On a recent trip to Dometic Marine’s 200,000-square-foot (and growing) Vancouver, British Columbia, manufacturing facilities, I witnessed the expertise that goes into building some of the industry’s most advanced steering systems and the know-how behind such control systems as trim tabs, wake-shaping tabs, jack plates, electronic helm controls and heaters. I also got a glimpse at the thinking that created all of Dometic Marine’s other engineered products, which the company intends to make obsolete as soon as possible.

You read that correctly. While many corporations expand through acquisitions as a quick way to grow sales and increase market share, Dometic Marine president Eric Fetchko says the company will only do an acquisition “if it fits into our ecosystem and helps achieve our goal of putting more engineered products on boats, and fostering centralized distribution.” Instead, Dometic Marine focuses more on improving every product it makes, in more than a few ways.

Under its three roofs in Richmond, which is part of Greater Vancouver, the manufacturing equipment increasingly
includes cobots, or collaborative robots, which work alongside 550 employees. These cobots improve efficiency and output, keep employees safe, and decrease repetitive-work injuries. More than 100 patents have been generated at this facility, which is just one of Dometic Marine’s locations. The company has seven more plants throughout the United States and five international locations.

In addition to cobots in greater Vancouver, the company has 22 CNC mills, two flexible machining cells, 26 CNC lathes, four CNC thread grinders, a semiautomated, centerless grinder, three honing machines and two fully automatic machining cells with robotic part loading. These machines are used to make parts with incredible tolerances, such as the inverted roller screw assembly used in an all-electric steering actuator, with tolerances of 1/10,000th of an inch. This manufacturing process lets the assembly travel smoothly and withstand the forces of a vibrating outboard.

Dometic Marine also invests in technologies that are sometimes years away from being feasible. When Fetchko was general manager of the Vancouver plant, he was mentored by SeaStar Solutions president Harold Copping, who has since retired. “In 2000, he said, ‘Here’s some money. Take a young engineer and start working on a drive-by-wire steering system so boaters can steer their boats like cars,’ ” Fetchko recalls. “Ninety-five percent of disruptive technology doesn’t come from industry leaders. We want to be the 5% exception. We were the first to introduce a CAN bus control in 2002, but the marine industry wasn’t ready for it, but we knew that would change.”

After realizing that all-electric steering systems would become the new gold standard, Dometic had several choices to make. Fetchko recalls pressure to concentrate on the company’s own Optimus
system, but to sell the most units, he needed to work with engine manufacturers, integrating Dometic Marine’s steering into their power plants.

This approach led to the collaboration of Dometic and Yamaha on the latter’s 425-hp XTO Offshore and its fully integrated electric steering system. And that success with Yamaha helped to bring Mercury Marine into the Dometic fold. Fetchko says he told Mercury’s team: “You’re an engine builder. Do what you do best and build engines, and we’ll do the steering.” After 25 years of trying to make inroads with Mercury, the deal happened.

Dometic Marine’s approach of making its products obsolete — while still showing impressive sales figures on products being phased out — is one of the company’s hallmarks. Although hydraulic steering has been on the market for 30 years, last year, Dometic booked a 10% increase in sales on that product. And when other companies copy the products, Dometic gains another advantage. “It’s been fantastic because they will always be behind the curve,” Fetchko says. “When they launch their product, we launch our next generation.”

Another Dometic focus is to determine what is important to customers. “It’s different in the automotive world, where price is the number-one consideration,” Fetchko says. “For boaters, it’s number eight. According to our research, the number-one priority for boaters is safety, followed by product performance.”

Dometic also tries to know more about each customer’s desires than the customer does. “We just don’t go, ‘What does the customer want?’ Or, ‘What do you need us to build?’ ” Fetchko says. “Today’s customer wants air conditioning on a ski or open fishing boat, and we found people will pay big money to get value. This creates a lot of room for growth. We are constantly reinventing ourselves. Our goal is to bring power steering down to entry-level boats. This year, a builder of value boats is going to announce they are going to all-electric steering, which will help elevate them to the next level.”

The final announcement at the get-together of the international press was a teaser of something big coming down the pike in 2024. Guessing what this might be is futile, since Dometic Marine keeps innovations under wraps, but one thing is certain: If Dometic says it’s a big deal, expect a game-changer. 

This article was originally published in the September 2023 issue.