Manufacturers - How Do You Answer This
This is one aspect of why I am leery of an aluminum framed camper, not to mention a newer, expensive camper. Of course the extremely poor quality craftsmanship could be duplicated in a wood-framed cam...
Forum Discussion
TucsonJim wrote:
. . . the American RV industry is very similar to 1960's and 1970's American automobile manufacturers. . . they are poised for intense competition from foreign manufacturers who will bring a higher quality product to the consumer base at a lower cost.
. . . If any of you are ever interested in this subject, and would like a good read, check out Philip Crosby's "Quality is Free".
Another good book on this topic is "Quality or Else" by Lloyd Dobyns and Clare Crawford Mason. The book focuses on Dr. W. Edwards Deming, a man who was shunned by American companies as he spoke of the value in building a quality product and how it would be cheaper (and more profitable) in the long run. One of my favorite points made by Deming, is that it is never cheaper, or easier, to do it right the second time.
Well, Dr. Deming headed overseas to help rebuild Japan after WWII. Japan's automotive industry embraced his philosophies and the rest is history. The U.S. took decades to catch back up (or have we even done so??)
Sadly, quality issues are not isolated to the rv industry. Have you looked at new homes lately (which are far from cheap)? What about furniture?
Poor quality issues are not only isolated to manufactured goods. It also applies to service organizations. We could probably have fireside chats for days about poor quality service in a variety of industries - assisted living, medical, auto repair, plumbing, insurance, etc. I'm not sure if it stems from laziness, unintended consequences of compensation plans, bad management, poor morale, etc.
One thing we should all take away from this thread, is the importance in taking pride in what we do and to perform our jobs to the best of our abilities. Someone is paying for the goods or services we provide and they deserve to get their money's worth too. We all know the saying about glass houses.
