The Challenge:

OceanLED produces underwater LED lighting for marine crafts all over the world, from custom-built superyachts to dinghies and everything in between. The company’s solutions live out their days fully or partly submerged, where any water ingress can damage the fragile electronics, resulting in faulty lights and, in the worst-case scenario, catastrophic consequences for the vessel. The saline conditions add another layer of complexity, requiring the company to meticulously select the materials it uses in the manufacture of its products

Ben Murphy, Supply Chain Manager at OceanLED, explained how the company looks for robust products to support the company’s high performance portfolio for such demanding environments: “Our LED lighting is installed in some of the harshest environment on the planet, so it’s vital for everything we source to be up to the task. Our products are sometimes welded into the hulls of expensive yachts, with serious ramifications in the event of product failure.”

OceanLED had been purchasing an IP-rated fuse holder, the FX 0385, from Bulgin for many years because of its performance in such harsh environments. Having developed trust in the company’s solutions, Ben and his team approached Bulgin to help resolve a supply issue they were having with a different product – an LED indicator that shows boat users if the external lights are on – which they sourced from another provider. The supply of this part was unstable, and required the team at OceanLED to build each assembly by hand, a laborious task and one that they weren’t set up to do effectively.

 

The Solution

Bulgin provides a range of custom-configured cable assemblies tailored to unique applications alongside its off-the-shelf offerings. The Bulgin team therefore sat down with engineers from OceanLED to look at the specs of the LED indicator, offering to not only supply the light, but also build the entire assembly. Ben commented: “They asked us for a drawing of the assembly and made some prototypes. Our engineers validated that the prototypes met all the required specs, so we were able to proceed into full-scale production.”

 

 

“This solution has reduced our workload and saved us time and money, as well as generating a better end product for our customers.”

The Results

The collaborative approach between OceanLED and Bulgin ensured that every aspect of the assembly – from electrical performance to durability – met the highest standards and addressed the specific requirements of the project.

 

“As a B2B supplier, Bulgin really hits all the right notes and offers us exactly what we’re looking for.”

 

Do you have a question or a project enquiry that you'd like to talk to us about?