NAPA Group Names Kuutti President

Software solution provider for ship design and operation NAPA Group (Napa Ltd.) has appointed Ilmo Kuutti as its new President.

 

Kuutti assumes the position from Juha Heikinheimo, who served as President of NAPA Group for five and a half years.

 

Kuutti holds a master’s degree in naval architecture from Helsinki University of Technology, Finland. He started his career in shipyards, where he undertook various roles throughout the 1980s. Since joining NAPA in 1991, he has been taken on various leadership positions, most recently Executive Vice President, NAPA for Design and Senior Vice President, Key Customers.

 

Under the new leadership of Kuutti, NAPA said it is reorganizing its business with the aim of better serving its maritime industry customers. Effective April 1, 2017 NAPA will be organized into three customer-facing business units: NAPA Design Solutions, NAPA Safety Solutions and NAPA Shipping Solutions.

 

NAPA Design Solutions, headed by Executive Vice President, Mikko Kuosa, provides integrated 3D tools for naval architects and structural engineers for designing ships and offshore structures that support all aspects of marine engineering and design on a single 3D product model. The solutions comprise of industry standard engineering software for hull form, hydrostatics, hydrodynamics and structures in particular for the initial and basic design phases. NAPA Design Solutions products and services are trusted by leading shipyards, classification societies, engineering offices, maritime authorities and research institutes around the world.

 

NAPA Safety Solutions, headed by Executive Vice President, Esa Henttine, provides solutions to increase safety, awareness and traceability onboard vessels. Solutions include a system targeted especially for cruise liners and other advanced vessels that delivers timely decision support data in flooding emergencies. NAPA Safety Solutions also include loading and stability systems for various kinds of vessels for effective and safe cargo management, and flag-state approved electronic logbook for onboard data collection, recording and replication of data to shore-based offices. NAPA Safety Solutions offers ship officers onboard a better understanding of the stability and vulnerability of operating vessels, critical awareness of the survivability of a damaged ship, reporting tools to communicate with shore-based offices effectively, as well as services provided by worldwide network of highly trained and experienced engineers.

 

NAPA Shipping Solutions, headed by Executive Vice President, Naoki Mizutani, offers tools and services for enhanced ship data management, ship specific and fleet-wide performance analysis, and dynamic optimization of vessels’ routes, speed, and trim. The solutions provide ship owners, operators, charterers and other maritime stakeholders increased transparency in ship management, and improved technical and operational performance. 

 

“NAPA’s success within the maritime industry is built upon our ability to combine deep maritime domain knowledge with IT expertise. This is supported by a long history of working closely with and understanding our customers and their needs. Increasingly we’ve seen the needs of our customers fall into three distinct groups; those looking for industry-leading design tools, those looking for more optimized and efficient vessel operations, and those with a focus on ensuring safety and accountability within their organizations,” Kuutti said.

 

“We are developing a new organizational structure within NAPA centered on three business units serving these three core needs of our customers. These are needs that span the lifecycle of a vessel, and we had teams within the business with direct experience and understanding of these areas. The new structure aims to bring those experts closer to the customers, and allow us to serve and communicate with our customers on a higher-level of understanding. It will also support the development of new, more targeted offerings to tackle the issues and challenges our customers face.

 

“NAPA’s strong market position and excellent offering paired with this streamlined, customer-centric approach are how we plan to build future success.”