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Graham Harvey - General Manager: Marine, Gurit
Graham Harvey started as a structural engineer for Brown and Root. He became interested in composites and joined the marine industry 22 years ago. Looking ahead, he shares his views of the growth, and growing pains, composites have in store.
How have you seen the marine industry change in the last couple years?
Overall, 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.
What are some growing trends?
I see more focus on health and safety activities, so lower styrene use along with more work in closed molding and vacuum bagging. We see a general trend of people discovering how they can industrialize their operations. Everyone wants to have lower prices and good quality, and they’re looking for production solutions to achieve that.
Have you seen much economic improvement in the marine industry recently?
People are reordering supplies and of course they want/need fast service in order to meet their own customer’s orders and stay competitive. At the moment, we’re cautiously optimistic.
How have you seen the composites industry evolve?
Composites used to be very esoteric, high-tech stuff. Now people are used to it. We’ve moved from the “unusual and rare” category to “very useful.” The way to move forward is to customize to meet people’s needs.
Within Gurit there are three main business units: marine, transportation and wind energy. Wind energy is a growing market with large customers and large volume orders. Within transportation we have aerospace and automotive, where customers like Aston Martin are using more composites steadily. The marine industry is fragmented. While still growing, it really only has one or two large companies, while the majority are reasonably small. On the automotive side, we actually make panels because the sector hasn’t had a composite manufacturer that can hit those quality requirements. But in marine we don’t because the need isn’t there.
What is the fastest growing market of the three?
Wind energy is the fastest growing market- it makes up 60 percent of our composite business. Turbine manufacturers are using composites extensively in blades and nacelles. The transportation industry is growing and we see it as a very long-term industry. Within transportation composites are used in aircraft interiors because of its fire retardant properties.
What are trends you see in marine materials purchased?
Each segment is so different. For example, in yachts competing in the America’s Cup, they want the ultimate in lightweight, a stiffness-driven carbon and nomex structure. They are after an edge, searching for the latest developments in materials technology with a track record of reliability. After all, if it’s the lightest but doesn’t complete the course it’s failed.
Within recreational boats, their requirements for materials are cost and rapid production techniques. In 2007-2008 it was, “how fast could I get through the process?” Now, manufacturers aren’t at capacity and cost is more critical than cycle time.
Where are you focusing your efforts in 2010?
There are a lot of 6- to 9-meter boats out there. They might not be core structures, but they’re built very simply, and our aim is to grow into that market. The latest solution we’ve come up with is 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.
What are characteristics of a successful manufacturing company?
Whether they supply composite materials, or manufacturing a car or boat, people need a constant drive to see how they can improve processes. Good companies are run tightly. Sure, there’s the buzz word “six sigma,” but when you go into a yard you can tell if it’s run well; it’s clean, organized, they know what/when/how and activities are measure and monitored.
What characteristics are unique to the marine industry?
The marine industry is not in most cases an industrial process. If you look across the automotive or wind turbine industries, the volumes of repeatability are higher than you see in marine. 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.
What areas could composites increase its presence?
I think composites have the leisure boating market taken care of, but I see untapped potential in larger boats, super structures, reconditioning yachts that are steel hulled and military applications. It’s difficult to say there is one single thing to make people rush across to composites. It comes down to yards that are able to deal with composites materials and quoting them in an effective manner. I mean, if composites break into bigger boats, you then are dealing with steel fabrication yards that are used to building steel or aluminum crafts. They have the facilities to build big boats, but not the technical background to do it in composites, so the price can reflect their uncertainty.
What can the industry do to educate them?
I’m a great believer that we can provide education, but it is going to be the physical demand that causes them to come looking for solutions, such as weight savings. Manufacturers will look into ways to solve the problem and through education realize it’s not that difficult to do. However, it’s a learning curve, and people don’t want to be the first in the area until it’s worked its way up. People get used to the idea and want to see a track record that it’s been out there working successfully. It’s not like you flick your fingers and people come over; it’s steady education and proof by experience.
As a company, we try to push the barriers up from where we are. We’ve been working on the big super structures and find you start at the top, and as the years go by, people get used to it and more and more parts are made of composites. Yet, I also believe that composites aren’t for everything. Steel and aluminum have a good place in our lives and we can’t replace them in everything. They sit side by side.
What are you most looking forward to?
There’s a lot of innovation within the marine industry. A good thing about the industry is that usually the people in it are passionate, which is good because it’s not always an easy ride. A manufacturer must rely on the fact that it will fluctuate and keep moving forward. It’s definitely what’s kept me going for 20 years. And to know that what you can’t do now, in two to three years time technology will advance enough to allow you to do it. For example, years ago we started trying to get fire and toxicity ratings to enable us to enter the more commercial craft segment. We were not successful at the time, but we now have epoxy-based systems that mean structural properties and fire retardancy are incorporated together, rather than as additional paneling which adds weight and cost.. I’m looking forward to fire-retardant systems that are epoxy based and can therefore be built into the boat structure instead of having to add additional protection, which adds weight and cost.
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