ELEGANTEFFICIENCYJeanneau combines traditionalcraftsmanship and high-techproduction techniquesSTORY BYBILL SPRINGER;PHOTOS BYMALCOM WHrTE

The Jeanneau story has all the tWists and turns of agood novel. Frenchman Henri Jeanneau startedbuilding powerboats in 1957 and began buildingfiberglass sailboats in 1970. As the years went byownership of the company he created changed handsseveral times, and by the mid-1990s mismanagement hadforced it into receivership. By 1995 a bankruptcy court wastaking bids on the struggling company, and Zodiac, thepowerful French manufacturer of inflatables, was poisedto enter the sailboat business by making a substantialoffer. Then, Groupe Beneteau's chairperson, MadameRoux, stepped in. She knew Zodiac had the capital to turn

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Jeanneau around and possibly drive Beneteau out ofbusiness, so she convinced the court to sellJeanneau toGroupe Beneteau.

Since then Jeanneau has been more than justsurviving-it's thriving. Jeanneau's workforce, based inseveral factories in France, has grown from 700 to close to1,500 people. Last year its power- and sailboat productiontopped 4,700 units worldwide; total sales were north of$330 million. What's the reason? As I saw firsthand duringa visit to Jeanneau's main sailboat factory in Les Herbiers,capital investment in high-tech production techniquesand efficient management have enabled the company toincrease both production capacity and customersatisfaction while reducing warranty claims. According toJeanneau America's president, Paul Fenn, "The factory isbuilding bigger, better, more-affordable boats morequickly." Needless to say, that's good business.

The sheer size of the facility surprised me. I hadthought Jeanneau was the smaller sibling to Beneteau.Wrong. Beneteau, Jeanneau, Wauquiez, and Lagoon are allpart of Groupe Beneteau. Each company benefits from

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When I visited the fiberglass shop, there were over 20 hulls invarious stages of layup. They are built in rotating molds thatmake it easier and quicker to layout the glass and resin.Polyester resin is used on the inner layers, and osmosis-resistant vinylester resin is used on the outer layers. No coresare used; all hulls are built of solid fiberglass. Styrene levels inthe shop are kept in check by an air-filtration system that isconstandy pumping styrene emissions out and fresh air in.

After the NPG/ISO gelcoatis sprayed on, experiencedlayup teams apply precutfiberglass cloth, roll on theresin, and roll out airbubbles by hand. Each rollof cloth is numbered, andfiberglass cloth of differentweights is used for specificdesign requirements. Thisshot shows a layup teamunrolling woven rovingcloth that will add strengthand stiffness along thecenterline.

Each hull goes together like pieces of a puzzle. Once the shellhas been laid up and cured, structural members are completelyglassed in to give the hull strength and stiffness. Each plywoodstructural member is precut and numbered.

collaborative buying power, economies of scale, andcapital investment, but each is quite autonomous inmanagement. According to Fenn, "There may be a friendlyrivalry betWeen dealers, but the truth is that Beneteaubuilds only several hundred more boats [sail and power]than Jeanneau." Part of the reason the marriage hassucceeded is that each company has a different designphilosophy and focuses on different areas of the market.For example, Jeanneau is making waves with its new deck-saloon models, especially the highly stylized 49 and 54 DS,while Beneteau is doing well with its 373 and 423 cruisers.

On average, five completed sailboats-the Jeanneau lineranges in size from 32 to 54 feet-roll out of the factoryevery day of the year, and the company is currentlyplanning to expand production. The demand for moreboats is there, and continuing plant upgrades make such

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After the structural members have cured, the hull pan is bondedinto place. This hull has the engine mounts and part of the bilgepan in place in sections. The yellow grid forward of the engineplatform is a jig that holds the hull in place and ensures that themolded pan sections are straight and installed exactly wherethey are supposed to be.

Decks, cored with end-grainbalsa, take shape upside downalongside hulls in the layupshop. The hand-layup process isquite labor intensive. Teams ofdetail-oriented workers placecore sections (numbered,precut, and perforated pieces)according to the deck'sproduction plan and work theresin into all the comers.Mounting spots for deckhardware are solid fiberglass.

