The End of Broken Promises

Posted on Aug 26, 2011

This is long overdue. Our website has become hopelessly outdated and even our previous excuse is now two years old (but still worth reading to understand why updates are always on the back-burner). This post is the start of a new beginning. Or at least a semi-promise to try and have a new blog post every other Friday. Most of the time they will be about what's going on at the shop or possibly a race story. But sometimes it may end up being just a couple of sentences rushed out on a Friday afternoon in order to uphold our promise. But regardless, please bear with us as we attempt to keep the world updated on Kamanu Composites. I don't want to use up all of our topics on one post, so I'll write about just a few of the recent going-ons.

Company Retreat

We followed through on another long overdue promise by taking the whole shop to Kaua’i for a blissful weekend of not working. For the first time ever, the shop was closed Thursday-Sunday as 14 of us camped at Poli Hale for two nights. Hanging out at the beach and playing in the ocean on Kaua'i was a solid reminder of why we do what we do.

Team Manufacturing

As some people may have noticed, we've been experimenting with different methods of organizing our shop for production. Between January and July we had two teams. You may have received a canoe from us that had either "green team" or "blue team" written on it. The shop was basically split in half, with each half completely responsible for producing three canoes a week. All scheduling and problem solving was left to each team. Recently we switched to a simpler method that allows for more specialization, while retaining the scheduling, increased communication, and creative freedom of the original method. Now each step in the production has a team. Spraying, Laminating, Guts, and Finishing are all separate teams. We can easily pinpoint kinks in our production flow and hopefully it will allow us to isolate flaws and areas that need improvement.

Hiring

Our first hire under this new process will be for the "Finishing" team. This is the final step in the process and it requires a very quality oriented individual who enjoys problem solving, working with their hands, and working with a team. Interested individuals can send a cover letter and resume to Keizo@Kamanucomposites.com

California/Seattle/Hong Kong Container

We're nearly finished with our sixth full container for overseas. Canoes will be distributed along the West Coast, Canada, and Hong Kong. However, this container has a unique and exciting difference. Tim Lara of Hawaiian Paddlesports is importing V-3s and V-1s from Tahiti. So we can avoid having to put 50 canoes in the container and so Tim can save some money on shipping, we're joining forces and merging our containers. This next container will arrive at Newport Aquatic Center filled with Pueos and with Tahitian Va'a. It's exciting to have such a large number of Tahitian exports arriving in Hawai'i and the mainland. However, it's making the arrival of this next container rather unpredictable because we're not completely certain when the container of Va'a will arrive in Hawai'i. If you're a customer waiting for a canoe, keep in touch with your reps for updated information.

Australia

Travis Grant and Peter Corbishley are currently building the Pueo (OC-1) and Ha'upu (V-6) in Australia under the subsidiary name Kamanu Composites Australia. So far they've built 4 V-6s and 6 OC-1s. For more information, contact Travis at info@Kamanucomposites.com.au.

Hong Kong

We now have an official presence in Hong Kong. We are now one of the few composite products to be imported into China. Adam Giles and Andy Cummings are Kamanu Composites' Hong Kong representatives and are anxiously awaiting arrival of approximately eight custom Pueo within the next month. For Hong Kong ordering information, email Adam@Kamanucomposites.com.

So here's to the end of broken promises. Or at least the beginning of upholding this one promise. There will be a new blog post every other Friday from now on. And hopefully some website updates along the way. As always, thank you for your continued patronage and support.