MEOS GmbH now manufactures parts for mega yachts using robot technology. The Kiel-based company was also a finalist in a well known business

Automation continues to find its way into the yachting industry. Although almost everything is still manufactured by hand at many mega yacht suppliers, some components can simply be produced better with the help of perfected machines. Kiel-based MEOS GmbH, for example, one of the leading companies in the demanding metal construction of yachts, recently installed a state-of-the-art welding robot in its production facility. “This will enable us to increase both our production speed and quality,” explains Dr. Reinhard Mehl, managing director and owner of MEOS GmbH. Mehl: “The robot welds better than any human being because it is much faster and therefore less heat penetrates the metal”. The approximately four-metre-long, 2.50-metre-deep and three-metre-high device can handle parts with a length of around two metres, but can also process smaller parts at high speed in alternating operation.

“With the robot, we are not only expanding our capacity, but also preventing the shortage of skilled workers to a certain extent. Once set up, the robot does not necessarily have to be monitored by qualified specialists,” Dr. Reinhard Mehl sums up.

MEOS GmbH, which has so far delivered its products on 70 mega yachts, is also delighted to be a finalist in the Leipzig Oskar Patzelt Foundation’s “Großer Preis des Mittelstandes 2020”. The business competition is considered one of the most prestigious in Germany; this year, almost 5000 small and medium-sized companies throughout Germany were nominated for the award – according to the jury’s assessment, however, only 24 companies may carry the title “finalist”, including MEOS GmbH as one of three from Schleswig-Holstein/Hamburg. Dr. Reinhard Mehl says: “A great success for our team, which constantly strives for the highest quality”.

Claus-Ehlert Meyer, Managing Director of the German Boat and Shipbuilders’ Association and thus also its working group Deutsche Yachten, comments on the developments at MEOS GmbH as follows: “The innovative production technology of our Kiel member and the award impressively demonstrate the quality of the working group. The German yacht industry, rightly so, enjoys an extremely high reputation worldwide.“