Procurement processes in the boatbuilding industry are not conducive to innovation. The flow of money to boatbuilders occurs when the boats are delivered, several years after a contract is awarded. This pattern puts all the emphasis on delivering the product, not on making it a better product.
Consultative environment
The U.S. Navy favours more innovation when it comes to boatbuilding, but it is difficult to achieve in the existing environment. Current economics and processes discourage innovation. Any inventiveness happens outside the dominant flow of business and money.
What’s missing is a consultative environment where technology development could thrive. Even if the Navy (or another customer) wanted to invest to develop technology, there is no available mechanism for them to do so.
Accelerator for Innovation in the Maritime Ecosystem
The impetus for one boatbuilder is to create an organisaton to enable ideation, collaboration, cross-pollination
In a nutshell, the impetus for one boatbuilder is to create an organisaton to enable ideation, collaboration, cross-pollination, and integration among maritime industry peers to accelerate industry innovation. The organisaton is called the Accelerator for Innovation in the Maritime Ecosystem (AIME).
It is being launched by Ocean Craft Marine, a builder of purpose-built rigid hull inflatable boats and other maritime solutions for the military and professional sectors. The company is leading the charge to obtain more than a quarter-billion dollars to invest in the industry’s first independent maritime innovation laboratory over the next 10 years.
Marine technology
“The U.S. Navy wants innovation and realises they are behind in developing marine technology,” says Jo Stapleton, Director of Sales and Marketing for the Americas Region for Ocean Craft Marine. “The United States is not the leader in innovation.”
“Equipment on the boats needs to work together; the elements need to interact; electronic equipment should interoperate,” Stapleton adds. “The industry’s job is to get together on this and accelerate innovation, so the Navy has a resource to help them.”
Night vision cameras
For example, currently, night vision cameras and searchlights operate separately on a boat and do not communicate.
With each system operating independently, boat designs miss out on the advantages of deploying integrated systems. The U.S. Navy is just one customer, but an important one that provides the model of how other entities operate worldwide.
Technology development
It will provide resources to promote innovation in boatbuilding and create a mechanism for the U.S. Navy
AIME is conceived as an independent industry organisaton, in which multiple companies will cooperate and contribute. It will create a mechanism for the industry to come together under one umbrella to share and promote technology development, says Stapleton.
As a public-private partnership, it will provide resources to promote innovation in boatbuilding and create a mechanism for the U.S. Navy (and other customers) to invest in research projects related to technology innovation.
Innovation in boatbuilding
More research and development (R&D) funds will promote more innovation in the maritime industry. In effect, AIME will provide a mechanism to enable the U.S. Navy and other customers to interact with technology in the maritime industry in a more meaningful way.
“Boat builders have been [previously] deprived of innovation because the focus has been on the product,” says Roy Nourha, CEO of Ocean Craft Marine. Rather than customers having to go to boating shows to evaluate new technologies, “we are putting it under one umbrella,” says Nourha.
Benefits of AIME
The benefits of AIME will be fast innovation integration, shortened delivery times, shortened design iteration and testing, and better responsiveness to end-user requirements.
It will give the maritime industry a place to experiment, learn and grow together faster than any company could do on its own. All products, services, and ideas will be dictated by each customer's needs.
Autonomous and submersible technologies
Full transparency will enable maritime competitors to cooperate comfortably on research projects
Initial projects for AIME will likely be related to high-profile industry trends such as hybrid-drive, amphibious, autonomous, and submersible technologies. Located in Annapolis, Md., AIME seeks to open research and testing facilities in the next six months and expects to collaborate with universities focused on innovation in the maritime environment.
Full transparency will enable maritime competitors to cooperate comfortably on research projects, placing competitive issues aside. “We will work on the joint venture to pool expertise and to be transparent,” says Stapleton. “We will open up what we do to the rest of the industry.”
Ocean Craft Marine
Ocean Craft Marine operates in 80 countries and on three different continents, with locations in the United States, UAE, and New Zealand. Creating AIME is a natural extension of Ocean Craft Marine’s focus on being a consultative organisaton, providing a 360-degree approach to meeting customer needs.
“We know there is a speed called neutral, and we know how to stop and listen,” says Nourha. AIME takes the next step and will serve the government and professional boatbuilding industry in the same way that the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) serves the leisure boat industry.
MARSEC/RBX Conference
AIME is open to all maritime companies, from technology suppliers to naval architects to boat builders
Ocean Craft Marine announced the creation of AIME at the MARSEC/RBX Conference in May 2022 in Virginia Beach, Va. Immediate response from other industry players was encouraging. AIME is open to all maritime companies, from technology suppliers to naval architects to service companies to boat builders.
The organisaton is in the process of launching and welcomes any participation from industry players. In the coming months, the structure will be finalised, and a board of directors empaneled.
Access global opportunities
The organisaton’s initial emphasis will be on the small boat category, where Ocean Craft Marine plays. However, the name of the organisaton is intentionally broad and encompasses any type of maritime equipment. Participants and board members ultimately will guide how the organisaton evolves.
As an international organisaton, AIME will enable participating companies in the U.S. to access global opportunities, while providing a possible point of entry into the U.S. market for international companies.