In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, companies are actively involved in digital transformation as an innovative strategy to secure competitiveness and achieve growth. The International Data Corporation (IDC) defines digital transformation as a continuous process of adapting to or driving disruptive changes in customers and markets (the external ecosystem) by using digital capabilities to create new business models, products, and services. AT Kearney defines digital transformation as an enterprise activity that proactively responds to changes in the business environment triggered by digital technologies such as mobile, cloud, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and IoT(Internet of Things), aiming to significantly enhance the competitiveness of existing businesses or pursue new growth through innovation. According to IBM, it is a strategy that involves the integration of digital and physical elements to transform business models and establish new directions within industries.

One significant aspect of digital transformation is the increasing importance of collaboration networks within companies and among various partners within the value chain. Digital transformation enables the establishment of organic collaboration networks among raw material suppliers, component providers, service providers, and research institutions within the value chain, facilitating seamless data exchange. The integration of comprehensive and organic production processes through networking among companies in the value chain can lead to improved productivity through supply chain synchronization, efficient resource utilization, reduced production lead times, and accelerated innovation cycles (Oh and Kim, 2022).

The shipbuilding and marine engineering industry, particularly Engineering to Order (ETO) industries, is a representative example where various tasks such as design, material procurement, sourcing, and production are performed simultaneously once an order is received from a client The processes in this industry are complex and have different levels of difficulty, with multiple companies collaborating cooperatively at each stage of the process.

Therefore, the Korean shipbuilding and marine engineering industry, primarily led by large corporations, is vigorously promoting digital transformation as a core strategy to enhance productivity, reduce costs, and focus on core business activities. Many digital transformation initiatives are planned and executed in the areas of Smart Factory/Yard and Smart Ship, with a primary focus on large corporations, aiming to enhance the competitiveness of the shipbuilding and marine engineering industry. However, for more than 50% of partner companies, including suppliers, in the shipbuilding and marine engineering value chain, the implementation of digital transformation strategies is challenging because of the complexity of internal operations and a lack of digital transformation experts. This implies that the technological interfaces related to digital transformation initiatives pursued by large corporations are not sufficiently established, limiting the effectiveness of digital transformation initiatives within large corporations and, consequently, the overall impact of digital transformation across the shipbuilding and marine engineering value chain.

In this study, we analyzed the overall progress of digital transformation and reviewed digital transformation cases from the perspective of cooperation between large, medium, and small-sized enterprises to propose a master plan for cooperative digital transformation for the Korean shipbuilding and marine engineering industry. This plan is expected to foster consensus on collaborative value chain development based on digital transformation in the shipbuilding and marine engineering industry. To this end, we analyzed the current collaboration status between large corporations and partner companies and explored methods to establish an efficient and structured collaborative ecosystem by leveraging digital transformation technologies. Moreover, to facilitate this endeavor, we planned and executed strategies to secure momentum within related internal and external organizations, focusing on a large shipbuilding company “HO Company” (formerly known as “D Company”). Specifically, the responsibilities of the shipbuilding company include providing support for enhancing competitiveness, such as procurement and outsourced production, improving its collaboration systems, and sharing data with partner companies. Partner companies are tasked with enhancing competitiveness by establishing and advancing digital transformation-based systems, such as suitable smart factory systems. These efforts enable the exchange of production and manufacturing information between the shipbuilding company and partner companies using digital transformation technologies. Moreover, to activate the ecosystem within the shipbuilding and marine engineering sector, government agencies should increase financial support by allocating budgets for the development of smart factory systems based on digital transformation, an area where the direct intervention of shipbuilders is restricted to maintaining fairness. Furthermore, by fostering specialized information and communications technology (ICT) companies with in-depth knowledge of the shipbuilding and marine engineering sector and expertise in digital transformation technologies, they will provide technical interface support for digital transformation and develop solutions to bridge the technological gap between large corporations and partner companies. This approach is expected to enhance the overall competitiveness of the entire South Korean shipbuilding and marine engineering value chain using digital transformation.

Since 2008, South Korean shipbuilding companies have been developing and maintaining collaboration systems to share information related to procurement and external production with their partner companies. Furthermore, they have supported their partners in establishing smart factories through government-funded projects. Fig. 1 shows the collaboration system development and support for HO Company, a prominent shipbuilding company in South Korea, highlighting the gradual progression of system development for collaboration support among major shipbuilding companies.

To facilitate seamless collaboration between shipbuilders and their partner companies, information regarding drawings, materials, schedules, transportation, and regular updates on the progress of mutual processes is shared. For partner companies without their systems, shipbuilders utilize Excel-based data for sharing collaboration information. However, partners with their systems are required to separately access and register collaboration data. Fig. 2 shows the service framework for establishing collaboration between shipbuilders and partner companies. Information sharing within the shipbuilding industry is primarily based on Excel, with plans and execution information shared between parent companies and partner companies. Some partner companies equipped with enterprise resource planning/manufacturing execution system (ERP/MES) consider collaboration from a system perspective.

