSpaceplatform and stitched together into a Google Street“A lot of times, the owner is on the other side of theView-style video, creating a virtual tour of the project.

world,” Tapia Quesada said. “With OpenSpace, we canshare everything with them—they can see how their“It’s often difficult for guys on site to learn new

ship came in, how we are repairing it, and how the ship istechnology, but they have learned to use OpenSpace

leaving. Everything is very thorough.”really well and have even used it on projects in France andNamibia without being asked,” Tapia Quesada observed.
“We don’t have to push them at all. They’re seeing as
much benefit as the guys in IT. There’s a real simplicity
that has made it easy for everyone to adopt.”

There are tasks where we seetime savings of 90%”

Results: More Accurate Quotes, Better
Issue Resolution and Heightened
Productivity
OpenSpace has been integrated into nearly every stageof work at Astican, from intake to work progress to final
review.

Tapia Quesada, Head of IT, Astican“We highly recommend OpenSpace,” Tapia Quesada said,
Because OpenSpace is so easy to use, Astican is now

noting that two sister companies, Astander and Astibal,

capturing ships before work even begins. This puts them

are also using it at Astican’s urging. “I’ve also shared it

in a better position when claims arise, since they canwith friends in the construction sector here in the Canarypoint to specific, time-stamped captures to prove that

Islands because it’s really that useful.”damage pre-dated a ship’s arrival at their facility.
To date, Astican has been achieving results in the following
Through virtual tours, Astican’s office staff are looped
into key conversations without having to physicallyareas with OpenSpace:•

Cost Savings: Repairing a ship sometimes requires

Time Savings: OpenSpace helps teams be moreniche machinery, such as cranes capable of lifting

efficient with their time. For example, IT personnel

600 tons, which is high-value, high-stakes work.

don’t need to spend time documenting projects

OpenSpace provides an efficient way to increase

themselves; they can rely on colleagues’ captures

accountability. When captures are taken at every

and avoid lengthy commutes and site walks. “Therestep, there’s no confusion and no drawn-out

are tasks where we see time savings of 90%,” Tapia

disputes—just straightforward communication andQuesada said. “Since imagery is pinned to the project

honest resolutions. The ability to resolve claimsplan, we can quickly locate relevant images without

speedily without having to shoulder responsibility

a prolonged document search. It used to be a muchfor repairs not caused by the Astican team has, inlonger process, since manual photos were stored insome cases, saved money. For example, on a recent

many places.”

two-month project, a dispute arose over whether
Astican was responsible for a crack in the ship thatthe customer thought occurred when it was moved bya crane. Astican was able to prove the ship had arrived
already with the crack, saving them tens of thousandsof euros.
•••

Improved Collaboration and Productivity: By using
OpenSpace captures as a single source of truth, avariety of workers—from painters and welders toengineers and project managers—can quickly get on
the same page. At the same time, OpenSpace improvestransparency for globally-dispersed ship owners. “WeMore Accurate Budgeting: Before OpenSpace, Astican

can easily organize every project with our auxiliary

provided quotes for customers based on on-siteteams and provide virtual tours to collaborators fromsurveys, which weren’t always very comprehensive. It

all over the world, increasing their confidence in ourwas hard to validate the true condition of a ship, andwork,” Tapia Quesada explained.

a lot could be missed—leading them to under-value
projects. “Now, when our estimators are working on
budgets, they can go back and double-check theposition of images on the project plan as well as any
measurements and comments left by the person
who took the capture, which helps us to fine-tune
the budgets and send them out much faster,” Tapia
Quesada said.