Romi has introduced many technologies and products to the diving industry.

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Romi Enterprises and its sister companies under the umbrella of American Underwater Products Inc. operate with the motto of “Innovation First.” By focusing on maintaining an innovative environment, Romi and the American Underwater Products family have introduced many technologies and products to the diving industry.

The organization – specifically its founder, Bob Hollis – created the market’s first electronic dive computer. It tracks, calculates and displays information for divers, including dive time and depth, ascent rate, air consumption and nitrogen absorption. The company also has patents for fin technology and dive masks which display information via a transmitter inside the mask on an LCD screen. Innovation is just something that comes naturally to the company, Operations Manager Zach Hollis explains.

“We actually use these products – we employ many people who are also divers – that enables us to have a constant stream of good input, with an end result of a superior product,” he says. “We are making constant updates to products all the time by adding new features, to make them safer and easier to use. We also try to introduce something completely new at least once a year.”

Based in San Leandro, Calif., Romi Enterprises supplies American Underwater Products companies and others with precision-machined components that are required for the production and final assembly of the group’s wide range of diving products. In addition to Romi, American Underwater Products’ companies include:

• Oceanic, a brand of high-performance diving equipment and accessories sold worldwide and in more than 600 U.S. dive retailers;
• Pelagic Pressure Systems, an OEM supplier of mechanical and digital pressure-sensing instruments;
• 2002 Design, which manages the design, prototyping, testing and technical documentation of all of American Underwater’s products;
• Hollis Gear, a manufacturer of products for technical divers who may need equipment for deep-water diving, ice diving, wreck and cave diving, long duration and mixed gas diving.
• Nitrox Solutions, a producer of systems for luxury dive boats and dive resorts, specializing in water cooled compressor systems

In addition to recreational divers, American Underwater Products serves customers in law enforcement and military markets. Romi’s capabilities allow it to also produce products in the medical devices market as well as manufacture complete assemblies for other scuba companies. Hollis explains the company uses state-of-the-art equipment and has a hyperbaric testing facility that is considered one of the most sophisticated systems of its kind in the world.

“We design, manufacture and use our own products, which is unique in the industry – most other companies have moved their facilities overseas,” Hollis says. “It is important to us to keep our production in the United States.” He notes Hollis works with a facility in Taiwan to produce injection-molded parts, which then go into assemblies and are sent to the United States for final assembly and inspection before being sent out to distributors and dealers.

Gaining Efficiency
Romi’s current focus is to become more efficient and improve its operation overall. Hollis explains many of its parts are chrome-plated, so Romi has introduced new methods of plating that have improved efficiency. It also recently added new CNC machines to the shop floor that have reduced cycle times and costs; because the machines can run continuously, the company also increased throughout.

With an efficient manufacturing operation, Romi can focus more on product development. The company has 10 engineers on its design team – product and software engineers and production designers – who continuously work to update its products.

Some of the development ideas come from following trends, getting out and using the gear, monitoring online forums and listening to suggestions from dive shop owners, he says. “We are always developing something new, whether it’s a breakthrough on rebreather technology or providing state-of-the-art technology to our armed forces.

“We also anually attend one of the industry’s biggest trade shows every year – all of the manufacturers, retailers and consumers go to this show. We get to interact with a lot of people, find out what our competitors are doing, meet with retailers and talk to consumers.”

The family run company – Zach’s father, Bob Hollis, owns the company, his older brother, Mike Hollis, runs Pelagic, and Zach’s twin brother, Nick Hollis, works in product development for the new company, Hollis Gear – considers itself a leader in the industry, and plans to further improve its products and keep its quality at a high level to ensure growth. Zach Hollis says the company’s visibility in the industry is an important part of growing its brand and operations.

“It is great to see our gear when we are out diving,” he says. “We are at the top of the industry as far as innovation, and that is what drives us forward.”