In the shipbuilding industry, information sharing between shipbuilders and SMBs is predominantly important. But it is difficult to standardize ICT systems between shipbuilders and partner companies. So Excel-based information sharing is mostly done owing to the characteristics of the industry.

Consequently, partner companies cannot easily adopt ICT-based systems. As presented in Table 1, which provides an overview of the current state of partner companies in the shipbuilding and maritime industry by region and function, the possession rate of information systems such as ERP/MES among partner companies in the Gyeongsangnam-do and Busan regions is low at 31%. The absence of these information systems poses constraints on smooth collaboration and information exchange, ultimately impacting the competitiveness of large shipbuilders at the top of the value chain. To address this issue, shipbuilders and partner companies need to collaborate to establish efficient and effective ICT systems for symbiotic collaboration.

Therefore, shipbuilders and partner companies manage symbiotic collaboration using collaboration systems provided by shipbuilders, along with Excel-based tools, as shown in Fig. 3. However, the absence of their information systems poses significant limitations in achieving smooth collaboration and information exchange.

Similarly, the majority of partner companies in the shipbuilding and maritime industry significantly rely on Excel for business management. Even when developing systems, efficient implementation can be challenging, potentially resulting in reduced utility because of a lack of skilled personnel and significant manual work related to tasks and operations. Nonetheless, high-quality information systems are crucial as they serve as the foundation for digital transformation.

Furthermore, to address limitations related to source data sharing due to national infrastructure constraints, advanced security systems should be implemented, along with support for enhancing the ease of source data sharing through information systems for design and production information. Table 2 presents an overview of the characteristics of the field of each business partner, emphasizing areas that require significant manual work and information management.

A strategic approach emphasizes developing a standardized open digital foundation system to support process innovation for various partners, instead of crafting a system exclusively for a specific partner. Notably, field experts should be involved when conducting practical process innovatory consultation. Additionally, shipbuilding companies must establish 3D model-based design/production information delivery systems to expand ongoing digital transformations to external production. Then, partner companies can leverage this system and information to minimize vulnerabilities in the shipbuilding and maritime industries, enhance productivity, and reduce costs. Shipbuilding and partner companies should build a technology interface system and automate all processes except those requiring personnel. Fig. 4 shows the direction for establishing a collaborative system for digital transformation. This system should be constructed on a platform that enables data exchange between shipbuilding and partner companies through a common format, rather than integrating data separately for each shipbuilder and its partners. For partner companies without ICT expertise, cloud-based system services should be provided. Notably, the leadership of this system should be implemented in coordination with government-supported projects, rather than being solely initiated by a specific shipbuilder.

The framework presented in Fig. 5 summarizes the necessary tasks for promoting collaborative cooperation, including the development of a digital transformation-based collaboration platform, the development of a common data exchange platform between shipbuilders and partner companies, and digital transformation consulting, based on digital transformation. These efforts should be based on the smart factory standard model integrated with the collaborative systems in shipbuilding companies.

The priority for advancing tasks related to collaborative cooperation based on digital transformation is shown in Fig. 6, considering both urgency and feasibility. Depending on the tasks, government agencies and shipbuilding companies should take the lead in their implementation. Furthermore, specific tasks and roadmaps for digital transformation-based collaborative cooperation have been established based on business items and priorities, as shown in Fig. 7. This roadmap was developed through extensive consultations with experts related to HO Company over several months.

The key tasks and priorities for promoting collaborative cooperation based on digital transformation in the shipbuilding and marine engineering industries are as follows:

These tasks should be prioritized based on urgency and ease of implementation and can be performed through collaboration between government agencies and shipbuilding companies/partner companies.

Digital transformation is a global phenomenon and is widely recognized as a crucial strategy. In South Korea, both the government and businesses are actively promoting digital transformation to enhance competitiveness across various industries. Major shipbuilding companies in the maritime industry have already embarked on their digital transformation journey, achieving remarkable results through various applications in both smart yards and vessels since 2019. The smart yard system shown in Fig. 8 enables digital management of production based on a digital twin, and the development of autonomous navigation smart vessel systems shown in Fig. 9 effectively showcases the outcomes of these efforts. Given the high dependence of the shipbuilding and maritime industry on partnerships, the digital transformation of partner companies is expected to strengthen the value chain of South Korea’s maritime industry. Therefore, major shipbuilding companies and government agencies should collaborate and support the advancement of digital transformation.

In this study, we provided a broad overview of the content of technology interfaces between partner and shipbuilding companies based on digital transformation. The findings of this research are currently under consideration for potential government projects, in consultation with government agencies such as Gyeongnam Techno Park (TP), Busan TP, and the Research Institute of Medium & Small Shipbuilding. The significance of this study lies in its insights into the digital transformation-based collaborative cooperation in the complex collaborative structure of the shipbuilding and maritime industry. The research results can serve as a reference model for digital transformation-based collaborative cooperation in other ETO industries. Future research will focus on the establishment of an information exchange platform, a fundamental component of digital transformation-based collaborative cooperation systems.