Sometimes, customers end up more like partners. Once you look under the surface, it’s no great mystery why Furuno Norway and Hatteland Technology go so well together.
It’s a lovely summer day at Nor-Fishing 2022 in Trondheim, Norway. Since we’re both exhibiting, we’ve invited Furuno Norway, a decades-long customer of ours, for a chat.
|
Furuno Norway in brief Furuno is Japanese supplier of electronics for marine applications, such as navigation, communication, and fish finding. Furuno has several subsidiaries and nearly 3 000 employees across the globe. The Norwegian division, Furuno Norge, was founded in 1974. It’s a distributor for the parent company and supplies marine electronics to Norwegian shipowners and shipyards. Learn more here. |
Given their long-standing position as market leaders within maritime electronics, we’re curious to learn more about the philosophy behind the success. We’d also like to ask them to reflect upon the relationship with Hatteland Technology, and why it’s been able to endure through the years.
A business of keeping the customer in business
Mr. Trond Strømmen (pictured above) is the CEO of Furuno Norway. He begins by explaining how their strategy is founded on operational reliability. It’s partly ensured through high-quality products that are less likely to fail, but also through a vast supplier network.
– We focus on operational reliability.
Technical issues can happen to anyone, so Furuno Norway has made it a priority to maintain a close and reliable presence. A tall order when your customers operate along the entire Norwegian coastline (the world’s second longest) but it’s probably a big reason why Furuno has become the reputed brand it is.
– We focus on operational reliability because we care that, if you choose our products, you’ll have the help and assistance you need throughout the lifecycle, Strømmen explains.
Above: Monitors are an integral part of Furuno Norway’s solutions, and were widely featured
at their Nor-Fishing 2022 stand. Here are two Hatteland Technology HD 27T22s
used for radar (left) and sonar (right).
It’s an approach that has served Furuno—and their customers—well. And it’s one of the first things
Mr. Strømmen mentions when we ask him what advice he has for shipowners who might wonder what to look for in a maritime electronics provider.
– You should of course look for modern solutions and quality products. And try to find a supplier who’s prepared to assist when something happens. Issues arise for everyone, at some point—even for us! he says and smiles. —That’s when it’s vital to be backed by an organization anywhere you go along the coast, or abroad. Anywhere.
– We look for suppliers who resemble ourselves.
As a system integrator and -supplier, Furuno in turn relies on their suppliers to provide the same reliability. Unsurprisingly, what they expect of themselves is precisely what they look for in others.
– We look for suppliers who resemble ourselves, says Mr. Strømmen and continues: – Suppliers who make nothing but quality products, have back-up capabilities and items in stock, and who you can rely on for technical support. With the amount of the deliveries we make, issues are bound to occur from time to time. Which is why need suppliers whose strategy matches ours.
Furuno Norway and Hatteland Technology go way back—
and onwards
The other party to our conversation today, Ms. Torhild Skrunes, is a key account manager at Hatteland Technology. She has worked with Furuno for more than 20 years and know better than anyone why it has been such a fruitful relationship. 
Above: Ms. Torhild Skrunes has worked with Furuno Norway for more than 20 years,
and (below) was treated to a guided tour of their stand at Nor-Fishing 2022.
– Furuno is broadly present in our market, in particular here in Norway. And they never compromise on quality, which I believe helps us raise our game. They set expectations we can develop towards, she says.
– It’s been a highly beneficial collaboration
that we have great appreciation for.
Part of the mutual compatibility lies in the ability to adapt according to demand. Customer needs can vary between off-the-shelf products, system solutions, or even something that doesn’t yet exist. As such, Furuno’s offering is a perfect match for how Hatteland Technology is set up. Both can accommodate all kinds of requests, and routinely collaborate on new concepts.
– We’ve collaborated with Hatteland for as long as I can remember, and even longer than that. In many ways, we’ve developed in tandem with one another. We first started distributing Hatteland products years and years ago. Today, we develop and test products together, and represent each other. So, it’s been a highly beneficial collaboration that we have great appreciation for, says Mr. Strømmen.
Above: An impressive Furuno setup on
a fishing vessel. (Photo credit: Furuno Norway)
For Hatteland Technology, it’s always fun and rewarding to work with like-minded companies like Furuno. We appreciate that they were able to come and talk with us for a bit, and wish them the best of luck going forward. With data becoming ever more ingrained in life at sea, we expect there will be plenty of opportunities for further collaborations in the future.
Related material:
Exploring the innovative bridge of superyacht Baglietto T52 – with Furuno Italia
Your solution partner: How Hatteland Technology can help you
5 pieces of IT hardware for the cyber-secure vessel
An introduction to computer networks on board ships