RVBusiness, November/December 2019

or cooling capacity they use for their RV is enough in the real world So when a manufacturer makes the decision about which air conditioning or heating system theyre going to use and they dont always really know exactly what is sufficient we can basically simulate Arizona or Florida heat in that chamber and they find out if what they have is enough Mark Howlett senior vice president of business development for Truma pointed out that the Climate Chamber is equipped with thermal imaging cameras which help Truma personnel identify cold spots in a unit As were laying out the heating systems with our manufacturing partners said Howlett we want to be able to evenly distribute that heat So well have camera systems and wireless temperature sensors that will be mounted inside the vehicles And were looking to introduce a European standard which we will utilize for the testing So vehicles will actually be tested to a standard They have a norm where they take vehicles from minus 15 degrees Celsius to plus 20 degrees Celsius within four hours Industry people touring the Truma facility during the Open House also got a look at the Truma Education Center to which dealer personnel are typically invited for two or three days of hands on training as well as the service center which also does aftermarket installations We want to focus a lot on service said Hundsberger Thats why we made the decision to also put a service center into this new building Basically we have two service bays so we can welcome any consumer with their RV to come to Truma and get service work done or have Truma products installed We also have a small RV parking area with water and electrical hookups so any consumer can come with their RV the day before and spend the night in their unit and get into the service center first thing in the morning All in all Hundsberger maintained Truma does a lot of things right to the extent that the companys warranty rates are below 05 Right now we have about 202 dealer partners in North America who are capable of supporting our products with a quick fix and diagnosis he added If the dealer is not able to repair the product he would remove it send it to us and we would send a replacement to the dealer and then fix the product here But the goal again is that the customer gets back on the road as soon as possible In the big picture meanwhile Hundsberger feels that the compact dimensions of Trumas products are clearly well suited for todays RV marketplace given the emerging popularity of smaller lighter RVs that tend to reflect the European market When Truma was considering entering the North American market 20 years ago in fact he said there was a concern among the companys senior management that Trumas products wouldnt measure up because U S RVs were so big when compared to the average European motorhome or caravan We always thought that our appliances would not be sufficient because the RVs here were much bigger than in the European market We always developed back in the 80s and 90s products for smaller RVs said Hundsberger So we didnt know if there was a fit Now weve seen a market shift in North America from the big Class As to smaller Class Cs and Class Bs Thats a perfect fit for Truma product because thats our strength products for compact light weight RVs RVB 26 RVBusiness N O V E M B E R D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9 Trumas new facility includes massive warehouse space Hundsberger stands inside the companys customer lounge area which includes displays of Trumas products