BassTender fishing boats are made from HMWPE and are light enough to be powered by small outboards or electric trolling motors. The boats feature: built-in trolling motor mount, anchor locker/ice chest with drain and dry storage compartment, and large livewell with aerator pump and overflow drain.

A leisurely approach to life is often the most satisfying. For one Michigan-based company, it is also the most profitable.

Grand Rapids-based Leisure Life Ltd. has distinguished itself as one of the largest U.S. manufacturers of small recreational boats. Since 1977, the company's product line has grown from a single pedal boat to 24 models of small recreational boats including: pontoon boats, fishing boats, canoes, kayaks, tenders and dinghies, and of course, pedal boats.

"We're the largest boat manufacturer in our market niche," says Richard Sweers, vice president of operations.

According to Sweers, Leisure Life was the first manufacturer of its type to use polyethylene for pedal boats in 1981. The company continues to use high molecular weight polyethylene (HMWPE) "because of the functionality of the product. It has proven to be the strongest and most durable material available for our particular thermoforming application," says Philip Globig, vice president of sales and marketing.

"It is resistant to chemicals, does not corrode, resists fading and cracking, is five times more impact-resistant than fiberglass and is maintenance free &emdash; it never needs to be painted," Globig adds. "In addition, polyethylene allows minimal moisture absorption, has excellent electrical insulating properties, has a low-coefficient of friction and is much less costly than an FRP or aluminum material. From a production standpoint, polyethylene is easier to process."

The thermoformed pedal boats, kayaks, canoes, bass boats and dinghies are made of HMWPE. The pontoon boats are constructed of co-extruded Centrex/ABS.

"Centrex/ABS is resistant to a variety of chemicals and acids and provides dimensional stability, offers electrical insulating properties, low water absorption and the increased rigidity we need for our larger electric powered pontoon boats," Sweers says.

Leisure Life contracts with Primex Plastics to extrude into sheet Phillips Chemical virgin HXM 50100 HMWPE and Bayer Centrex/ABS. "We buy our sheets extruded to our specifications. We specify the color and UV packages, width, length, gauge, orientation, flatness..." Sweers says. Leisure Life uses approximately 4 million pounds per year of extruded sheet. During its peak periods, the company has the capability to produce in excess of 350 boats per day.

Creating Fun In The Sun In 1977, Charlie Billmayer was determined to make a better pedal boat. His vision led to the creation of Leisure Life Ltd., a company which produced 540 single model pedal boats during its first year in a 4.200 square foot plant. The company has since grown, with capabilities to manufacture more than 540 boats in two days during peak season. In the 154,000 square-foot plant, 80-plus full-time employees manufacture a full range of small recreational crafts including: • WaterWheeler pedal boats • BassTender fishing boats • ElDeBo and ESL Electric Pontoon boats • WaterTender dinghies • WaterQuest canoes

For approximately eight years, Leisure Life Ltd. farmed out its thermoforming business to contract formers. But in 1987, the company decided to bring the business in-house and purchased a 7-foot by 14-foot EMC double-end shuttle, which it rebuilt in-house.

"In addition to potential cost savings, a substantial improvement in quality was expected, based upon direct control over our thermoforming process," says Sweers.

With the double-ender in place, the company's sales grew significantly, averaging 20 percent a year. To keep up with increased business, in March 1994 the company purchased a larger, customized thermoformer. Fully computerized, the MAAC 138 RD three-station rotary thermoforming machine features a customized 81Ú2-foot by 131Ú2-foot oven capable of forming parts for the majority of Leisure Life's watercraft. Sheets are loaded onto a lift table and fed individually into the machine's heavy-duty clamp frame. The dual element computer-controlled oven has ceramic heaters on the top and Calrod heaters on the bottom. The 138 RD's computerized programming system also has 11 pre-programmed forming techniques.

Leisure Life forms approximately 75 different parts, including decks, hulls and liners, using pre-colored, UV-protected heavy gauge Centrex/ABS and polyethylene sheets of different thicknesses. With the rotary former, the company has reduced its cycle times for both ABS and polyethylene by 25 percent, Sweers says. In addition, setup time from last part to first part &emdash; removing and installing the molds, heating the tool and making adjustments &emdash; has been reduced from the previous three to four hours on the non-computerized double-ender, down to two hours on the 138 RD.

