All the recent discussion on capitalism, profit and industry greed seems quite interesting ( and almost make-believe from an area without any surf industry). I thought I’d add this article about an Australian surfboard manufacturing co-operative. Could this allow small and mid-sized players to stay in the fight against cheap imports and expensive regulations? from: The Courier-Mail Super board factory gears up for export wave Greg Stolz 15jul03 SOME of Australia’s leading surfboard makers hope to ride an export wave whipped up by the force of a new super-factory based on the Gold Coast. Once rivals, five of the country’s top surfboard shapers have joined forces to form a co-operative aimed at gaining a bigger slice of the $1 billion global board market. There are an estimated 17 million surfers around the world but despite Australia being a competitive surfing superpower, surfboard exports from Down Under account for only 5 per cent of an international market dominated by the Americans. The newly-formed BASE Boards and Surf Equipment collective hopes to change all that – and improve members’ profits – by manufacturing, marketing and distributing surfboards under a united banner. The collective, which has been two years in the planning, includes Gold Coast manufacturers Darren Handley, Murray Bourton and Nev Hyman. Also involved are Victoria’s Maurice Cole and Sydney’s Simon Anderson, who is credited with inventing the three-fin surfboard, or “thruster” that is still in vogue 22 years after it was pioneered. Some of the world’s best surfers are already “team riders” for the individual shapers, including Gold Coast-based professionals Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson and Trudy Todd. BASE general manager Cameron Lamperd said it would be the first vertical integration of the surfboard manufacturing process. Surfboard makers have traditionally bought their materials from external suppliers and also outsourced parts of the production process such as fibreglassing. But Mr Lamperd said the company, which has almost 80 staff, would “manage the entire process of surfboard production, including blank (surfboard core) manufacture, design/shaping, glassing, finishing, marketing and sales”. This, he said, would free-up the manufacturers to do what they do best – make surfboards. Mr Lamperd said BASE would not become a retail label, with the manufacturers retaining their existing brands. “BASE will operate as a support behind the individual product brands . . . to improve the efficiency and quality of production and distribution of surfboards,” he said. Despite its increased production capabilities and marketing clout, Mr Lamperd said BASE had no plans to mass produce surfboards to compete with cheap Asian manufacturers that have begun infiltrating the market. http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,6751671%255E3122,00.html
proves there are still people left in the world who have morales.