Rudder bearings available through Z-Clad

Z-CLAD, a newly formed company based in Newport (RI), has been named the exclusive distributor of SP Systems products to the US marine industry. Based in England, SP Systems is a renowned leader in the composite industry as a manufacturer of composite materials including epoxy resin systems, prepregs and dry reinforcements as well as a full range of high-strength epoxy adhesives.

“Becoming the exclusive marine distributor for SP Systems in the USA is really exciting because it brings new technology to the composite industry in this part of the world,” said JP Mouligne of Newport, one of two founding partners of Z-CLAD, “SP has had a great impact on the industry in Europe but only limited penetration in the US market.

Everybody in the composite industry is familiar with SP but until now it was hard to buy from them in the USA because they had no local representation. Our job is to make it easy to buy from SP and make the great products and innovation developed by SP readily available to the American marine industry”.

According to Mouligne, a veteran of the composite industry with 17 years’ experience, Z-CLAD will do more than distribute products:

“We feel that the marine industry is at a cross point and will soon be forced to change its processes and products.

Environmental regulations and economic pressures are pushing builders to adapt. A lot of very exciting technology to address these issues is coming over from Europe and with SP we want to be the conduit to bring it to the American market. We plan to use that specialized knowledge to help bring the industry forward, by working alongside our supplier and customers to develop innovative solutions to the challenge they face”.

Z-CLAD’s sales and administration are based in Newport (RI), with warehousing facilities in Massachusetts. The company’s founding partners are Mouligne and Kevin O’Halloran of Middletown, RI.

During the past two decades, O’Halloran has been involved in manufacturing and sales in the pharmaceutical and textile industries, as well as in high-tech startups. During that tenure he has developed an expertise in business and operational information systems. O’Halloran will focus on the logistics of Z-CLAD’s organization. “My goal with Z-CLAD is to use my experience to make the company as efficient as possible. We want to be flexible and fast on our feet, and overall make it easy for customers to do business with us”.

Mouligne’s career also includes solo sailing campaigns in offshore races, and he was a class winner in the 1998-99 Around Alone race. Mouligne will focus on sales and the technical applications of composite products.

SP’s products will be available to the composite industry as a whole, but Z-CLAD’s primary focus will be on high-end marine applications.

SP has been a dominant player in the field of performance boats competing in grand-prix events such as the America’s Cup and the round the world “Volvo Ocean Race” (7 out of the 8 boats currently racing are using SP products and services).

“SP Systems has had a small presence in the US market in the past. However it became clear that our customers not only needed a US source for our products, but they also needed people with a technical background to support their use,” said David Cripps, Head of Marketing for SP. “JP Mouligne and Kevin O’Halloran are the right people with the right expertise: they are the team we have been looking for.”

SP’s manufacturing and research facilities are located at an eight-acre site in Newport, on the Isle of Wight, England.

SP manufactures the well-known Ampreg series of epoxy laminating resins, epoxy prepregs and dry reinforcements in E-glass, aramid and carbon fibers, and has a particular reputation for very high quality products. They also have a large range of high performance epoxy adhesives suitable for the assembly of critical composite structures.

SP is one of the largest manufacturers of prepregs and formulated epoxy resins in the world and has sales of over $70m.

Besides the large range of standard composite materials that SP manufactures, and on which a large body of data exists in the SP Composite Materials Handbook and CD-ROM, SP also custom manufactures many products. In this way products can be tailored to exactly match a customer’s particular process or application.

Z-CLAD is also a distributor of JP3 rudder bearings. Manufactured in France, these bearings are used on high-performance boats and are the standard used on most mega yachts being built today.

About The Author:

Mark Harris is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.bearing-n-bearings.com. Keep things running smoothly with ball bearings, roller bearings, ball thrust bearings and tapered bearings.