Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/570649
30 | Boating Industry | October 2015 www.BoatingIndustry.com [ 2015 Movers & Shakers / BOLD MOVES ] FUEL PIONEER MIGUEL GUERREIRO President/CEO, Blue Gas Marine Apex, N.C. Like many great inventions, Miguel Guerreiro's decision to start Blue Gas Marine came out of frustration. The saltwater fishing fanatic and engineer was searching for an alternative to gasoline as prices topped $4 a gallon, looking to make his boat more fuel efficient. "I found many alternatives available for cars and trucks, but found nothing available for boats," he said. "Out of frustration was born the idea that if 40 percent of our buses run on natural gas, why haven't I seen any boats running on it?" Working with other experts in the field, he undertook six months of technical study and determined it was not only feasible but had good potential. In 2012, he started the company with the goal of delivering cleaner alternatives for fuel for boats, both for propulsion and onboard power generation. In 2014, the company launched its first hybrid system as an add-on for gasoline-powered outboard engines. Depending on the region, boat- ers can fill up for $1 to $1.50 for a gallon equivalent of gasoline. The product has been displayed at boat shows since last fall on In- trepid boats and has generated strong interest, Guerreiro said. Customers that are using large amounts of fuel are the most inter- ested in the product so far, such as marine units of municipal police departments, houseboat rental operators and commercial and serious recreational anglers. Ski boat customers have also been contacting the company about the product, leading Blue Gas Marine to focus on inboard engines as its next category. The company is also working on making natural gas more readily available for consumers to fill up their boats. There are already 2,000 stations across the country selling natural gas. Blue Gas Marine also sells a $4,000 system for homes and marinas that are served by natural gas so they can use that infrastructure to fill a boat. And soon, the company will be rolling out trailers to deliver natural gas to marinas or boatyards that aren't hooked up. "Any light duty pickup truck can take these trailers with com- pressed natural gas and go to a marina during the day, with no need for a permanent station," Guerreiro said. "We're in the process of getting the right investment on board so we can purchase a lot of these mobile stations, and move from marina to marina within a small geographic location." The system is currently available directly from Blue Gas Marine, but the long-term strategy is to create a network of dealers and installers across the country. MANUFACTURING MAKEOVER LORI MELBOSTAD President, Premier Marine Wyoming, Minn. With 93 models across all its brands being manufactured in eight buildings, organization and communication are crucial to success for Premier Marine. That's why the pontoon builder implemented a robust material requirements planning (MRP) system with barcoding, configurable orders and ability to scale as the company grows. It was a 14-month process that required extensive planning to implement, said company president Lori Melbostad. Premier had to identify key areas where the company needed to change its structure, find a system with a robust configurator, install bar code operations throughout the facility and determine what inventory would be put in the system. "Now we have a full view of all of our raw materials and a view of where each job is in the line," Melbostad said. "We're reducing raw material costs because we have a better flow. It's given us more of a 'just in time' inventory and allows us to use forecasting models." The change also simplified the process of bringing production of Premier's Palm Beach and Weeres brands from New Ulm, Minn., to the Wyoming, Minn., facility. It also made it easier to roll out the bevy of updates Premier un- veiled for its 2016 product line, with 81 updated models and 12 new ones for the model year. The innovations include a new self-retracting Ricochet ladder design, updated rail designs and more, with 26 new patents and more than 1,500 new part numbers to be integrated into the MRP system. New models this year include the Dodici, a 12-foot wide model with a triple engine application, and the Encounter, a cuddy cabin model. POWER INNOVATION CHUCK ROWE President, Indmar Marine Engines / Millington, Tenn. The tow boat buyer is a de- manding one, looking for constant innovation and new