Rapp Marine Group recently acquired Hydra Pro, a crane manufacturing firm in Seattle. Possessing both American Petroleum Institute (API) Spec 2C and ISO 9001: 2008 certifications, Rapp Hydra Pro is a rarity in the crane community.
Hydra Pro also manufactures A-frames, cylinders and other associated machinery. Hydra Pro's clientele includes customers in the offshore oil industry, the US military, and various other marine subsectors, including ROV handling. Kurt Manchester is the new Hydra Pro President; he has over 25 years of manufacturing experience.
Winch manufacture has recently been added to the new facility's activities, and possibilities for future expansion are significant. The Rapp Hydra Pro facility was reconfigured some years ago in accord with Lean Manufacturing principles, which are well reflected in process flows, inventory, and manpower distribution. 5 S, Kaizen and other best business practices are also in use here.
Johann Sigurjonsson, president of Rapp Hydema US, is impressed by the operation's functionality and said that he is planning to replicate some of these practices at the original 4433 27th Avenue facility. Closely involved in all aspects of the acquisition process, Sigurjonsson called Hydra Pro "a most important addition to the Rapp family" which includes existing facilities in Dutch Harbor, AK, Seattle, WA (two sites: the traditional one along 27th Avenue West, and a new warehouse being outfitted for more manufacturing at 24th Avenue West), and the Houston sales office. Yet these existing Rapp US facilities are chiefly focused on Rapp's long-standing winch business.
Sigurjonsson noted that the Hydra Pro acquisition "sharply increases our US-based manufacturing capabilities" at a time when local manufacture has become very attractive.
"Rapp US has long had a certain amount of crane repair and rebuild work, but this new operation gives us the opportunity to present the field with a complete deck machinery package, as opposed to just a partial approach," he added.
Rapp Hydema and Rapp Hydra Pro will be jointly exhibiting at the New Orleans Workboat show, upcoming at the end of November.
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