| Tucked away in Northern Bavaria,
miles away from the nearest major body of water, is the
largest, and the most surprising boatbuilding facility in
the world. Here, since 1979, Bavaria has been applying the
principles of German engineering and European craftsmanship
to building sailing yachts. Last year, in fact, we built
over 2,000 boats, every one made to order, using computer-aided
design and manufacturing techniques on the most innovative
production line in boatbuilding.
The Bavaria Factory
Here are a few of its features:
Beam-to-beam assembly. Building out boats beam-to-beam
rather than the traditional bow-to-stern means we can incorporate
31 stations on the assembly line, with fewer functions at
any one station. This limits employee overcrowding and installation
problems. This type of assembly also means that a Bavaria
31 and a Bavaria 50 can be produced on the same line.
A Robotic CNC machine. Cutouts for hatches and ports, drilling
and taping for installing deck hardware and engine would
normally take two men four hours. Our newest employee, a
robotic CNC machine, can do it all in 20 minutes, with closer
tolerances and improved accuracy.
A Chain Drive Mold Movement System. While hull and deck
lamination is still done by hand, our chain drive mold movement
system allows drying ovens and molds to be rotated on their
cradles, dramatically reducing labor time.
Seamless Quality Control. Before a hull is laid up, all
the material that will be used in the laminate for that
model is cut to spec and loaded onto a trolley. This trolley
accompanies the mold through the laminating section, and
laminating is only complete when the trolley is empty.
|