Once the hull and deck are laid up and cured, they make theshort trip from the fiberglass shop to the beginning of theproduction line. The hull comes from the fiberglass shop with itsstructural grid in place; seacocks, plumbing, wiring, and motormounts are some of the first things added. The hull and deckprogress side-by-side down the line. While the hull is beingworked on, hatches, handrails, ports, and hardware are fitted tothe deck. If the boat has been ordered with a teak deck, it'sfitted (in a separate shop) before it's sent to the production line.

an expansion feasible. A single operator working one ofthree computer-controlled CNC machines in the woodshop, for example, can cut components like bulkheads ordrawer fronts for 10 boats (three sheets at a time) in lesstime than it would take to cut pieces for one boat usingolder techniques. Waste is sharply reduced since thecomputer nests components close together and cuts tomuch finer tolerances than a human could.

High-tech mechanization has also completely changedthe way varnish is applied to Jeanneau's trademark teakinteriors. Applying three coats of varnish on both sides ofa sheet of veneered marine plywood is now a one-manpushbutton operation. The varnish applicator is actually aseries of machines connected by a large U-shaped line ofpowered rollers. Suction cups pick up a sheet and gentlyplace it on the line. As the sheet is propelled down the line

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The boat goes together from the bottom up as it moves downthe line. Once through-hull fittings are mounted, tanks andbulkheads are fitted. The deck doesn't go on until the end. Thismakes it easy to drop the heavy and hard-to-handle equipmentinto place. A steel jig is used to ensure the hull retains the exactshape it will have once the deck goes on. Bulkheads are tabbedinto the hull and bonded to the deck.

Equipment carts like thisone, which is stocked withan engine, a propellershaft, and associatedhardware, are set up andwaiting for each boat as itmoves down the line. Tospeed up production,similar carts for each boatare filled with necessitieslike pre-cut fiberglasscloth, deck hardware, andbulkheads. Workers don't

waste time searching forwhat they need on theline. It's all right there.

Wooden components that end up on a cart-bulkheads, doors,drawer fronts, and the like-are cut from sheets of veneeredmarine plywood. One operator programs precise measurements(supplied by the design team) into one of three compute....

controlled CNC machines; themachine's multiple mobilecutting heads do the rest. Themotions of the heads (back andforth) and the sheets (forwardon a conveyor belt) aresynchronized to allow themachine to quickly cut intricatecurves on any component. Themachine also drills holes exactlywhere they are needed. It can cutthrough three 3f.-inch sheetsstacked together with such finetolerances that waste is reducedto little more than sawdust.

it passes under an ultra-precise sprayer that applies a finecoat of varnish; then a high-intensity UV light dries italmost instantly. The dried sheet then passes under a large220-grit sanding machine. Total time: 35 seconds. Thesequence is repeated tWicemore as the sheets return about10 feet from where they started. No human, no matterhow skilled or efficient, can apply three coats of flawlessvarnish in 2 minutes with a brush. The net savings has tobe spectacular to justify the huge capital expense of themachine-and it is.

The CNC machines and the varnish applicator arepieces of a large, efficient, integrated system. I got an ideaof the size of the place when our tour guide told us wewould drive through the plant. "It's too far to walk," shesaid. Each building we entered-wood shop, fiberglasslayup, teak-deck installation, store room, varnish-was

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The varnish machine representsanother quantum leap inefficiency. Plywood sheets movedown the line on computer-controlled rollers and pass undersanding, varnishing, and dryingmachines that apply three coatsof flawless varnish. At right, asheet with a fresh coat of varnish passes under a UV dryer. Thesheets never slow down on the line. The sand-varnish-dry cycleis repeated three times. Ten sheets can be on the line at anyonetime, and it takes about two minutes for a sheet to move frombeginning to end. The system loads and unloads the sheetsfrom the rollers.

Jeanneau is aggressive aboutperlectinglabo sa~ngtechniques, but handcraftsmanship is still a bigpart of the job. At right, aworker trims a hole that wascut for a locker door with

wood veneer. Componentsare constandy being built andfinished to keep theproduction line fed and up tospeed.

