Interislander/Kiwirail
Imagine making furniture for a highway. That is essentially what Kadima has been required to do for the Interisland Ferries.
The vital link between our main islands is for all intents and purposes part of State Highway 1, and the traffic, like any highway, is ceaseless and demanding.
Over 800 000 passengers a year, from the crack of dawn until after midnight. All these people require somewhere to place themselves for the course of a near 4 hour journey. They sit, sleep, jump, eat, drink and move about on this furniture for the entire trip, 2 or 3 sailings a day, 365 days a year. Not to mention the inevitable cleaning requirements that come with a highway that operates at times through a strait with 6 metre swells and gail force winds.
Challenging contract? Absolutely. Especially difficult when all seating must be strictly IMO Marine rated flame retardant, the heaviest commercial use rating, serviceable and functional for all shapes and sizes of passenger. There is zero room for error on these boats, and that extends to the furniture.
Kadima has met the challenge. Upgrading the previously tired seating to a better design and grade of product for all areas on all boats the crossing can now be made in comfort and safety. In a decade, with thousands of seating units supplied new or reupholstered there has not been one single performance issue. A 100% success rate in one of the hardest used facilities in the world. It wasn't plain sailing but the Kadima workshop are masters at finding a way to the destination.