The multi-million dollar expansion of Maritimo’s Gold Coast plant, set for completion in early 2019, will ‘future proof’ the luxury boat business, almost doubling the company’s original manufacturing base.
The new facilities, spanning 4.664 hectares, will be most advanced and environmentally sensitive marine industry manufacturing facility in Australia.
Plans for the expansion started in late 2017 with the purchase of a 3.09 hectare commercial site adjoining Maritimo’s factory in Waterways Drive at the Coomera Marine Precinct.
Company founder and marine industry doyen, Bill Barry-Cotter, said when completed the combined manufacturing plant would would be one of the most advanced in the industry.
“We conducted a root and branch review of our entire manufacturing operation and this new facility has enabled us to streamline and refine how we design and manufacture boats and at the same time dramatically improve the working environment for our people,” he said.
CEO Garth Corbitt said the completion of the new manufacturing facility would come as Maritimo’s global expansion was stepped up and followed on from its most successful year ever in 2018.
“Ongoing the company will continue to market approximately half of the vessels we produced internationally and our new improved base will enable us to do that efficiently and cost effectively ultimately resulting in a better product for our customers and a better environment for our people,” he said.
Maritimo General Manager Operations, Phil Candler, said the expansion enabled Maritimo to grow and increase the size of its vessels as and when it sees fit without having to make any significant factory changes.
He said benefits were already flowing with the new product and design team being shifted from the company’s Hope Harbour facility into the refurbished existing building on the acquired site. “We now have the new product and design team located with R and D and have virtually trebled their space in an area which enables better interaction with manufacturing and a more productive flow of ideas and information between design and production,” he said.
Candler said the improvements and advances in-built into the new combined facility were substantial and significant and would also make for a work environment without peer in the marine sector in Australia.
The expansion has seen a doubling of Martimo’s CNC router machinery with router one and 3D Design technology located together in McPhail Road building one to assist with new product development.
In one of the new buildings a streamlined manufacturing process would see vessels enter at one end and then make their way through the facility emerging at the other end virtually completed.
“We have the capacity to have four vessels engineered at one time as they progress through that facility,” he said.
“This design and production process allows us to cater for a wide variety of different sized vessels and to increase the size of our models in the future if we wish to.”
Candler said the blueprint for the new combined facility and its various different elements came about after extensive consultation with the different crews on the factory floor to get feedback on what worked the best.
“We have minimised waste in terms of time, manpower and materials, we have streamlined the process to provide an improved and higher quality product and we have created an environment for both manufacturing workers and the R and D and design department to excel,” he said.
Candler said as part of its expansion Maritimo was increasing its apprentice intake and was continuing its training and development of current staff while undertaking a substantial manpower drive aimed at increasing the overall workforce by 30 percent.