Newmar Factory Tour

[Waywards]

Recently, my wife and I went to the Newmar factory tour. Not nearly as
sophisticated as I expected. It's basically a big building with lots of
skilled people assembling stuff with mostly hand tools. Kind of reminds
me of those old pictures you see of Henry Ford's early assembly lines.
Nothing wrong with this, just not what I was expecting.

Couple of things I did learn:

1. Gas coaches have about 3 miles of electrical cable in them. Diesel
coaches have closer to 5 miles.

2. The coaches are set on air dollies (under the wheels). It's
surprising to see two guys push around a 40,000 pound coach like it
was nothing more than a heavy piece of furniture.

3. The factory is air conditioned in the summer time. (apparently, this
is unusual in the industry).

4. The place is tidy and clean. Debris is swept into floor openings
where it falls onto a conveyor belt and is removed from the factory.
The only debris I saw was in the immediate vicinity of active work.
Once the work was finished, the debris was quickly cleaned up.

5. The factory floor is busy. It reminds me of a flock of birds flying
in unison without having to follow a leader.

6. Spartan chassis appear much more robust than the Freightliner ones
(to my untrained eye). **Followup**: I was likely comparing chassis
from different classes/models of motor homes. I'm told I would be
hard pressed to tell the difference between chassis in the
same class/model. I suspect this is true.

7. Floor workers are all friendly

8. It takes one worker less than 10 minutes to install the front cap on
a coach. I know this because I watched him do it. Used a crane with
suction cups to grab and position it.

9. The walls of the cabs are very robust. Newmar's reputation for the
best wall structures is deserved.

10. Two workers can install a slide in about 5 minutes using a couple of
fork lifts.

11. The insulation is glued into place. It won't sag or shift later.

12. Newmar employs about 750 people.

13. All wiring is installed with rubber grommets wherever it goes
through a wall or conduit.

14. It takes four days from the time the chassis enters the building to
fully assembled and ready for testing.

15. You're not allowed to take pictures (bummer).

So was it worth the trip? For me, it was 3 hours one way and I learned
enough to make it worth while. If I had to drive more than 5 hours one
way, maybe not.

[wildtoad]

Your write up is about what we experienced. Not quite as automated as an automobile company but each unit is hand built. We too were impressed with the air lift system to move them around. What was also interesting to us was the same people build the least expensive Bay Star Sport and top of the line Essex on the same assembly line.

You are allowed to take pictures of your unit as it's being built.

[Boomer]

Our first and only trip to Napannee was to see our 'baby' at the factory. While learning how these coaches are built solidified our decision to buy a Newmar, we were able to take all the pictures we wanted of 'our coach' which was in the last station before painting. While it was a 7 1/2 hour one way trip, DW and I felt is was well worth the trip. Not only because we were able to see our coach, but meeting the people there gave us such a warm feeling we knew we made the proper choice. It was also was wonderful to know that our top end gas coach was being made and put together by the same workers that were building the KA right next to it. While our coach doesn't have the crystal light fixtures and the fancy covers over the air ducts, the quality part comes from who is turning the screws, and after the visit, we knew they were the same workers.
Well worth the visit