UMMA to benefit from new joint venture

ST. LOUIS – A joint venture between four suppliers, called Spectrum, will provide direct foreign sourcing of certain hardware products to members of the United Marine Manufacturers Association, the group reported at the UMMA/UMSA Partnership Conference in St. Louis this weekend.

“We will welcome the participation of many of our suppliers in this effort,” said UMMA/UMSA President Kent Wooldridge, explaining the new Spectrum initiative. “We are asking suppliers to focus on their core competency and if they can do a particularly good job of servicing a particular niche, we will help them to grow their market share in that niche.”

“We do not have the luxury of standing still,” Wooldridge commented. “Brunswick has made clear through its many announcements that they have a vision of an industry dominated by their vertical integration. We must create a more efficient sourcing infrastructure, which can ensure that our members can be competitive with the purchasing of Brunswick.

“If we combine the strength of our marketing partnerships with Bombardier and Volvo for outboard, I/O, and inboard power, with that of competitive materials and hardware sourcing, our members can continue to grow faster then the industry as a whole. What Brunswick and Genmar do will be irrelevant.”

Not the first time

This isn’t the first joint venture UMMA members have benefited from.

The theme of this year’s conference, “Harnessing the Power Within,” emphasized the influence that the combined membership of the boat builder buying group and the supplier organization can have in preventing industry consolidation, by enhancing their joint cooperation, said Wooldridge,

He pointed to the success of the group’s Omni Composites initiative, which now provides most of the group’s fiberglass and a portion of the core material to UMMA’s members.

“Omni has proven that when we unite our resources, we have the critical mass necessary to secure favorable pricing for our members,” stated Wooldridge.

  • For more of the latest news, click here.

– Liz Walz

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button