At what cost

May 1, 2023  |  Editorial

It’s important to think hard about your bottom line when you’re in business. You won’t be profitable or stay in business very long without keeping track of your expenses and revenues. It’s also true that fixating on your costs and cutting too many corners can create expensive mistakes. 
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2023 Regional workshop registration is now open

May 1, 2023  |  News

Registration will open soon for the Marine Fabricators Association (MFA) Northwest Regional Workshop being held Sept. 22–23, 2023, at Oyster Creek Canvas, Bellingham, Wash., and the MFA Great Lakes Workshop being held Nov. 17-18, 2023, at Chicago Marine Canvas in Chicago, Ill. The workshops will p…
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New members join MFA

May 1, 2023  |  New Members

The Marine Fabricators Association (MFA) provides resources and programs for marine fabricators and establishes standards of excellence for business practices, products and craftsmanship. The MFA is a division of the Advanced Textiles Association, formerly known as IFAI.
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Industry Events

May 1, 2023  |  Events

All calendar events are subject to change. Please check websites for updated information.
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Choosing the right window materials

May 1, 2023  |  Features

Selecting boat windows for customers might be the hardest thing a fabricator can do—or the easiest. Most customers have two primary concerns: cost and longevity. Make them something that’ll last and that doesn’t break the bank, and they’ll be happy. Easy, right? Not necessarily, because achi…
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Pricing, costing and estimating

May 1, 2023  |  Features

Expertise plays an important role in a successful marine business. However, a fabricator might be highly skilled, with lines of customers and a backlog of projects, and that’s still no assurance the business will remain viable in the long run. If pricing is at odds with costs, the effect on the bo…
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2023 Premier Product Showcase

May 1, 2023  |  Features, Premier Product Showcase

For this feature, we asked our contributors to send us information about their high-performing products. The product information was submitted by the participating manufacturers and suppliers by the established deadline. The products are organized into three categories: Fabric, Film & Foam; Equi…
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Center Console Enclosures

May 1, 2023  |  Exterior and Cover, Projects

Center console boats are a popular style of boat in my area, Yorktown, Va., along with sportfish, cruisers, trawlers and sailboats. In my opinion, center console enclosures are some of the most complicated enclosures to design. This style of boat usually has many challenges to overcome in order to g…
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Choosing the right fabrics

May 1, 2023  |  Interiors & Upholstery, Projects

There are many suppliers of fabrics in the marine industry. Upon researching just one of our suppliers, I discovered more than 4,000 fabrics, spanning 11 application categories, and each fabric was uniquely created for both the marine and other crossover industries. To cover even a portion of them w…
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The lighter side of OSHA

May 1, 2023  |  Business

When most of us hear the word “OSHA,” we instantly conjure up images of ticket-writing cops invading our workplace. And these aren’t the $35 tags that grace our windshield when we linger in a parking spot too long. These citations can easily hit the four- or five-digit mark depending on the se…
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