Recently, the Executive Director of the NSL had a conversation with Bill Mildon, President of Hydro Group Systems, Inc., a 2 star Corpo- rate Member new to the NSL this year. Following is a transcript of their discussion. If other NSL Corporate Members would be interested in a similar conversation, please contact execdirector@navalsubleague.org.
How did your company get started and how have you been asso- ciated with it?
Hydro Group Systems, Inc. was started when a colleague and owner of Hydro Group Plc. of Aberdeen Scotland, who noticed I had retired a couple of years earlier and was spending too much time at the beach in Florida, decided he would like to have a company in the USA. With one of the world’s largest undersea markets, his company was only scratch- ing the surface of the potential for Hydro Group products to be intro- duced. Some market research and numerous phone calls to both Navy and commercial customers found the need for a small business to be in the mix. As I put together a business plan framework I found even more reason to start the business for undersea project in Renewable Energy of which is growing in the US. Following a week-long visit to Aberdeen, Owner of Hydro Group Doug Whyte and I agreed to a plan of action for the new subsidiary in Largo, Florida.
As President of Hydro Group Systems, Inc., it is my task to set up a sales and manufacturing facility to operate in the US for both Hydro Group products and design and manufacture products for the US Subma- rine Force as well as oil and gas and renewable energy markets.
Hydro Group supplies submarine hull penetrations and cabling sys- tems to the UK NAVY and is contracted to supply the Dreadnaught Sub- marine Program in the UK. Hydro Group Systems, Inc. is working to be a US supplier to US Submarine programs. We look to support both Navies with new technologies and possibly share across the pond these advancements.
How did you get started as a submarine supplier?
That is too long of a story, truthfully. So, the short version is that I ended up at a company who manufactured submarine cables, penetra- tions, and various other products in Rhode Island. After many years deal- ing with submarine installs of various components including the cables and penetrations I was working in the UK to introduce the UK NAVY and BAE Systems to the US NAVY way of cabling and plug-n-play pen- etrations. Having designed the penetrations and cabling systems for the ASTUTE Class submarine, we won the contract to manufacture the en- tire class of submarines penetrations and cables and put us in the position to design and manufacture more complex systems for the US NAVY submarine programs. I was able to repeat this type of effort with Navan- tia on the S80 Program and South Korea with their submarine program.
What percentage of your business would you say is subma-rine-related?
Currently we are experiencing about 60 percent worldwide in sub- marine products.
Do you have information that you need to grow your business and to support the growing demand on the supplier base?
We have a great deal of the information to grow the business it’s just a bit more time consuming to get the manufacturing part set up and obtain the contracts to get qualified to supply the products.
Do you have any ideas about any actions that could be taken that would enable you and other suppliers to be better able to respond to the growing market demands?
In my opinion, everyone would benefit from more frequent Supplier Days or Industry Days bringing in the businesses that design and man- ufacture the products required for any project. In the case of our prod- ucts many times cables and connectors are an after thought and now its crunch time to design and build increasing the cost.
In addition, we attend many conferences and shows where we can meet many of our customers and potentially new customers in one trip allowing communication about upcoming projects, new developments and working together. We must be aggressive in this process to develop relationships, utilize best practices to keep cost down, deliver on time and your reputation grows as a solid supplier.
We must be in step with technology refresh at a minimum as it is much faster than just a few years ago. To keep up we must be proactive in finding ways for our products to be smaller, have faster availability and be less expensive.
As a Corporate Member of the NSL, what have been the most important features of membership to you?
As a Submariner myself and having been on many other countries submarines it is great feeling being a part of NSL in promoting commu- nity awareness of the US Naval Submarine Force. I enjoy seeing friends, colleagues and shipmates at NSL functions and in working relationships. As a corporate member we believe that our commitment will help better the submarine force. And we feel that we are connected to the real cus- tomers —Submarine Sailors— through the briefs and interaction with fellow members.
How else could the NSL help you and your company?
Spread the word about Hydro Group Systems being a Small Busi- ness with a great deal of history in supporting submarines in the US and worldwide. Our goal is to be the best at what we do, no different than the US Submarine Force. Thank you for this opportunity to address the NSL forum. Spread the word about Hydro Group Systems being a Small Business with a great deal of history in supporting submarines in the US and worldwide. Our goal is to be the best at what we do, no different than the US Submarine Force. Thank you for this opportunity to address the NSL forum.
