When I reflect on my recently completed site visit to the Bavaria factory in Giebelstadt, Germany, the most prominent thought that comes to mind is how constructive it is to have face to face communication with our clients and product development partners. While personally this was my first opportunity to visit the state of the art Bavaria boat building facility, in the 2 years since Farr Yacht Design began their successful collaboration with Bavaria, our engineers and designers have made no less than 40 separate trips to the factory, involving 275 man days. It is true that today’s modern communication tools (e-mail, web conferencing, Skype) help to make the world a much smaller place, however one can’t underestimate the value of personal interaction. Issues that would take days to solve via e-mail and phone call exchanges can be solved in a matter of minutes when the right people are collaborating directly and personally with each other.
The frequent site visits we make are also extremely valuable for ensuring that our design and engineering intent is being faithfully reproduced by the boat builders on the factory floor. This is particularly important in areas of the assembly line that are critical to the safe operation of the yacht, such as the hull and deck lamination, bonding of internal grids and bulkheads as well as the attachment of the keels and rudders. By having regular designer presence on the factory floor, we are able to rapidly identify areas for improvement and we can intervene if something is not being done ‘to spec’. This improves quality control, results in a more integrated end-product and hopefully translates into 1000’s of satisfied boat owners around the world.
- Alon Finkelstein