Leisure Life developed and installed a quick-change tool system on the rotary former. To form ABS, the company uses both aluminum-filled epoxy molds, which Leisure Life produces in-house, and aluminum molds built by Tooling Technology and Portage Casting & Mold; polyethylene is formed strictly on the aluminum molds. The molds measure up to 101 square feet and feature several large details and contours for: coolers, drink holders, contoured seats, battery compartments, storage wells, radios, electric motors, depth finder consoles, etc.

"These types of amenities add value and differentiate the mix of products and accessories we offer to our dealers and their customers," Globig says. "We're doing some things with polyethylene which are not typically done. We can thermoform the 'consumer' comforts the same color of the boats &emdash; rod holders, front and rear covers, hatch covers, etc."

In January 1999 the company added to its capabilities and purchased an STP rotational molder to mold the canoe seats and live wells, as well as other peripherals, Sweers adds. "We previously owned the tooling and contracted the molding. Now that it's in-house we see savings not only in cost reduction but increased throughput and improved quality."

In March 1999, the company replaced the EMC double-end machine with a Comet 9-foot by 18-foot four-station rotary machine capable of twin sheet forming. The machine had been completely rebuilt by Custom Manufactures Inc. The addition of this machine has enabled Leisure Life to bring all thermoformed products in-house, as well as increase throughput by as much as 50 percent when compared to the EMC, Sweers says.

Leisure Life puts an emphasis on quality control, especially in its value-added engineering. In its 150,000-plus square foot plant, the company uses an assembly-line process, by product group, to move the recreational boats through the fabrication process.

"We do as much value-added work in the thermoform machine cycle as possible," Sweers says. The company does not use CNC routers, but rather relies on pin routers and two types of hand-held routers &emdash; plunge and upright &emdash; for its trimming. "We do the majority of the trimming in the production cycle with plunge or upright hand-held Dotco routers. The plunge routers use a router bit and the upright routers use a small circular blade," he explains. The two C.R. Onsrud pin routers are used in both the plastic and wood shop for routing flat sheets to shape.

Pin routers are used to fabricate pedal boat front and rear covers, bass boat floors and other contoured parts from plastic. Pin routers are also used to fabricate bass boat and tender transom boards, deck supports, seat backs and other structural, contoured parts from wood. High speed steel tooling is used for both plastic and wood.

Spin welders are used in the rotomold process to seal off vent tube holes in parts. Extrusion welders are also used in the production cycle for such things as welding the ribs in canoes. Several of the bass boats and tenders utilize extrusion welding to attach internal structural components that tie the deck and hull together.

Leisure Life uses manufacturing resource planning (MRP) for raw material purchase and production scheduling. "Our shipping forecast drives the boat production schedule, which drives our raw material purchase," Sweers says. "We make subassemblies to forecast, then assemble boats to order.

"A lot of our parts are consistent across a product group, which also allows us to bring together subassemblies and build finished boats to order," he adds.

JWA Purchases Leisure Life Formerly a privately-held company, Leisure Life was purchased on Feb. 10, 1998, by Johnson Worldwide Associates Inc., a publicly-traded conglomerate in the outdoor recreational products industry. JWA operates several companies, manufacturing brand recreational equipment in five product groups: scuba and diving; backpacking and outdoor equipment; fishing and tackle; motors; and watercraft. Trade names for JWA products include: Old Town canoes, Ocean Kayak and Minn Kota electric motors.

Leisure Life continues to grow 10 to 20 percent each year as recreational boats grow in popularity and new products are introduced. According to Sweers, the company typically comes out with two to six new products a season.

"It can take anywhere from three months to two years to develop and introduce a product, depending on the (complexity) of the product and how much is involved in the manufacturing process," Sweers says. New pedal boats, for example, might take a few months to develop, compared to the ElDeBo Electric Pontoon Boat, which took three years to put into production from time of initial concept.

Due to the seasonality of the product, production is cyclical in nature. The company's thermoform department runs 16 hours per day, five days a week from November through June and 8 hours per day, five days a week from July through October. Leisure Life employs 80 workers year round, including three full-time pattern makers. During peak season, the company will add as many as 140 employees.

Much of Leisure Life's products are sold through its nationwide dealer network. The company also sells its recreational boats through mass merchants.

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