Sonali Chatterjee of the Indian Ports & Infrastructure magazine did a Q&A with me some time back which appeared in their February issue. I have created a pdf of the relevant article for you to read. This publication has appeared in the Indian Ports & Infrastructure magazine of February 2012.

Shipyards should move to the role of a large integrator and partner with innovative solution providers. Imitation and low pricing won’t last long and is based on volume. Innovation is what adds real value. In this forever faster changing global world we can achieve this through continuous search for excellence. Short production series, customisation as a general principle, and global competition force shipyards to permanently search for innovative solutions with regard to design and production technologies.

South of Negombo, Sri Lanka. I found myself walking in the rain along a totally unknown path along a small river which I hoped, and half expected, would lead me to the beach. The rain had been a bit of a light drizzle when I first set off but slowly it gathered the look and feel of a monsoon shower. Even my umbrella started to feel inadequate to deal with the steady moisture descending from the grey clouds above.

If one can borrow, why build or buy? More than ever, in today’s climate where cash is king and credit is tight, alliances are a smarter, swifter, more reactive and economical way to pursue strategic opportunities and gain competitive advantages. These words of wisdom from INSEAD applied to the ING bank where I worked (increase the throughput in Change Management by means of outsourcing). It also applies to the shipbuilding industry, my current field of endeavour.