Arnout Damen

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Damen Shipyards Nv

Search every verified Arnout Damen interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Arnout Damen, CEO of Damen Shipyards, discussed the company's strategic shift from a shipbuilder to a maritime solution provider during a June 2024 presentation. He identified customer centricity, operational excellence, sustainability, and digitalization as the pillars of this strategy. Damen stated that managing the complexity of building 20 to 30 standard ship types across multiple locations and suppliers requires a move from point solutions to a unified platform, and he described the company's adoption of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform from Dassault Systèmes as necessary for this step change. Damen noted that the Naval division has gone live on the platform with over 800 users, with the Workboats division currently being implemented. He highlighted the goal of having "one source of truth" for data across design, engineering, and production, stating that the platform enables more reliable change management and facilitates product improvement by managing feedback from customers and production teams. Damen expressed the company's long-term aspiration to develop a complete digital twin of vessels and the entire production chain.