Community Forums

bench · 08-25-2008, 02:27 PM

Has anyone heard of quality control problems with new production in the last couple of months due to layoffs and looming slowdowns?

bench · 08-25-2008, 02:27 PM

Has anyone heard of quality control problems with new production in the last couple of months due to layoffs and looming slowdowns?

Robin_M · 08-25-2008, 03:37 PM

Interresting question. One would expect that to be the case, but the truth, IMHO, is that it would be hard to tell. Quality Contol during construction has never been one of Monaco's stront points - at least not in recent years. However, to their credit, cooperation in resolving warranty issues is indeed a strong point with Monaco.

Lukeaa · 08-26-2008, 08:28 PM

I agree with Robin. I suspect that with production slowing, that the workers will have more time to fix issues on the line and deal with QA at the plant, rather than as warranty repairs later.

TXiceman · 08-27-2008, 03:00 AM

That issue is generally taken care of with fewer workers to do more work. So the QC issue is never addressed, and often becomes more of a problem rather than less.

Ken

AKBrick · 08-27-2008, 05:33 AM

I'm sorry to say that after talking with many folks (customers in for repair work), most manufacturers and Monoco included, use the customer as their "quality control" after the unit has been bought. There are just so many things that the factory can "get right" on the line but all of the little things that go wrong while using the coach are generally found while being used. I've always thought that the factory should have an employee live in the coach for a month and go over it with a fine toothed comb before passing it on to the dealer. It's all about money and they can't logically afford to do that.

I'm sorry for the sad answer to an honest question.

My wife and I love our Monoco product but it did take some doing to get all of the factory bugs out of it. I don't expect things to change much for awhile unless motorhome manufacturers start using the Japanese theory of quality control. GM and Chrysler are finally taking the hint and their cars are getting better.

AKBrick

Big Service Guy · 08-27-2008, 06:36 AM

I've often wondered if it really would be too expensive to have a real quality control process at the factory. From what I've seen, factories have the customer do the QC on the coach they've built then pay repair facilities $100 and hour fix the problems. That warranty repair cost, cost of internal administration of warranty claims and an immesurable cost of losing unsatisfied customers seems less cost effective than building a quality coach and fixing it in-house....

William Willard · 08-27-2008, 01:22 PM

We were in Nappanne,IN recently, & visited with some Amish friends of our`s -- One retired from Newmar after 28 years, & we were discussing the decline of quality over the years - He said when Newmar changed to a piece rate, quality dropped -- Bill Willard

Pusherpilot · 08-27-2008, 04:29 PM

Quality at Newmar has always relied on the mystique of the Amish craftsman building their product. The hard fact is the Amish are no different that anyone else on the job. They are fully capable of producing a superior product but will only do what their managers tell them to. My greatgrandfather on my mothers side of the family was a Mennonite who broke from the Amish. I've had a lot of contact with the Amish thru relatives and they take a wage and do a job just as everyone does and do the job as they are told just as everyone does. The plus to the mfgr is that they have such a great work ethic.

HPH · 08-27-2008, 06:11 PM

I actually offered to Monaco myself( in jest) as QC inspector when I answered their after purchase questionaire, as it appears they have none. Not that I have any qualifications other than being a new owner finding similar problems to everyone else. I'm guessing a QC inspector could save them millions of dollars in warranty work. I just find it outrageous that they don't even seem to do important things like setting ride heights and alignments, yet they constantly blow their own horn about the roadmaster chassis. Heck,It's not worth a hoot if it's not set up properly...

Bobby C · 08-28-2008, 06:22 PM

I constantly tell my kids at home and employees at work: Do it right the first time and you will not have to deal with it agian. We took delivery of our ordered Monarch and took it out for its maiden voyage that resulted in a puch list of 13 items. We took it back to the dealer to make the repairs. It took 6 weeks to get the coach back because Monaco seemed to be dragging their feet in getting the dealer the part. The dealer ultimately took the parts off a similar coach they had in stock.

After the second trip in the MH, the puch list has 6 new items. This time I am insisting that Monaco send the parts before I leave the coach again.

You must have a dealer that will stand behind the product is probably more important than the brand of coach you buy.

HPH · 08-29-2008, 10:11 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bobby C:
I constantly tell my kids at home and employees at work: Do it right the first time and you will not have to deal with it agian. We took delivery of our ordered Monarch and took it out for its maiden voyage that resulted in a puch list of 13 items. We took it back to the dealer to make the repairs. It took 6 weeks to get the coach back because Monaco seemed to be dragging their feet in getting the dealer the part. The dealer ultimately took the parts off a similar coach they had in stock.

After the second trip in the MH, the puch list has 6 new items. This time I am insisting that Monaco send the parts before I leave the coach again.

You must have a dealer that will stand behind the product is probably more important than the brand of coach you buy. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I also owned my own business and I'm sure that lends to the dissatisfaction with the QC issues. We've owned our coach 6 months and 3 of them it's been in the shop. That's just 2 visits. 1st 2-months. 2nd visit hit the 1 month mark yesterday. I've had Monaco ship parts to my house,then when I get them I bring the coach to the dealer. We too find more things each trip we take. We love our coach and expected to have issues so we are not unhappy,It's just frustrating when you know some of these things should of been caught. For ex. when we toured the factory in Coburg the Guide made it a HUGE point to show us some tiny paint imperfections their inspectors found on a coach and they were like the size of a pin head. Which is why I don't see how they missed the "orange peel" section on mine and several quarter size and bigger blemishes that I found when I washed it for the first time. Go figure...