New products for the pleasure boating industry and new strategies: we met the General Manager at Furuno Italia who told us about the plans of the Japanese company
WHEN YOU THINK OF FURUNO, YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENTS OF QUALITY. The brand is synonimus of electronics for professionals, all the fighting fisher boats have a Furuno ecosounder on their dashboard. On contrary, they are also regarded as complex instruments which need an engineering knowledge just to turn them on. In 2014 the Japanese company, which is the only one in the electronic field to be owned by its founder – precisely the Furuno family – changed the distribution strategies in Italy.For several years Arimar was responsible for the distribution, then Furuno Italia was born. Massimo Bugli who worked in Arimar for 22 years and has always been employed in the electronic division, has been named General Manager at Furuno Italia.
Who is in Furuno Italia?
There are 34 people. 27 are from Arimar. Furuno wanted all the team who had always been responsible for the distribution in Italy. Of the 34 employees, 25 are technicians, because the company has always paid attention to the pre and after sales service.
And the site?
The headquarters is in Gatteo, near Rimini, then there’s the Viareggio site and the Genova one where there are the technicians for both the naval and pleasure boating fields. Furthermore there’s the Augusta one in Sicily and recently we have opened another one in Naples.
What services do you offer?
Assistance is guaranteed by 25 technicians located across Italy and by all the external technicians and installers who also work as Furuno dealers. There is a dealer in every port. All technicians, internal and external, regularly attend training courses on new products every year. Leading constructors in Italy ( Azimut, Benetti, Ferretti Group, Baglietto, San Lorenzo) appreciate the direct contact with the company. Our technicians are able to manage the entire process, from the planning stages to on-board installation.
In your opinion, what advantages do you offer compared to your competitors?
We have a wide range of products and work in many different maritime sectors, not just for pleasure crafts: merchant marine, professional fishing vessels, working boats, cruise an passenger ships, as well as offering electronic equipment for yachts. We are not a dealer that manages a warehouse and ships boxes to clients. We are qualified technicians specialised in commercial and pleasure vessels.
What are the new products and who are they targeted to?
NavNets TZtouch2 are multi-function touch screen instruments that use the technology developed in professional sectors or for mega yachts, for example, to download meteorological data directly on the plotter using Wi-Fi. This new range has been designed for boats between 12 and 20 meters long. Furuno already leads the market for the over 30-metre vessels, but middle size boats are expected to make a comeback in the next few years, so we have developed multi-function plotters specifically for these types of boat.
And what about sailing boats?
We have started working also in this sector, which historically is not part of Furuno’s core business. The new FI 70 instrument range is fitted with proprietary sensors, including wind sensors. With the NMEA 2000 protocol we can install these displays while keeping the existing sensors on board.
Furuno’s name has always been linked to radars and fishing.
Our latest radar is wireless and we are the only ones to have it. It is ideal on sailing boats as there is no need for cables, except for power. And no weight is added to the mast. Communication between the radar and the plotter is wireless allowing to implement map overlays. For the new fisherman models, Furuno has created a special proprietary software that offers the same technology quality as Chirp while using a normal transducer. Chirp transducers are quite expensive, but this software, which essentially acts as a filter, provides a great echo sounder.
(Massimo Bugli, back to the future – Barchemagazine.com – December 2015)
