DAMEN Shipyards Galatiinterim management assignment 2008-2010

About this album

This album shows photos made during my interim management assignment in DAMEN Shipyard Galati from mid February 2008 up to the end of December 2009.

I thank my colleagues in the yard for the splendid cooperation we had during the implementation of the Yard Improvement Plan and the enormous task to reschedule the yard for different kind of vessels and a smaller dedicated workforce.

Kees de Ruiter

Some highlights in the development of the shipyard

1893 Establishment of the G. Fernic and Associates factory (steel works and bronze casting)1897 Repair of approximately 20-24 ships/year, 300 workers.1912 First newbuilding, a ferry of 80-100 tons.1927 Galati Shipyard is one of the biggest factories in Romania. Workers increased from

500 in 1919 to 1,000 in 1927.1937 The shipyard became “Santierul Naval Galati” or “Galati Shipyard”.1990 The shipyard employed 9,400 people in a communistic style of workers’ industry.1999 DAMEN Shipyards Group took over Galati Shipyard and established the capacity to 3,200

workers.2008 The yard underwent a Yard Improvement Programme (YIP), focussing on a new

organisation structure and new methods of on-time delivery, budget control and quality assurance.

2009 The yard’s Romanian Managing Director was replaced by Kees de Ruiter as interim Managing Director to implement a modern management style in which management responsibility in both Production and Project Management was revaluated. The function of

Human Resources was introduced at highest management level; QC developed an active QA task; KPI’s and BBSC were launched to monitor management targets closely.

DAMEN Shipyards Galati

The shipyard during the interim management period underwent a transition from a typical cargo vessel and tanker builder to a yard for the construction of off-shore and anchor handling vessels, navy, coastguard and research ships, next to the more complicated and one-off tug and workboats.

Launchings

Although the shipyard has no responsibility for order acquisition and was considered a „production unit” in the DAMEN Group, it carries out numerous commercial and PR activities.

Not only for so-called „first cutting”, „keel-laying” and „launching” activities have to be organised for the various clients, also the relations with the Romanian Local and National Government and Labour Institutions, as well as the Board of DAMEN Group and it’s Non-excutive Directors have to be well maintained.

Visitors

Depending on the workload in the shipyard, in particular in the outfitting stages of the various vessels under construction, foreigners come to the shipyard for installation and commissioning jobs.

At average some 10-15 foreigners, mainly Dutch are active in the yard of which some semi-permanently as Project Managers and Commissioning Engineers. A nice bunch of people to have a beer with at the end of the day on a terrace or in a pub. The regular men-talk here is not about cars, football or women but purely on technical matters. Nonetheless, a lot could be learned, even after working time...

My wife Willemijn came once to the quiet, but also unexiting town of Galati, although In summer the weather is fine with an occasional happening in town. She rightly decided that the town was not her place to be permanent. The MERCUR hotel, however, that was ready in March 2009 was of excellent quality and I enjoyed the large and beautiful apartment very much.

Living in Galati

The farewell party was organised at my 64th birthday on 16 December 2009 in Café Rotterdam in Galati. This was a great evening. Because of my leave, I was happy to be able to make a donation to the Foundation “Heart of a Child” that does a great job for children abandoned by their parents, disabled and infected with HIV.

18 December 2009

- Some like it hot.. -