Seawind Gets Lean

by Brent Vaughan on 30 Jul 2007 In the past couple of years, Seawind have enjoyed strong growth coinciding with the new Seawind 1160, and are in a position where the sales are far outreaching the supply from the production line.

As a result the company are investing in improving construction methods to not only build faster and cleaner products through techniques like Resin Infusion, but also taking a closer look at the efficiencies of systems and people within them. Mike Rees who has recently joined the Seawind team comes from a background of working with Lean Manufacturing in the UK with boat builders such as Princess Yachts and Seaquest.

Mike explains the basic concept of Lean, 'Lean Manufacturing is a set of principles that are derived from the Toyota Production System and is based largely around the reduction of waste in all its forms (whether it is motion, materials, overproduction, people waiting around or transport).'

'Despite the vast developments the marine industry has seen over the last few decades, boatbuilding all around the world has evolved at a relatively slow pace when compared to the likes of the automotive industry. With ever increasing customer expectation and a very globalised manufacturing environment, Seawind is now looking to borrow some of the tools used in the car industry to stay ahead of the competition.'

Mike goes onto say, 'Using our existing resources, we aim to create a number of benefits to our employees such as improved safety; training and skill levels; employee morale and a greater sense of ownership for the work that they carry out.'

But its not all for the benefit of the Seawind team, as Mike adds, 'Naturally, there are also customer driven benefits that are set to be achieved including a higher level of build quality with a decrease in time from the customer order to date of shipment.'

The attractive characteristic of lean is that by aligning the goals of both the employees and the company, these benefits should be achieved without extra cost to the end user. Having recently moved over from the UK, Mike has worked for both yacht and powerboat manufacturers.

Lean is now currently being implemented throughout the factory after specialist consultants provided onsite training for management, supervisors and factory staff. Though this has meant a huge shift in the organizational approach, there are already signs of improvement as the factory works towards a higher output planned later this year, from launching a new Seawind 1160 every three weeks to every two weeks.

The program has also meant a far more detailed and professional approach to quality control that ensures that each production stage controls its own quality and final checks being carried out during the build process, rather than at completion, with the ultimate goal being to produce first class boats completed on schedule and to the highest quality.