#2 - A revolutionary idea

At the age of 23, Kommer Damen started working at the shipyard owned by his father and uncle. He quickly saw that a lot of opportunities for improvement were passing them by. He had a revolutionary idea that would enable the company to respond to market demand from the market more quickly: build hulls for stock and then finish them to the customer's specifications. In the late '60s, that was a highly unusual approach. As such, Kommer's plan was not well received within the family.Despite all the tensions, Kommer refuses to give up. Only a handful of friends and staff members have confidence in his plans. Together with them, he tries to realise his vision. And that’s not easy, because the yard he has is only suitable for putting the finishing touches on the boats. To build the hulls, he needs the help of others. Does Kommer’s plan actually have a chance of succeeding? This episode covers the period between 1967 and 1975. Want to know more about this podcast? Check out podcast.damen.com ‘On Course’ is a Damen Shipyards podcast and is produced by audio agency Airborne.