RVBusiness, January-February 2017

dont have a toolbox and they expect everything to work right the first time Mirroring that assessment that the industry could do more is Tim Wegge of Burlington RV Superstore Sturtevant Wis current 1st vice chair of RVDAs board of directors From both the manufacturing and dealership sides theres things that we can both do that will improve quality build a quality experience as well as a better quality product for the customer when they come to pick it up But it has to start with the manufacturer and the manufacturing process and one thing for certain that we as dealers could use is a true bill of materials that really tells us what materials components are actually in each and every RV that is built The second thing we could do is use better components more proven components from companies that have strong reputations for fewer failures in certain parts that go into building an RV And the third thing which has been proven now is that more manufacturers need to build up their PDI pre delivery inspection programs For his part Michael Peay a partner Theres no question that all areas of the industry could be improved said Peay Its not just one area I believe it starts by having our manufacturers set minimum standards for their vendors failure rate standards Ive been talking about this for some time Many of our manufacturers dont necessarily look at a component and look at the specs for failure so many of the vendors dont even know what their failure rates are Instead of a 5 percent failure rate we need a 02 failure rate Thats going to give our customers a better experience From his perspective Indianapolisarea dealer Ken Eckstein of Mt Comfort RV thinks RV builders ought to more shrewdly equip their finished units in general Business is very good as good as its been in 40 some years noted Eckstein president of the Recreation Vehicle Indiana Council The banks are buying and the people are willing to spend more But were still getting so lost in the nickels and dimes of the manufacturing side of it and installing componentry that at times simply doesnt work Not only can we and manager of the six store Holiday World Group of Houston Texas and a board member of the Priority RV Network would like to see more science brought to the table with regard to the supply chain 52 RVBusiness J A N U A R Y F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7 do better we should do better Cultivating a bigger pool of qualified service technicians seems to be a priority among the suppliers with whom RVBusiness touched base But Thetford Corp President Kevin Phillips current treasurer of the RVIA board of directors would first like to ease the burden on existing techs by speeding up parts deliveries They need a wide range of skills in order to be able to work on an RV Phillips asserted But one of the areas that were also lacking is getting good service parts in their hands quickly And thats something that the industry is going to have to continue to focus on and I think theres a general agreement across the board that the better we can do at identifying parts making those parts readily available the better we can improve the customer experience The lack of trained service techs to adequately support a growing U S customer base in the field is also a top drawer issue for Jeff Rutherford president of Airxcel Inc Wichita Kan That continues to be an issue he told RVBusiness And while I think were making progress in improving that weve got a long way to go before it reaches an appropriate level So Why is the Issue of Industry Quality More Relevant Today Part of the reason that this national conversation is accelerating right now from all appearances is a more holistic view espoused by the Big Three industry manufacturing leaders including Thor Industries Inc President CEO Bob Martin Forest River Inc CEO Pete Liegl and more so lately Winnebagos Mike Happe They seem to agree that the industry needs to take a closer look at the whole chain of customer satisfaction or the consumer experience from top to bottom without fixating on any one link in the chain When you talk about customer satisfaction Liegl recently told Tim Wegge Michael Peay Ken Eckstein Kevin Phillips As noted by Thors Bob Martin RV builders cant always be expected to compete head on with the auto industry because of an RVs elaborate design and rigorous over the road use Pete Liegl