Nautique Boat Company, headquartered near the Orlando International Airport in Florida, is the world’s premier manufacturer of luxury ski boats, wakeboarding boats, and wake-surfing boats. With a 95-year history, its name became iconic in 1961 with the introduction of the Ski Nautique line of boats. The firm has seen 400% growth in the past 15 years and now produces over 3,000 boats per year. They range in price from the $80,000 Ski Nautique to the nearly $300,000 Paragon G23 Coastal Edition. They’re all part of the company’s strategy of differentiation. “We are the team creating the standards that others are judged by—the flagship,” says president Greg Meloon. “Our customers often have the desire and passion to own a Nautique their whole lives. We maintain a legacy of excellence as a privately-held company and take a long-term approach. So we’re going to build a boat that lasts. And it all comes down to details.” Nautique’s mission is to: “Cultivate a world-class results-driven team that delivers exceptional products and creates a lifetime of memorable experiences.” To achieve its competitive advantage, Nautique has identified these six operations management key success factors:1. Human resources: With a workforce of 600 employees, Nautique constantly trains and promotes employees for welldefined career paths. Additionally, to maintain low turnover, the firm uses a 10-hour/4-day workweek, competitive wages, and a supportive family atmosphere. Nautique strives to be “an employer of choice.”2. Product development: As a quality boat manufacturer, Nautique starts with a 40-plus person design team, the largest in the industry. It uses state-of-the-art computer-aided design, 3D printing, and a huge engineering staff to create new cutting-edge models every year.3. Supply chain: Since a product is only as good as the parts that go into it, Nautique has close ties with its major suppliers. It even sends its engineers to suppliers to advise them on how to increase their quality and efficiencies. Nautique has also joined with other independent boat makers, in the American Boatbuilders Association, allowing it to attain economies of scale in procurement against billion-dollar competitors. This means Nautique sources from the best partners, for the best prices, for on-schedule delivery.4. Production: Nautique’s production of premium boats means establishing the best manufacturing practices, through a highly engaged team, exceeding customer expectations. It operates5 workstations, moving each boat forward to the next station every 38 to 44 minutes depending upon the production schedule.5. Quality: Beginning with visits to vendor facilities, Nautique specifies only the highest-quality raw materials and components with quality inspections at every workstation. As part of the comprehensive quality assurance system, every Nautique boat is taken to Nautique’s private lake for rigorous inspection and testing.6. Information technology: Nautique delivers IT support to meet the plant’s needs through software such as Rhino 3D modeling, Solidworks CAD, and an EPICOR ERP system. These systems are supplemented with dynamic, timely, and reative information displays throughout the plant.

Discussion Questions1. Using an activity map similar to that for Southwest Airlines in Figure 2.8, create such a map for Nautique.2. Identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that are unique to Nautique’s strategy.3. How has Nautique evolved over the decades?4. What impact might an industry-wide evolution to electric boats have on Nautique’s operations and strategy?

Data from figure 2.8