In mid December a group of General Dynmaics, Bath Iron Works (BIW) Engineering Leaders visited Sabre Yachts to meet with the Sabre Engineering Department and receive a tour of the facility. Bath Iron Works is based in Bath Maine; the company is a full service shipyard specializing in designing and building high tech US Navy destroyers.
According to John Manganello, Employee Development Specialist, the goal “was to share a common experience that would provide the opportunity for reflection, comment, and comparison in terms of safety, quality, and leadership.”
John writes, “While these were the loose guidelines, the tour of SABRE allowed for each individual to get whatever insights or takeaways he or she may have found most relevant. The Associates at Sabre Yachts were incredibly accommodating, and we at BIW are very grateful for their time and energy.”
Below are some images taken by General Dynamics BIW as well as some participant comments following the event.
One of the BIW Engineers’ wrote, “The trip was very interesting. It is always a pleasure to see firsthand a well run Maine based manufacturing enterprise that is doing well.”
BIW Engineer: “Sabre exemplified the type of company that truly cares for their workforce and their customer while producing the highest quality product.”
BIW Engineer: “My observations at Sabre were that they have been able to foster an attitude of all 160 employees being part of one team. They either succeed or fail together. The associates were very polite and helpful when asked questions and were clearly proud of what they do. They each appeared to have a clear sense of job ownership which fostered a lot of pride in their work. Quality and attention to detail was evident in every stage of the process.”
Dave Newcomb, Engineering Department Supervisor writes, “General Dynamics BIW engineering group is obviously a very highly skilled and focused engineering team. It was fascinating to discuss with them the similarities, differences, & challenges of our separate engineering departments. We benefited greatly from their visit.”
To learn more about General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, visit the
BIW website.
