AI
Friday, June 27, 2008 3:09:12 PM
Looks like our EW has already started marketing to the Yacht market:
Edit: This looks to be as recent as yesterday (June 26)
American Superyacht Forum Day Two
http://www.synfo.com/news/allnews.asp?id=12256
Day Two of The Yacht Report's American Superyacht Forum (“ASF”) began with “The Propulsion Summit” presented by representatives from MTU, American Superconductor Corporation and T3 giving insight into some of the trends in their industry.
As pressures come to bear on the old stalwart diesel engine ranging from the sometimes conflicting concerns of the environment and fuel economy, Stephen Mazepink of MTU nonetheless confirmed MTU's commitment to the diesel showing the latest in technology that is being applied to exhaust clean-up, some of which, particularly urea injection, present problems aboard yachts due to the need for storage.
The Subcontractor and Engineering Forum resulted in a lively discussion about the long term relationships between suppliers and builders as a means of addressing problems in the supply train of yacht builders. As is often the case in the superyacht industry, long-standing and proven techniques which are common in most other industries somehow did not seem to apply.
Awlgrips Ken Hickling had perhaps the quote of the day when he reminded the audience of the ultimate objective of business, Profit is freedom, if you don't make a profit you can't innovate.
Observing that today yards are taking all the risk, he pointed out that a shortage of subcontractors means some builders are becoming more vertically integrated. In fact, Hickling concluded that capacity is not the issue; planning for the capacity is the real issue; but not just for the yards.
Brokers came under attack by the three lawyers on the panel of the brokerage panel with, as some observed, ironic and somewhat sanctimonious allusions to greed, unprofessionalism and lack of knowledge of the product on the part of brokers. Rising to the challenge, Brokers defend yourselves, the sole broker on the panel, Barb Tierney of Northrup and Johnson and founder of the International Yacht Council, parent to a number of professional yacht broker associations around the world, brought some balance to the discussions as did a comment from a broker delegate in the audience who said, “You can't legislate honesty,” alluding to quite public excesses in the legal industry itself.
A panel comprised of a banker, business angel and management consultant then confirmed the growing interest in the superyacht industry from angels and venture capitalists and associated funding , highlighting some of the requirements for businesses in the industry if they wish to tap into it.
The day concluded with “The Shipyard Debate”which became an intense and in depth discussion of challenges facing US builders concluding that the challenge has shifted from having sufficient workers, as other industries in the US experience difficulties, to problems finding subcontractors and suppliers. Nevertheless, the conclusion was that yacht building is far more profitable today than five years ago and being run more like a real business.
The day concluded with presentations from the companies showing new products to the industry. Dubbed the “Hundred Second Sell”, seven companies comprised of Atlas B2B, Electrowave USA, Dometic, American Superconductor, Palladium, ZF Marine Electronics and Ammset. As usual, the presentations ranged from the informative to the amusing, not least the musical interlude provided by Electrowave's Steve Jackson.
Sage
Edit: This looks to be as recent as yesterday (June 26)
American Superyacht Forum Day Two
http://www.synfo.com/news/allnews.asp?id=12256
Day Two of The Yacht Report's American Superyacht Forum (“ASF”) began with “The Propulsion Summit” presented by representatives from MTU, American Superconductor Corporation and T3 giving insight into some of the trends in their industry.
As pressures come to bear on the old stalwart diesel engine ranging from the sometimes conflicting concerns of the environment and fuel economy, Stephen Mazepink of MTU nonetheless confirmed MTU's commitment to the diesel showing the latest in technology that is being applied to exhaust clean-up, some of which, particularly urea injection, present problems aboard yachts due to the need for storage.
The Subcontractor and Engineering Forum resulted in a lively discussion about the long term relationships between suppliers and builders as a means of addressing problems in the supply train of yacht builders. As is often the case in the superyacht industry, long-standing and proven techniques which are common in most other industries somehow did not seem to apply.
Awlgrips Ken Hickling had perhaps the quote of the day when he reminded the audience of the ultimate objective of business, Profit is freedom, if you don't make a profit you can't innovate.
Observing that today yards are taking all the risk, he pointed out that a shortage of subcontractors means some builders are becoming more vertically integrated. In fact, Hickling concluded that capacity is not the issue; planning for the capacity is the real issue; but not just for the yards.
Brokers came under attack by the three lawyers on the panel of the brokerage panel with, as some observed, ironic and somewhat sanctimonious allusions to greed, unprofessionalism and lack of knowledge of the product on the part of brokers. Rising to the challenge, Brokers defend yourselves, the sole broker on the panel, Barb Tierney of Northrup and Johnson and founder of the International Yacht Council, parent to a number of professional yacht broker associations around the world, brought some balance to the discussions as did a comment from a broker delegate in the audience who said, “You can't legislate honesty,” alluding to quite public excesses in the legal industry itself.
A panel comprised of a banker, business angel and management consultant then confirmed the growing interest in the superyacht industry from angels and venture capitalists and associated funding , highlighting some of the requirements for businesses in the industry if they wish to tap into it.
The day concluded with “The Shipyard Debate”which became an intense and in depth discussion of challenges facing US builders concluding that the challenge has shifted from having sufficient workers, as other industries in the US experience difficulties, to problems finding subcontractors and suppliers. Nevertheless, the conclusion was that yacht building is far more profitable today than five years ago and being run more like a real business.
The day concluded with presentations from the companies showing new products to the industry. Dubbed the “Hundred Second Sell”, seven companies comprised of Atlas B2B, Electrowave USA, Dometic, American Superconductor, Palladium, ZF Marine Electronics and Ammset. As usual, the presentations ranged from the informative to the amusing, not least the musical interlude provided by Electrowave's Steve Jackson.
Sage
Sage
