Accelerated Growth Safety First

The fact that Nordic has been ableto maintain, improve and grow its var- ious plants over the years is even more amazing when one looks at the his- tory of the builder. It’s one thing to keep a production facility in relatively good order when producing a couple of boats a year, but quite another thing to do so when the builder produces 15 times that many.The first Nordic Tug, designed bySeattle’s late Lynn Senour, was a 26- footer that was introduced at the 1980 Seattle Boat show. Stylistically she was a modern update of tugs of the 1930s. She boasted good fuel economy with13 nautical miles per gallon of dieselat 6.5 knots — and good fuel econo- my was an important feature in the late 1970s.The design was so successful at theshow that Nordic took one order every three hours. It had orders for 54 by the time the show ended. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flat- tery, and two com- petitors sprouted up to compete with Nordic Tugs by the time the 1981 Seattle show rolled around.In fact in 1982,which was a “down- time” in the recre- ational boating in- dustry, the North- west Marine Trades Association cited Nordic Tug as “...one of the biggest success stories of a largely depressedpleasure boat construction scene.”In 1985, the company introduceda 32-footer, but she was more than simply a larger version of the 26. She maintained the traditional Nordic Tug look above the waterline, but the underwater profile allowed the ves- sel to top out at 16 knots.As the popularity of Nordic’s boatscontinued to grow, the company moved its plant and offices to Burlington in upper Washington and doubled its plant size. As the econo- my picked up and demand continued to build, the company, in 1998, wasonce again forced to move to a larg-er facility (also in Burlington), this time with a fivefold increasing in its production capacity. During that year Nordic also ceased production of the 26-footer, because the demand for its larger vessels had strengthened dramatically. Steps up to the platforms are firm-ly fixed and complete with handrails. In some other factories the boat being worked on is accessed from the work platform over a plank or two cobbled together. At the Nordic plant access between the work platform and each boat is via a thick plywood walkway cut to the exact length required. Each piece of ply has a plank affixed along each side, creating a safety lip so any- one moving along the walkway can “feel” the edge of the walkway and not accidentally step or slip off. Nordic also positions the boats under construction very close to the work platform so access to and from the vessel is quick, safe and easy. The walkway edges are painted a caution yellow and “CAUTION” in black paint is stenciled on the walkway itself.It is clear that Nordic Tugs takesworker safety seriously. Signs remind all in the plant that hard hats and safe-ty marine glasses are required. Whenever a boat being worked on has an openhatch, a sign is affixed to the entry- way to the boat warning that there are open hatches.Whenever overhead cranes are inuse, safety cones and ribbons are laid out on the floor under the lift to warn other workers, or visitors, of the pos- sible danger overhead.Nordic Tugs management has,over the years, obviously paid seri- ous attention to plant conditions, rec- ognizing that the ability of tradesmen to work in good conditions and safe, clean surroundings leads to better quality boats. Workers who pro- duce a quality product take pride in their work, and that leads to even better quality and so on. Nordic Tug buyers get the benefit, and they tell their boat- buying friends. This commitment to quality and safety is one of the cornerstones of Nordic Tugs’ success.

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More Room for Bigger Boats

As of this writing, Nordic is build-ing a new 30,000-square-foot build-
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