Page 50: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 2013)

50 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ? MARCH 2013 You have been at the helm at Karl Senner, Inc. since May of 2012. What will remain the same for you and your customers? Let?s face it, there are always many unknowns out in the open ocean, and through the inland waterway. We want our customers to know they have the equipment and support to handle the most demanding situations. From the very founding of the company, my father believed in conservatively sized equipment to reinforce a high operation-al proÞ le for any vessel. At a minimum, everyone can expect the same level of reliability from our products along with the high level of loyalty we have for our customers. We are planning to increase our already stellar level of readiness and reliability. This commitment to our customers will require a strong focus on collaborative team building between us and our customer. We will continue our commitment to our core values: always upholding a high level of safety, hon- esty, and dependability. You?ve hired a new CFO and you are upgrading your internal software and management reporting, among other things. Tell us how these changes will improve service and how you do things every day. Our new CFO, Steve Valdes has been a great addition to our team; he has given us a new focus on cost savings without jeopardizing or sacriÞ cing the quality of our work. Steve is tasked with keeping a rein on the costs of expansion and helping all of us to be more cost ef-Þ cient. By upgrading to more effective invoicing and bill payment software, we are able to more efÞ ciently commu- nicate thereby streamlining operations. With this improved ß ow of communica- tion, we can spend less time focusing on minor processes and repetitive motions, and focus more time and energy on our customer, and the work at hand. You stock as much as $16m in spare parts for your customers and have been working aggressively on short- ening your turnaround time for re- pairs. You maintain that ?service is what separates us from the rest.? Please elaborate. A large parts inventory is cru- cial for us to support our customers at the level of their demand. In order for operators to minimize downtime, fast service turnaround is critical; whether for general maintenance, or emergency response. We aim to be prepared for all scenarios. We are the only ?OEM? au- thorized representative for our product lines. This gives us direct manufac- turer support at any point. In addition, this manufacturer-vendor relationship allows our service group to service and rebuild units to ?as-new? factory speci Þ -cations and tolerances. We also receive, direct from the manufacturers, updated recommendations for service, repairs, and upgrades. All of the work we per- form on our equipment is backed direct-ly by our manufacturers. One of the biggest headaches for the industry is the lack of skilled labor ? on board the ships, in the shipyards and in workshops like yours. Tell us about your plans for a new and ex- panded on-site training facility. In line with the rest of the in- dustry, the lack of skilled labor can be a challenge. We have addressed this issue by beginning the development of our own internal training facility and train-ing programs. With the implementation FIVE MINUTES WITHRALPH SENNER, KARL SENNER INC. Karl Senner LLC is a ubiquitous figure in the Gulf of Mexico workboat and offshore industry, supplying sig- nature propulsion brands and service for decades. In- dustry insiders may have noted some changes of late, specifically the slight corporate identity slide from an ?Inc.? to an ?LLC?, and the ascension of Ralph Senner to the lead position. MR visited with Ralph Senner for insight on the outlook ahead for the company. Ralph Senner Karl Senner Inc.MR #3 (50-58).indd 50MR #3 (50-58).indd 503/4/2013 3:26:35 PM3/4/2013 3:26:35 PM