RV/Camper Manufacturing - Elkhart, IN

[kgie1217]

I manage properties for Siemens Healthcare. In my first visit to Elkhart, IN this past week I couldn't help notice that Forest River has a huge presence there along with MorHYDE, Thor Industries and several other RV accessory manufacturers.

As I had dinner at a local restaurant that evening I sat a the bar and had a cold one. A nice older gentleman and his wife sat next to me and we got to chatting. He was from Kansas and making a trip to Elkhart, IN to take his Class A motorhome to Thor Industries for some repairs. As we talked about camping he stated that he got to take a tour of Thor's manufacturing site. Not to my surprise he went on to discuss how unorganized the place was. He said it didn't seem that there was any organization on how the units were built and it seemed like sloppy work. He also said "I would imagine that if Thor had a drug testing policy that approximately 75% of the work force would be fired." I was surprised at that comment and said well now we know why all RV's and Camper's have quality issues.

This struck me to the core. I have said that in my short time as a camper owner that who every designs and manufactures these units should be forced to live in one for a month to see exactly what it is like to camp. In that way at least they would have some concept as to what quality issues are like and to take more ownership in the process.

In my next visit to the Elkhart, IN area I plan to take a tour of the Forest River manufacturing plant to see how they fare. I'm hoping my experience will be better than the other guys Thor experience.

[markandkim]

Keep us posted.

Thanks

[harley]

Don't get to excited...they are probably alll the same. built them fast and go home early, and no quality control or repair station.

[sleepyT]

kgie
There seems to be an EBB and FLOW with all these camper manufacturers...When I first bought CR their quality was good and they were gaining popularity...It seems like the company DU JOUR these days is Forest River...Next year it will be another company...The bad thing is most of the RV's out there are made by 2 or 3 companies...A lot of different brands, but in the long run they all report to a couple of bosses...