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Over the years, I’ve
visited more boatyards than I care to remember, and while each one has
differed in the details, the similarities far outweigh the differences.
But from the minute I arrived at Carver’s sprawling 56-acre facility
in the rural town of Pulaski, Wisconsin, I suspected this tour would be
different. I was right, and the reason, I soon discovered, is the way
Carver builds its line of Marquis yachts.
The story of the Marquis
begins when Carver started rethinking its long-term strategy about five
or six years ago, with an eye toward adding a line of larger yachts to
complement its Voyager line, which topped out at 56 feet. Feedback from
focus groups of dealers, customers, and others was predictable: Carver’s
loyal following just wanted the company to keep doing things the way it
had always done. But Carver management realized that the marketplace for
a yacht in this size had evolved, and for their new line to succeed, it
would have to be not only truly different from the existing Carvers but
its own separate line.
So Carver assembled
an international team of experts (see “The
Marquis Team,” this story) to collaborate with its in-house designers
in styling, hull design, electrical systems, and interior decor. The results
of that effort are the Marquis 65 and 59, both built in Pulaski, along
with the Nuvari 63, which is built in Italy using previously acquired
tooling. All three are beautiful yachts that frequently invite the query,
“Is that a Carver?” But the real story is not their external
appearance; rather, it’s how the company builds the Marquis and how
that will impact the future of the existing Carver line.
As a first step Carver
decided to create a separate production line tailored to Marquis but integrated
with many of the yard’s established facilities—a plant-within-a-plant,
if you will. Areas such as the electrical, upholstery, and metal-working
shops now serve both the Carver and Marquis lines, sharing facilities
but with different teams of workers assigned to each product line. In
some instances, workers are selected for the Marquis line because they
are more experienced—for example, in the upholstery shop they may
be selected because they can produce the premium stitching that the line
demands. In the electrical shop, the differences are more in the specifications;
for example, wiring harnesses for a Marquis are bundled differently, with
cable wraps more closely spaced than on a Carver. Similarly, in the metal
shop, there’s more hand-finishing of welds (such as for deck rails)
for a Marquis than there is for a Carver.
Next page >
Part 2: The entire massive deckhouse was designed
to be removable. > Page 1, 2, 3,
4, 5
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