Natural evolution

The quartet responsible for leading edge activity at ENL are (from left) R & D manager Brian Germain, service manager Homiar Daruwalla, operations manager Simon Cornfoot and national sales manager Gareth Hodson.

After 60 years in an industry marked by rapid technological change and a challenging market, ENL (Electronic Navigation Ltd) remains a successful and innovative marine electronics company.

The Auckland-based company has evolved from servicing commercial products to manufacturing, then marketing imported electronics and has now returned to its roots as a manufacturer of specialised products for commercial fishing, distress radio monitoring and the maritime defence market.

New Zealand's new naval ships, the first of which was launched near Rotterdam last week, will feature 165 touch-screen terminals for tactical communications that were designed and manufactured by ENL.

The firm started in 1945 servicing electronics for the coastal inshore fishery. Later it made radio direction-finders and double sideband radios. But its modern face can be traced back to the early 1960s, when former navy man Jack Williamson took over the company and signed up as New Zealand's Furuno agent.

The close association with Furuno remains and is one of the key relationships that have characterised the company's growth and position as a top marine electronics company. It has also developed the Lowrance brand into a major seller in New Zealand with ENL number three in the world on unit sales for Lowrance.

The company was taken over by its then sales manager and managing director, Mike Hodson, in 1986.

Since then there have been major changes. Commercial fishing interests have developed into a specialised deep sea fishery while recreational boating continues to show huge growth and significant demand for powerful and functional marine electronics.

The firm has seen competitors come and go, the arrival of parallel imports and internet trading, and the growth of the superyacht industry, with New Zealand as a significant builder.

The business environment has also changed enormously. ENL weathered the days where every unit required its own import licence, locally made products were protected by import restrictions and the Government could change the environment overnight through the introduction of sales taxes and devaluations.

"We have stuck to what we do best, but also diversified under the marine electronics banner," says Mike Hodson.

When deep sea fishing efforts moved south, ENL moved to Nelson working closely with Wastney Electronics until ENL established its South Island branch.

"Customer support has always been our main focus," says Hodson. "It's not enough to market leading electronic products, the package has to include support and service. The dealer network and a skilled service department are essential parts of the package. We've also trained apprentices over the years with 15 becoming qualified - another two are about to compete their apprenticeships."

As well as remaining a key supplier to commercial fishing, the company has expanded into the recreational market, superyachts and manufacturing. It developed and built Netlink, a transmitter that was deployed with commercial fishing nets in deep water.

"Our R&D department has been a very important part of diversification," says Hodson.

"When the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System came in we saw the opportunity to use a software interface for SSB (HF) communications and developed the Datamaster product," says Hodson. Datamaster is now used to manage the radio distress monitoring over 20 per cent of the world's oceans and is the basis for the tactical communications systems on the new RNZN Protector vessels.

Most recently it has developed WASSP (Wide Angle Sonar Seafloor Profiler), a high-quality ocean floor profiling system, which is generating huge interest locally and from France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the United States.

"The company has come a long way, but with the projects we have on the go and the new products coming on board there is much enthusiasm for what's ahead over the next couple of decades and beyond," says Hodson.