I am willing to bet none of you have ever managed or run a manufacturing company, youve never had to foresee the market 5 years down the road,(and you'd better get it right) increase share-holder value, pay the rent and salaries, keep costs down ...there is only two ways to increase profitability...cut cost or raise prices..which are you going to choose in an ever increasingly competitive market?
I am sure none of you have paid workmen's comp, 401K contributions et al. Made sure your plant remains a safe place to work.
Keep up with rising wage pressures. Approve new designs.
The problems of the RV manufacturers are not simplistic. They are the problems of being in an increasingly competitive industry, with one of the highest man hours to unit ratios (which equals high cost), an industry that has major hurdles of design to overcome to be able to use robotic assembly, an industry that has great pressure to put out new models every year, increasing costs, and a fickle and cheap customer base that will walk away from your unit to one that costs $1000 less regardless of quality.
Now please tell me gentlemen how you are going to fix all of that and grow the company, pay the investors and stay competitive?
I am certain that I am not the only business owner on this forum, and I am even more certain you will hear from them as well. Poor, poor RV industry, they have concerns that no other businesses have. Really? Virtually every business has the same concerns. Would we accept autos with this type of QC? How about appliances? How about most consumer goods? I know my customers would never accept the low standard that the RV industry holds itself to. When one factors the ill will and the time the dealer is, at least supposed to, effect the proper repairs to a new coach, it would be cheaper to do it right the first time. I see no reason to be an apologist for the shoddy work that leaves some factory floors regardless of the product. How much more do you think it would take to make sure all of the systems were correctly installed and running properly? Would $500 be enough to make these trailers work properly at delivery. I am not talking about installing higher end systems, just making the ones we approved of and paid for work properly. It's not like a new coach is what could be called inexpensive in the first place. Even entry level trailers cost in excess of $20,000 and we all know how much the bigger ones go for new. How many of us would accept a $2000 television that had as many issues as some RV's do? I'll say it again, as long as we have low expectations the industry will, undoubtedly, meet those expectations. We need to quit making excuses, do a proper PDI, and not take delivery of a substandard unit until all issues are fully resolved. Putting pressure on the dealership may result in the dealership becoming our best advocate.
RichH
