Walker Bay Boats expects rapid growth

UNION GAP, Wash. – After six years, Walker Bay Boats Inc. has reached the 50,000 boats sold mark and hopes to double that number over the next three years, it reported in a statement yesterday.

The 50,000th boat was shipped to Diversified Marine, a Walker Bay dealer covering the Western United States.

“It’s a big milestone that we were aiming for this year, and with sales up in the last year, we hope this momentum will accelerate and reach the 100,000 unit mark within three years,” said Andrew Taylor, president of Walker Bay Boats.

To reach this goal, Walker Bay said it will open new markets globally and develop unique new products.

Potential for growth overseas

Walker Bay said it has set up a world distribution network, with a presence on every continent and in almost 50 countries.

“The challenge in hitting this milestone has been in creating the type of unique distribution network that is needed to sell large volume,” the company said.

With only 50 percent of sales being attributed to the international market at this point, the company recognizes the potential for large growth in this area. In April, the boat builder established Walker Bay Europe to further improve service levels, and it now also has a dedicated export sales person who focuses on setting up dealers and distributors around world.

Another factor important to serving the world market is efficiency, according to Walker Bay. Its team has built large molds enabling a hull to be produced in less than five minutes. This is critical to achieve supply for the world market as the company continues to grow and expand its fleet.

“We are constantly looking at ways to improve productivity by sourcing the best vendors for raw materials and ensuring we are utilizing the most efficient technologies available to be a world leader in quality and performance” said Bobbi Ferguson, VP of Manufacturing & Technology.

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