Design of production networks for the production of floating substructures for offshore wind turbines

In the field of offshore wind turbines, there is a trend towards ever greater water depths, as areas with shallow water depths are largely contracted out. On the one hand, this leads to an increasing use of alternative and complex foundation structures such as floating substructures and, on the other hand, to an enlargement of the structures themselves. One consequence of this is the emergence of new globally distributed sales markets. In order to be able to serve these markets, which often have little experience regarding offshore wind energy, fast and efficient production networks must be established and a corresponding transfer of know-how under the leadership of experienced manufacturers must be realized. This paper describes an approach for the evaluation of production sites and, as a result, a data-driven concept for the appropriate configuration of such a production network to support the decision-making on which sites should be involved.