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Farther down the line, theboat shown below has its

engine, bulkheads, sole,plumbing, and wiring installed. Below, workers are installing thehoses for the engine exhaust. Tasks are done in sequence sothat crews don't get in each other's way. The engine guys are inthe stem and the woodworkers are farther forward. Stagingaround the hull is designed to drop easily into place (and bedisassembled when it's time to move to the next station) soworkers aren't going up and down stairs all the time.

well lit, well ventilated, and measured in the thousands ofsquare feet. Gleaming white boats on jackstands awaitedtreatment throughout the facility. The employee parkinglot is a big as a mall's. We dodged forklifts movingengines, plywood sheets, and barrels of resin, plushundreds of workers returning from lunch break, beforewe finally got to where the boats are put together. AlmostallJeanneau sailboats are assembled in a stadium-sizefacility that houses eight separate production lines. Hulls,decks, wires, components, and hardware go in one end,and completed shrink-wrapped boats on trailers drive outof the other.

On average each boat on the line moves every five to sixhours, and time truly is of the essence. The deck goes onclose to the end so components can be lowered quicklyand easily into the open hull rather than being passed

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Many components are built inthe woodshop and broughtto the line in one piece. Herea head module is beinglowered into place. The wallsof the head are curved to

correspond to the curve ofthe hull and are notched toaccommodate structuralmembers. Once lowered in

place, the module getstabbed in, plumbing andfixtures are connected, andvoila-a working head thatalso adds stiffness to the hull.

This deck is just aboutfinished. The riggingterminals are in, thehatches are mounted,teak handrails run thelength of thecoach roof, and thesilicone on the tinted

ports is being checked.Note that the deck israised so that workersdon't have to bendover (bothuncomfortable and inefficient) when working on the headliner.

Once the deck is on

(we just missed seeingthe deck beinglowered onto thisboat), bulkheads arebonded to the deck,the hull-to-deck jointis both bonded andbolted, lifelinestanchions and pulpitsare installed, and deckhardware is mounted.The boat is fastapproaching the endof the line.

The boat in the foreground is one step away from the end ofthe line where the steering pod, cockpit table, and other deckhardware are installed. Meanwhile, electronics and other last-minute items are finished up down below.

through the companionway hatch. Hulls move along theline on tracks and are quickly surrounded with stagingthat makes it easier for workers to move around them.

Beams over each line have powered cranes mounted onwheels to do all the heavy lifting. The keel is the last thingto go on before the boat is lowered into a tank to check forleaks; the tank is literally steps from the end of the line.

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The boats lined up in front of those enormous garage doors arein their final stages of production. This is where the cove stripeand other graphics are applied and each boat is thoroughlycleaned and then inspected for quality. All work must pass arigorous inspection process.

last stop-test tank. Each new Jeanneau is floated in the testtank adjacent to the end of the line to check for leaks and toconfirm that the engine works properly. It's only after a trip tothe tank that the boat is loaded on a trailer, shrink-wrapped,and readied for the road.

This Jeanneau is off to Annapolis, Maryland. Over 8 to 10weeks it will travel overland to Antwerp, Belgium, be loadedinto a fully enclosed container ship, be off-loaded in Baltimore,and get rigged, commissioned, and ready for its new owners.

High-tech equipment helps speed up the process, but itis Jeanneau's skilled workforce that puts the pieces of thepuzzle together. During my two-day visit, everywhere Iwent was buzzing with activity, but the production linewas a full-on beehive. Plumbers were running hose in anopen hull, electricians were running wire farther along theline, decks were flying on cranes overhead to be joinedwith their hulls, and teams of men and women weremounting hardware near the end of the line.

As I watched a completed Jeanneau 49 being loadedonto a truck to start its journey to Annapolis, Maryland, Icould literally see where it came from. As it left the yard,the engine team was installing the diesel in the 49 at thebeginning of the line, and other 49s moved up a spot.

There was elegance in the efficiency. 'Y

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