‘Driving The Schedule’ Paying Off For DCB M42R Catamaran Development
In a few weeks, the caged hull mold built by Marine Concepts of Sarasota, Fla., for the first DCB Performance Marine M42R Widebody catamaran will arrive at the company’s Phoenix headquarters. Also built by Marine Concepts, the caged deck mold will arrive a few weeks later. The delivery sequence for the 42-footer’s tooling makes sense as the design for the hull was completed first.
The dash design for the M42R Widebody catamaran’s tooling is complete.
That’s what Johnny Bauer, DCB’s vice president of manufacturing, told me yesterday when, on assignment for another related story to publish next week, I stopped by DCB for a quick interview.
“The hull and deck molds should be on our doorstep before May,” Bauer said. “We are a little bit ahead of schedule than what they had. We’ve been making sure that our feedback is timely and on point.”
According to Bauer, there are three more molds to create—cockpit liner, dash and seats—for the M42R. The DCB team is currently finalizing the design for the front seats. That design, Bauer explained, will drive the design of the rear cockpit seating.
Evolution of the M42R seat design.
“We are actually doing something different to minimize the amount of carpentry for the back seats,” he said. “So there will actually be molds for them as well.
“The dash-pad design took more time because the cockpit is raised a couple of inches over the M37R because of the tunnel,” he added. “So there were some different fitment challenges there that I think we’ve overcome nicely.”
So far, DCB has nine orders for M42R Widebody catamarans. “I think our Open House event may have solidified a lot of the ‘maybes,’” Bauer said.
The hull and deck molds for the 42-footer should arrive at DCB by the end of May.
Every Wednesday, the DCB and Marine Concepts teams discuss the project via conference call. Bauer, who as previously reported on speedonthewater.com handled much of the development for the Performance Powerboats catamaran line, believes frequent and consistent communication, adherence to timelines and accountability are crucial for new-model success.
“It doesn’t just happen unless you’re pushing, especially when you are fighting for mill time and floor time,” he said. “If you don’t drive the schedule, it doesn’t drive itself.”
Johnny Bauer, “If you don’t drive the schedule, it doesn’t drive itself.”
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