[PUP] PPM in general - what should it be ?

[hannu venermo]

John M -
great post about the sales tactics.
And I agree on the sales and also on the value aspect.

I have never disparaged the business model or products of these 
builders, on the contrary.
The boats are good, and represent value for money, for their target market.

Their target market is obviously older, wealthy, inexperiecned people 
who want to "try trawlering" and value seemingly important things like 
sub-zero refrigerators and "apparent safety" and "systems" - here,some 
irony is intended.
Apparently, they have sold well, and retain their value well - good for 
them !

Builders build what the market wants. The market does not want safe, 
reliable, dependable, cheap-to-maintain items. It *does not*. This is in 
contrast to what many are saying, but not what people are buying.
What the market wants is what people are buying-
gizmos, "systems", "looks", "Danfoss compressors" ie trademarks etc. 
(like "lewmar winches" in sailboats) and other similar stuff.
Therefore, this is what people are sold.

It is not hard, in engineering terms, to build reliable cheap to 
maintain stuff.
And, in contrast to what you might think, it4s not expensive. Yachty 
stuff is grossly overpriced, but on looks not performance, in general. 
About the 1 thing that is reliable and dependable are the transmissions 
and engines.

Just read a post from a gentleman who says would not go to sea without 
some $$ gizmo (Iridium sat phone)
Some have said the same for radars.
I disagree, so does the commercial world (most coastal trawlers do not 
have radar), but let everyone buy whatever they want.

Defining what You want to do, where and how, is the nr1 issue I believe.
If we are going to continue on the PPM thread we should have a consensus 
on what we are trying to do;
When this was proposed, few suggestions appeared.

As I prefer to do, I will make suggestions, even though they may not 
sometimes by appreciated - or so it seems at times.. (grin)

To cap;
This is a PPM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. I believe the PPM should be cheap, safe, reliable, rugged, economical 
to operate.
2. I believe it should have all the household comforts, or the provision 
of easily and cheaply installing and or adding them.
3. I believe it should be easy and cheap to maintain and keep running.

How to do this, I will comment on later.
This affects systems, looks, materials, engineering. Everything stems 
from the goal, the mission statement if you will.

Please define what you want in the PPM.
If, and by all means define Your preferences for 1-3, these goals are 
accepted, these are my conclusions.

This makes a PPM;
-------------------------------------------------
6:1 L/W ratio
Heavy
Standardisation in mechanical engineering.
Steel
Redundancy in mechanical aspects as much as practical
All components are extremely fit for purpose and chosen for long-term 
reliability and capacity