TenOC wrote:
In the automobile industry (maybe because of consumer expectations) we expect the quality of workmanship to be the same regardless if we are purchasing a Chevrolet or Cadillac. The Cadillac will be more expensive primarily because the interior is more expensive but we expect the workmanship (such as the fit between the doors and fenders) of the Chevrolet to equal that of the Cadillac.
I have been following RV.net for over 15 years during this time there has been a number of postings about the poor workmanship on travel trailers and fifth wheels. I really don’t follow motorhomes postings.
My question: is the poor workmanship limited to the entry-level trailers or is it also a problem with the higher price trailers?
You can't compare the auto industry to the RV industry as far as quality goes. The auto industry makes hundreds of thousands of the same vehicles which allows them to fully automate the mfg processes. The production tooling and capital equipment used can be amortized over thousands of vehicles. Engineering drawings are all done in 3D computer programs as well as the tooling and capital equipment like 5 axis machines. This process assures all the parts will fit coming from a common data base. In addition the more units they produce the cost comes down because of the learning curve. The RV industry makes very few units compared to the auto industry so they can't afford this type of production tooling and capital equipment because of fewer units built to amortize the costs. For example RV's are labor intensive with workers laying out and drilling holes by hand vs machines. Think about it, if you were asked to drill and install 1000 fasteners by hand do you think you might screw up a few. Quality must be built into the mfg process not inspected in afterwards. Having said all that highly skilled workers can mitigate many of the quality issues but still cannot compete with the production processes of the auto industry. As far as cost goes if I had to guess the rv industry is on an 85% learning curve, each time you double the units produced the man hrs are reduced by 15%. So you can see the fewer units produced the higher the costs. If we all bought the same RV the costs would come down considerably, but this is America and we all want something different.
