Recent Factory Tour

[Admiral0647]

We took the 3:00 Damon plant tour on May 5th. I called ahead and was told to just show up. We went to the guard gate for Plant 9. There were 5 couples on the tour (it was all very informal). We have a 2007 Challenger 377C, and one other couple had a 20008 Challenger 377. The other couples on the tour were potential customers.

We really enjoyed the 1-hour tour. We were taken out to the assembly line for gas units. The tour is after the workers go home, so it was just us in an empty plant. We did have to negotiate around equipment and cords and hoses on the floor. We got to see the gas motor homes being built from the chassis up. We walked by and discussed the progress at each of the dozen or so units on the line. They are moved sideways through the line from station to station on trolleys under the MH wheels. At each station (or stop) on the line, a feature is added, such as floor, cabinets, sidewalls, roof, windows and doors, furniture and trim. Our tour guide was Kevin, from their sales department, and his pitch was a sales pitch, pointing out construction techniques that made Damon better than the competition. That was OK though since it was positive reinforcement to our recent $100,000 purchase. I really enjoyed seeing the units like ours, from the ground-up. It helped me understand how our MH works.

I highly recommend the tour if you visit Elkhart or northern Indiana. Kevin said that although many units being built are for orders, they are still building some on speculation. He also said that even though there are about 80 employees on lay-off, the plant is healthy and they are working 5 full days a week.

There is no retail store at the plant, but we are camping at Elkhart Campground, which is right next to TOTAL VALUE RV of INDIANA. They are a full service Damon dealer and the service manager, Jeff Hakes, has been very helpful, and he is very customer service orientated (a refreshing change IMHO).

Here we are at the Elkhart Campground:

[Admiral0647]

We took the 3:00 Damon plant tour on May 5th. I called ahead and was told to just show up. We went to the guard gate for Plant 9. There were 5 couples on the tour (it was all very informal). We have a 2007 Challenger 377C, and one other couple had a 20008 Challenger 377. The other couples on the tour were potential customers.

We really enjoyed the 1-hour tour. We were taken out to the assembly line for gas units. The tour is after the workers go home, so it was just us in an empty plant. We did have to negotiate around equipment and cords and hoses on the floor. We got to see the gas motor homes being built from the chassis up. We walked by and discussed the progress at each of the dozen or so units on the line. They are moved sideways through the line from station to station on trolleys under the MH wheels. At each station (or stop) on the line, a feature is added, such as floor, cabinets, sidewalls, roof, windows and doors, furniture and trim. Our tour guide was Kevin, from their sales department, and his pitch was a sales pitch, pointing out construction techniques that made Damon better than the competition. That was OK though since it was positive reinforcement to our recent $100,000 purchase. I really enjoyed seeing the units like ours, from the ground-up. It helped me understand how our MH works.

I highly recommend the tour if you visit Elkhart or northern Indiana. Kevin said that although many units being built are for orders, they are still building some on speculation. He also said that even though there are about 80 employees on lay-off, the plant is healthy and they are working 5 full days a week.

There is no retail store at the plant, but we are camping at Elkhart Campground, which is right next to TOTAL VALUE RV of INDIANA. They are a full service Damon dealer and the service manager, Jeff Hakes, has been very helpful, and he is very customer service orientated (a refreshing change IMHO).

Here we are at the Elkhart Campground:

[Sumar]

Thanks Admiral for the input, since we are heading out that way in JUne for a factory repair.
We'll have to plan on a plant tour now!
Sue

[KC1BUD]

Way back in I think it was around 1990 we toured the Jayco plant during work hours.

I have been on many of those plant tours except I was part of the exhibit. We stared at them While they stared at us.