Page 6: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 1995)

Read this page in Pdf, Flash or Html5 edition of October 1995 Maritime Reporter Magazine

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR : > ilHHSHHHB liilillllll®

Dear Editor:

In the Editor's Note section of the August 1995 issue, you requested comments or suggestions be sent to your attention via e- mail or telefax.

Before I address my concern, I would like to go on the record that as a longtime sub- scriber \oMR/EN, I have noticed a significant improvement in the quality and content of your editorial articles; however, I am con- cerned with comments made by Mr. Stottat the recent conference on shipyard competi- tiveness, and reflected in the article "U.S.

Yards: Seeking the Competitive Edge."

Your article referenced Hitachi Zosen's ambitious goal of achieving productivity lev- els of six to eight employee hours per com- pleted compensated gross ton (CGT). Since

I have the reputation of being a "barn yard" economist, this information piqued my inter- est, and I was able to receive additional

Cutting your shipping costs is

Place Griff-Shrink5' over the material being shipped.

Crates and the time and labor involved in packing them can make up a fairly large chunk of your shipping cost. In many cases,

Griff-Shrink heavy-duty, reinforced shrink film can eliminate the need for crates. The shrink film is quick and easy to apply and adds much less weight than conventional methods.

Check out the variety of available benefits that can be combined to fit your exact needs for easier more cost-efficient shipping. 91996 Reef Industries, Inc. Griff-Shrink is a registered trademark of Reef Industries, Inc.

Use a heat gun to create a tight protective skin.

Your materials are protected and ready to ship without costly crating.

Available Benefits / Volatile Corrosion Inhibitor (VCI) protects your products from rust without grease or other messy applications. / Opaque film protects the security of your products. / Clear film allows for easy inspection for customs. y Fire Retardancy helps protect your products from fire damage. / Anti-Static grades help protect sensitive electronic products.

Call today. Start saving tomorrow. 800/231-6074 ext. 519

Reef Industries, Inc. • P.O. Box 750250

Houston, TX 77275 • 713/507-4200 • 713/507-4295 FAX •y A" Griffolyn Reinforced

Plastic Fabrics

Creating solutions to industrial problems since 1957.

Circle 277 on Reader Service Card

STACO ENTERPRISES, INC.

A E S INTERNATIONAL

MARINE TRANSPORTATION SPECIALIST

SPECIALIZING IN:

SHIP PROPELLER MOVEMENTS

WAREHOUSING & OUTSIDE STORAGE AVAILABLE

Equipment Available ' Propeller Rigg ' 40' - 48' Flatbed Trailers ' Lowboy Trailers - 50 Ton ' Stretch Trailers ' Vans " 20' - 40' Container Chassis

Air Freight Available (Serving 48 States & Foreign Ports)

MC 270171

Staco Enterprises, Inc.

P.O. Box 17635

Jacksonville, Florida 32216

Phone Fax (904) 249-1200 (904) 249-2209 (904) 249-6007 24 Hr. Emergency No: (904) 636-8286

Circle 313 on Reader Service Card "Maximize" Your Galley

Space!

At only 30-inches wide, the new Lang

Maxunizer range is perfect for tight galleys - hatchable to 26"x66".

The Maximizer is built with a windowed door convection oven base, your choice of top arrangements, stainless steel 4" toe base, latches, sea rails, grab bars and stainless steel exterior and interior.

For more information, please call

Mark Jones at (206) 885-4045.

QlD P.O. Box 905 • lane

Redmond, WA • 98073

Fax: (206)882-2373 8

Circle 253 on Reader Service Card information in the form of Table 1 of Mr.

Staff's MarAd presentation. Table 1 states: "U.S. shipyard employees produce at a rate of 150-200 employee hours per CGT, while

Japanese workers' current rate is 17-22 em- ployee hours perCGT." Howcanthatbe? Are you telling me that the U.S. worker is only 11 percent as efficient as the Japanese worker?

Even if the U.S. rate is based on production of military warships, the spread does not make any sense at all. If these numbers are even close to being accurate, why should we even bother with Title XI financing as well as government programs designed to encour- age capital investment in domestic ship con- struction?

I fear that information of this nature could damage the editorial credibility of MR/EN.

I would appreciate comments from your side on this issue.

Sincerely,

James Baur

President

Lips Propellers

Chesapeake, Va.

The MarAd-sponsorid conference M which the statistics on production were quoted pi^mpted^thiit kuer frott: wtern.monaLrruiritime comuUiintjames

R. McCaul, IMA Associates, to Adm. lierberger. the letter is reprinted here ivith Mr. McCaul's permission. — ed.

Dear Adm. Herberger:

The conference on shipyard con ness, sponsored by the Maritime Administra- tion Office of Shipyard Revitaiization, pro- vided comparative data for employee hours per CGT in U.S. and Japanese shipyards.

This information was provided in the intro- duction to the conference, setting the scene for the recommendations that followed.

Can you really believe that U.S. shipyards are one-tenth as productive as Japanese shipyards? Icertainlydon'tbelievethis. Nor do any of the Japanese shipbuilders with whom I've spoken believe they are 10 times as productive as U.S. shipyards. Maybe 30 to 50 percent more productive due to learning and volume, but not 10 times!

If s my understanding that the U.S. gov- ernment is attempting to help U.S. shipyards move into commercial work. Inaccurate information depicting U.S. shipyards as un- productive dupes is counterproductive. It scares prospective customers. To use a gov- ernment-sponsored forum to convey this image make no sense.

Wouldn't it be far better to focus on the successes of Newport News, Trinity,

Avondale, Alabama in attracting foreign customers? In fact, how do you explain these successes in light of the ridiculous productiv- ity comparisons provided in this conference?

Sincerely,

James R. McCaul

President

IMA Associates

Washington, D.C.

Maritime Reporter/Engineering News

Maritime Reporter

First published in 1881 Maritime Reporter is the world's largest audited circulation publication serving the global maritime industry.