Marine air-conditioning manufacturer MBC Marine is expanding its product range with further air dividers, plenums and air grilles designed specifically for marine air-conditioning installations.
The Hungary-based company says the plastic products were initially developed in response to the cost and logistical difficulties of importing comparable components from the US for European customers.
“In Europe it is always an issue to import something from the United States because of the delivery, customs process, VAT payment,” says Adrienne Német, the firm’s commercial manager, who co-founded the business with her husband Roland. “So this is how we started.”
Pictured left: MBC Marine’s plastic components on display at Cannes Yachting Festival.
Details on air dividers are available on the company’s website.
Models developed in-house now range from air dividers (which prevent recirculation and improve efficiency) to plenums (which equalise air pressure so air spreads evenly through the entire duct network).
Német says only one US producer currently makes comparable products, while MBC Marine is the sole European manufacturer of this type of component.
MBC Marine manufactures its components in Hungary, while it assembles its air-conditioning hardware – its traditional business – in China.
The business initially tried assembling all its units at home but found the process costly.
“It was not worth it,” Német says. However, she retains control of the electronic and software elements in Hungary.
“The software is ours. It is 100 per cent Hungarian – and the display is also manufactured in Hungary and all the electronics side,” Német says. “So practically the brain of the unit is Hungarian.”
Developing the air distribution system
The plastic components sit downstream of the marine air-conditioning unit and are intended to help installers distribute air around the boat.
MBC Marine’s air dividers are designed to split airflow from a single duct line to multiple outlets. Each divider has an internal adjustable flap, allowing the airflow to be fine-tuned between outlets. Német says the company is developing additional shapes and configurations, including bottom and side-supply grilles and different plenum sizes.
And the products are already being sold to MBC Marine’s partners, including rival businesses.
“We already sell it to other partners, and even to competitors. Why not?” Német says.
From air-conditioning units to a wider product range
MBC Marine was established around eight years ago as a marine air-conditioning manufacturer. The company now operates through a dealer network covering more than 30 countries.
Its markets include Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Sweden and Finland, as well as the Middle East, including Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
Német says the company also works with smaller refit specialists, particularly in Greece and Italy, as well as smaller shipyards and catamaran builders. Its units are used within some charter fleets.
“If the unit works in the charter condition, it means can work everywhere in the world,” she says.
A family business
The MBC Marine story began with a family problem, not a business plan.
Német and her husband met while sailing. They eventually began developing marine air-conditioning equipment after their son struggled to sleep on their boat because of the heat.
“We started this business, in marine air conditioning, because my son was two years old and he couldn’t sleep in the cabin because it was too hot,” she says.
“I said to Roland: you need to do something.”
Her husband bought a marine air-conditioning unit, then began installing and improving systems before the couple moved into production.
“So everything began with my baby,” Német says. “And now he’s 20 years old.”
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