The New Name of Finnish Shipbuilding
The announced merger of Kvaerner Masa-Yards and Aker Finyards — both members of the Aker Yards Groups — draws to a conclusion nearly a decade of change within the Finnish shipbuilding community, while providing the technically talented and market capable company with a clear vision for the future. Long an elite member of the world's select fraternity of "high value ship" builders, the Finnish maritime community has built and maintained a leadership in several technically demanding categories — cruise shipping, LNG carriers and ice ship technology, to name but a few — despite the country's relatively small size, environmental challenges and fierce competition from lower cost competitors in the Far East Aker Yards Group recently announced the merger of Kvaerner Masa-Yards Inc.
Aker Yards Integration Process Moves into Implementation Phase
Aker Yards has announced its new business model for its shipyards in business area cruise & ferries. The new business model, presented today to the management and employee representatives, is the result of a 100 days integration process in which 12 task forces in France and Finland have analyzed the two ways of doing shipbuilding. Best practices, efficient organizations and fixed costs were reviewed and compared. This process resulted in about 150 initiatives to be implemented over the next three years worth in the magnitude of 100 million euro in savings, among which some 40 million for Finland. The five main initiatives are the focus on core competencies…
