Loading ...Over the past few years, Graham Harvey, general manager of Gurit’s marine sector, says he’s seen change within the marine industry. “There’s been tremendous reduction, especially in the last 18 months. There have also been a lot of changes in the way things are done technically with more people moving toward composites within the mainstream leisure market,” he says.
As part of a global company that spans the renewable energy, automotive and marine sectors, Harvey dubs the marine industry as one of the most unique. “The marine industry is not as industrial as it is process. If you look across the automotive or wind turbine industries, the volumes of repeatability are higher than you see in marine,” he explains. “There are a few exceptions with skidoos and small watercraft, but the majority of manufacturers aren’t making hundreds of boats. Most are custom, which makes it more artisan and therefore repeatability is a struggle. You get good at things when you do it a lot—not to say boat manufacturers aren’t good boat builders—simply that the more times you do something, the faster and better you can do it.”
With this challenge in mind, SP Gurit turned its focus to automation. “We see that people are beginning to reorder supplies, and of course they want and need fast service in order to meet their own customers’ orders and stay competitive,” Harvey says. “We work to find services that will simplify boat builders’ lives. As a result, we’ve recently launched our SmartPac, which is basically a boat in a box. Everything is cut, labeled, and stacked in the right order, allowing greater quality control checks.” And while Gurit can’t give specific numbers, Harvey alludes to case studies to their success. “When we produce something that saves time, it’s not like the boat yards want that published because they use it as competitive advantage. If I had to estimate, we’re confident it saves 20 percent on labor time dependent on what type of boat is manufactured.”
This product and the upwardly-mobile economy make Harvey “cautiously optimistic” and looking toward the future. “I think composites have the leisure boating market taken care of, but I see large untapped potential in larger boats, super structures, reconditioning yachts that are steel hulled and military applications.”
