marine industry professionals
Brunswick recalls employees in Florida
The Palm Coast facility currently employs 265 people building Meridian Yachts from 40 to 47 feet, and Sea Ray sportyachts from 39 to 50 feet. Employment dropped by more than 40 percent during the last year as production declined.
However, the overwhelming majority of displaced workers have since been contacted and offered positions at the plant, the company said. There are also plans to hire additional new employees in the coming months.
Meridian Yachts sales have been down this year. However, in support of Brunswick's emphasis on reducing the marine supply pipeline, Meridian's wholesale shipments and production were reduced by an even greater percentage than the drop in retail activity.
"We have been committed to helping our dealers reduce their inventory over the last year and to helping them establish sustainable business models going forward. We're now getting to a point with Meridian where we need to increase production to meet anticipated demand even in a flat market and work with our dealers to ensure they have what product they need," said Rob Parmentier, president of Sea Ray Group, which includes Meridian Yachts, in a statement.
Production of Meridian Yachts was moved from Arlington, Wash., to Palm Coast about a year ago.
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DJ, You hit it right on the head with your Dec 3 post. Sea Ray Progam managers are going to turn Bayliner and Meridians into Sea Ray. When you se the new designs you'll see a Sea Ray. The parts used and the construction will all be Sea Ray. They would know how to seperate the brands. Look at Sea Rays last release. Had to over haul some systems because progarm manages wouldn't listen to people would design the systems. Mangement cost them big with those desicions. They have a disconnect. Same stuff in different packages. Nothing new.
They use to lead in innovation. Look at the 50' boat released in 2007. Sun Seeker had released the same looking boat a year earlier. Who's following now. I feel sorry for the plants who have to fix all the problems the program managers and sales mess up. The Sport Yatch Bridge boat was discontinued. Blame the market or the bad bridge design. Just okay down below but watch you head on the bridge.
I'm glad people are back to work but for how long?
The recall of former workers is good. The big question is are they doing the same job at the same pay as they did before being layed off..or are the suits at Brunswick simply fishing to catch the most desperate.
I am not sure what that comment about Bayliner is supposed to mean, but if you are suggesting that Bayliner owners do not deserve the best quality that Brunswick can produce you are way out of line. Now that the Maxum line is gone Bayliner needs to even step up more, continue to replace the plastic hardware on the boat with stainless, improve the fit and finish, and add some larger bowriders as well to fill some of the void left by Maxum's departure. Which by the way was a poor move by Brunswick, most likely forced by the Sea Ray dealers who felt the hot breath of Maxum on their necks. They were producing a high quality boat at a fraction of the cost of a Sea Ray and many dealers were doing very well with that line.
The only thing Brunswick really did with closing out Maxum is drive a number of dealers to Regal, Monterey, Chapparal and maybe Four Winns if the Genmar issue gets resolved soon. Most of those dealers all ready had Bayliner and probably did not want or could not get SeaRay so it was an overall loss for Brunswick.
It is Great that they are able to hire back employees and to get the Meridian Yachts on the market.
It is too bad that the Bayliner Name is mixed in with Sea Ray. I do hope the Sea Ray procedures will not be used in making the boats. Remember the only thing the boat manufacturers make are the fiberglass parts, all else is bought from a vender. All that glitters is not Gold.
Good luck to them Wish they were still being made on the West Coast.
Perhaps DJ, but I'd rather have a Mercedes built Chrysler than a Chrysler built Mercedes!
It's good to see that Brunswick did a better job with their dealers than Genmar! Maybe it's because Brunswick looks at their dealers as partner/customers and not as an outlet they can plug and unplug.
Onc cannot help but to wonder how successful Brunswick will be manufacturing the Meridian that used to be part of the US Marine Bayliner lineup alongside an arguably higher end Sea Ray boat. Seems they could learn from Mercedes Benz who tried to manufacture Chrysler products in Mercedes plants. Seems like all that is accomplished is Brand dilution. The good news is that a lot of people will be going back to work.