Premier Marine announced today the company will transfer the production of its Weeres and Palm Beach brands to its headquarters in Wyoming, Minn. Premier purchased the Weeres and Palm Beach pontoon lines back in 2011 and since then, the brands have operated as independent businesses out of a facility in New Ulm, Minn. Following the transition, production will continue for all brands at Premier’s main manufacturing plant in Wyoming, Minn., while specialized production will remain at the plant in New Ulm.
“We’re excited about the organizational changes happening at Premier,” says Premier President Lori Melbostad. “We’ll be able to integrate our production efficiencies to give customers of all three boat brands a better product and better service. Our skilled engineering department and our sales and marketing teams are looking forward to a more cohesive alignment of our brands.”
The original plan was to keep Weeres and Palm Beach in New Ulm, but the available workforce in the area made it difficult for the company to continue to meet the growth demands as the demand for pontoons continues to increase each year. Currently Premier is working to make this transition as smooth as possible.
“We are in the process of implementing a robust ERP system that will streamline production of all brands,” Sales and Marketing Coordinator Connie Weinman told PDB magazine. “We have also made organization changes in our management group infusing additional experience to include improvements in our Quality Management System and Lean Principal implementation.”
Premier Marine is a 22-year-old, family-owned and -operated company that currently employs over 200 workers to design, build and market 19 models of luxury pontoons. Weeres Industries was formed in Richmond, Minn., in 1952 by Ambrose Weeres, known as Mr. Pontoon for his invention of the modern-day pontoon and Palm Beach Marinecraft was founded in 1957 and acquired by Weeres in 1985.
