Quality Assurance
Why do I need to provide Quality Assurance on my small yacht?
Over ten years of business in Asia, time and time again, I hear customers ask this same question, "Why do I need to provide Quality Assurance on my small yacht?"
The answer is short and simple: Custom Jobs need oversight. However, to help you decide what is right for you, we need to discuss the differences between production, semi-custom, and custom yachts.
Production- the standard boats dealers and distributors sell with minimal changes, such as paint, fabric, and electronics upgrades/selections based on their supplier and OEM Pricing models for you to choose from. They usually have an inventory of these boats to choose from.
Semi-Custom- The hull and superstructure remain unchanged, but the Brand now allows you to specify some combination of the following as your choices:
- Engines
- More than 20% of the General arrangement
- Tank sizes
- Pick specific appliances
- Fixtures
- Toilets
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- Plumbing fabrics
- Electrical systems
- Hydraulic Systems
- Flooring
- Mast designs
- Window profiles
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Custom- This can range from hiring a designer, Naval architect, all or selected required engineers, and you entirely design the yacht (Usually through a design firm). The design firm or Brand selects a designated yard to assemble your project per your design. In short, you now have a say in designing everything from the keel to the roof line to meet your specifications. |
When buying your boat, fully understand what the Salesman/Broker offers. Their job is to sell the yacht and get signed contracts. Once this happens, they hand off the requirements to the Brand owner, who then hands it to a subcontractor to build (Unless the brand actually fully owns their own yard), likely in a foreign country.
To stay within budget, the yards that initially underbid the project in the first place to win the contract will look for ways to save money by either not creating a drawing for the change or creating the minimum concept drawings to build from. Many times, these things will be transparent to you. Instead, you should look for these initial indicators that raise costs or increase the original sales price.
For example, some of the most common excuses are as follows:
- The distributor has raised the price since the signing of the contract.
- The item model you selected is no longer available.
- The supplier has such a backorder that you will need to delay receiving your boat for an extra 1+ year if we wait on this one item, but you can get this other one right away at a slightly higher price.
- This item requires special installation assistance, so you must pay the distributor to send someone to install it on the boat.
And
So many more reasons that you cannot imagine.
Some people say this is why you should go with a reputable brand!
This is true when buying production boats for 50m yachts and below. The truth is that there is no such thing as a reputable brand that makes its living on semi-custom yachts below 50m. Each of these brands has its production boat line and usually takes on the semi-custom project as:
(A) a challenge to increase their marketing advertisement in preparation for a new product line,
or
(B) to get the most current feel for the latest and greatest things the clients are asking for.
Over the last ten years, we have worked with clients building in more than ten Asian factories. Each factory has 20, 25, or 30+ years in boat manufacturing and continuously builds for well-known brands. Yet, each time, they come up with ingenious things that create Quality issues on semi-custom and custom yachts.
So here is where things become challenging. Too often, clients have purchased a custom or semi-custom yacht through a Broker or Brand owner and discovered themselves in one of the following circumstances:
No One Told Me
- I should have paid my representative to frequently visit the yard and do QA throughout the Build, reporting and answering directly to me and watching out for my interest. Then, they try to salvage as much as possible through the following methods:
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a. Hiring someone to visit the yard at the end of the Build, hoping they can catch as many problems as possible. Then, negotiate with the yards to fix the issues before the boat leaves the yard. |
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b. Receiving the boat and learning of all the issues over the first 2-4 years of ownership creates frustration, loss of time on the water, and embarrassment with family, friends, and colleagues.
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c. Walking away from the build, cutting their losses before you get further into the hole.
Experienced Owners recommendation
Upon purchase, you budget for your own representation to project manage your build and provide the required supervision to look out for your interest.
To do this, you have two choices:
- Select a company or individual in your country with the requisite experience in your boat size and who is willing to send people to the yard and conduct routine inspections.
Advantages
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- They have no hidden connection with the brokers, yards, or suppliers, so they are unlikely to take kickbacks.
- They will have certifications relevant to your country's requirements.
- They will be locally available when you need them after the boat arrives at little additional cost.
- This person will provide the authorization and verify that your requirements are met before you make your next phase payment. Again, this protects your interest.
Disadvantages
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- Their overall cost will likely be much higher as they will have to invoice for travel, meals, lodging, cell phone, and internet connectivity much more frequently in addition to their local day rates.
- They will require cultural insights where the boat is built, making it easier for the yards to pass things by them when working on the yacht, such as disassembling and reassembling items after the QC sign-off.
- They may need more language capabilities and more resources to provide translations.
- Select a company with experienced people in the manufacturing country who are solely there to provide this service.
Advantages
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- They are loyal to you as the paying customer, not the broker, yard, country, government, or other personnel.
- Their sole existence in that country is to support their fellow foreign consumers and look out for their interest to keep the industry progressively moving forward.
- They will have an in-depth understanding of cultural idiosyncrasies that will directly affect your production.
- They will have relevant local knowledge on pricing, sourcing, supplier quality, servicing options, and potential engineering sources to solve unique problems.
- They will know the strengths and weaknesses of the factories and personnel in the factories, as well as their level of competencies, better than anyone.
- Typically, a reduction of after-sales issues and warranty claims will decrease by 90% or more as the problems are found in the yard.
Disadvantages
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- Although you significantly save money on their travel during the Build, getting them to meet the boat upon arrival in your country to help with the delivery and commissioning may be costly.
- After-sales support is typically limited to emails, video conferences, and remote log-ins.
- Although they will have some language capabilities and more significant resources to provide translations, they still still need essential support to be 100% fluent.
Considerations- Again, why should I be required to provide this service? The simple answer is, You're Not. It's a form of Insurance. This is a professional service that you choose.
This service should cost you 1% or less of the total sales price of your boat annually. Compare that number to the cost of receiving your boat without your representation onsite.
Advantages of trusting your Broker, Brand owner, or Overseas factory providing the product
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- Save 1% of the sales price.
Disadvantages of not hiring your representative to look after your interest
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- Spend significantly more than the anticipated purchase price annually.
- Increased boat downtime for the first 2-4 years while you pay marina fees, hull out fees, dry dock fees, and dealing with warranty issues in which the warranty only covers parts and typically not labor.
- Premature equipment failure
- Surveyor cost plus repairs that the yard or Brand will discredit as they say those items are nice to have or best practice but not requirements.
- Potential loss of your boat if the "well-known Brand" comes into financial issues, conflicts with the yard, or an array of other isues that may arrise.
Is this a risk or journey that you are willing to take?
