http://www.ibi-plus.com International Boat Industry | DECEMBER 2015 57
businessman, has had a history of success in
technology and manufacturing companies that were
larger than Zodiac. For 10 years, he was president
of Davey Bickford, a 90m manufacturer of mobile
phone antennas and pyrotechnic devices for car
airbags, with 900 workers across five countries. He
was also general manager of Lectra and head of
industrial production for Carnaud Metalbox and held
executive positions at Schneider Electric, all large
manufacturing firms with more than 1000 workersBOOST TO PRODUCTION
When Heber-Suffrin bought Zodiac, he acquired the
intellectual property, three manufacturing facilities
as well as the Zodiac, Bombard and
Avon brands. He immediately met
with suppliers, former management
and labor unions to hammer out
the terms of restarting the dormant
factories in Tunisia and France.
The North American market
had slowed down during the
downturn, but its South Carolina
plant had continued to manufacture
RIBs and inflatables for the
Americas. “Fortunately for us, we didn’t have much
of a slowdown in production,” says Gary Durnan,
president of Zodiac North America. “We had some
issues getting tubes from the parent company in
France, but that never halted our operation. That was
one of the attractions of buying the company.”
Three months after acquiring Zodiac Nautic,
Heber-Suffrin says that plants are reaching full
production again. He said that the company employed
most of the former staff. It has also worked hard at
repairing damage done to its reputation during the
bankruptcy. “Our competitors took advantage of
the situation to enter our dealer network,” he says.
“They spread rumors about us building bad-quality
boats and not honoring warranties, which were both
untrue.”
Heber-Suffrin has visited many of Zodiac’s largest
dealers and says that the network is now back to
where it was. “All of our European dealers are
back and, of course, we never lost dealers in North
America,” he says. Many of the international dealers
agreed to stock boats earlier than usual, which helped
ramp up production. He has signed an agreement
with a French bank to provide dealer floor plan
financing at boat shows, so dealers can showcase
new models without having to invest in new stock. A
new production manager was hired to introduce new
processes in the Tunisia and French factories.
“We have a good team in place,” says Heber-
Suffrin. “The good news is this allows me time to
focus on R&D and strategizing. I can look at new ways
to make the company profitable again.”The US market seems to be gaining momentum
in the continuing market recovery, says Durnan,
with FLIBS sales tripling compared to the show a
year ago. “All the market signals are positive,” he
says. “Having a hands-on CEO will make all the
difference.”
The European market, particularly in France, is
making a slow rebound after business there dropped
by 50% during the recession. But Heber-Suffrin
says that the market share of RIBs among general
new-boat sales actually increased by 5% to exceed
20% of total new-boat sales, even though sales
were trending down. “The RIB market is growing,”
he says. “Our goal now is to convince buyers of
fibreglass boats that there is an
alternative with a RIB.”
He claims its more expensive
RIB products will be the largest
growth segment for Zodiac, while
the smaller inflatables will provide
stability across its multiple
product lines. The company
plans to re-launch the popular
Avon brand early next year, while
expanding the Bombard line.
The new chief executive will also update Zodiac’s
marketing approach. “We need to do a better job
at reinventing our image and letting people know
who we are,” he says. “It’s crazy the number of new
technologies on our existing boats that the public
doesn’t know anything about. We need to convey
those to the boating market.”NEW TECHNOLOGY
A staunch believer in new technologies, Heber-
Suffrin has big plans to use the Internet for both
marketing and sales intiatives. “Look at Tesla. With
two clicks, you can customize your car. We need
new technology to feed our innovation.“
He also plans to investigate the “sharing”
economy, where multiple owners own an asset,
or one owner rents out that asset to other people
as part of a business venture. Zodiac, he says, has
tried rental schemes in the past. A digital marketing
campaign should help find new enthusiasts. “We’ve
really under-communicated the versatility of these
boats,” he says. “They can be used for so many
things, fishing, cruising, diving, wakeboarding. We
need to tell that story.”
For now Zodiac is focusing on building back its
dealer network and reclaiming lost market share.
“We will come back quickly, faster than what I put
in my business plan. That’s the good news. The bad
news is that I want all these new initiatives done
yesterday. But I also realize that right now our job is
to keep our feet on the ground, and deliver quality
products on time, concludes Heber-Suffrin.”It’s crazy the
number of new
technologies on
our existing boats that
the public doesn’t know
about. We need
to convey those
to the market