  Brownsville
Marine Products, LLC (BMP) started the process
of preparing for operations in November
2005. Production commenced in February 2006
and our first barge was launched on April
26, 2006. The facility that BMP operates
has been producing marine vessels since
1939. Everyone in the local community remembers
this facility as being the “Hillman
barge Company”, a name engrained into
the mind of local residents as many still
living in the area worked at Hillman Barge
or know neighbors who were at Hillman. This
facility has the tradition in the industry
of producing high quality barges and will
continue to maintain this reputation as
the owners and management team continue
to improve processes, develop workforce
training and expertise, and expand products
and services. BMP’s 600th barge launch
was celebrated in November 2012.
In
October 2012, BMP completed an extensive
upgrade to the front shops in the plant,
adding a new, fully automated, horizontal
blast and paint system, a new 45,000 sq
ft Prep Shop housing a state of the art
one-sided welder and other technologically
advanced and specialized welding/fabrication
gantries, and a new rail spur to facilitate
the direct delivery of all barge construction
steel. With this upgrade all Production
processes are in complete linear flow, and
have adopted Japanese Lean Manufacturing
principles to support efficient and cost
effective barge construction.
Our
ownership and leadership team has over 200
years combined experience in the manufacturing
and maritime industries and further share
diverse experiences which cross the aerospace,
automotive, construction, research and development,
and service industries. This brings in different
perspectives on management and operations
tactics and strategies, which support the
implementation of improvements from various
manufacturing perspectives. Our academic
backgrounds range from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology to various State
universities and have blended this with
many years of good, old fashioned hands-on
experience.
Supporting
the professional development of its employees,
BMP manages an in-house weld school and
facilitates all equipment training. Additional
training initiatives strengthen the Administrative
Support Staff and continue to provide professional
development for our employees. While recognizing
each employee’s skills, initiative,
and goals, it is management’s vision
to encourage and provide the opportunity
for every employee to rapidly advance to
the First Class Craftsman level.
It
is the collaborative efforts of the owners,
the management team, the supervisors, the
strong workforce, and support staff that
have earned BMP an outstanding reputation
in the barge building industry as well as
the satisfaction of being highly respected
in the community. BMP continues to work
to build strong relationships with local
and political leaders to assist in the revitalization
of the area’s economic health. In
April 2012, BMP was presented the local
Frank Irey Progress Award, noting BMP’s
process improvements, production efficiencies
and growth.
At
this time BMP specializes in the new construction
of jumbo open and covered Hopper Barges
and Deck Barges, Barge Repair, steel blast
and paint services, and CNC Steel Fabrication
Services. BMP’s facility is also capable
of building Dock Barges, Dry Docks and other
customer specified steel hull Special Vessels.
BMP is currently expanding its Engineering
and Production processes to include the
construction of 10,000 Barrel Tank Barges.
BMP
is a partner business to Heartland Barge
Management, LLC (HeartlandBarge.com). |
