Future of Monaco

Report from the Information Meeting with William Osborne; VP Navistar in charge of Monaco and Workhorse.
This meeting lasted over an hour and a half.

First I forgot to ask about a gas engine for the Workhorse chassis.

Osborne?s background is in the Automotive Industry. Chrysler, GM, the 20 years at Ford, head of Truck Operations. He is an engineer by trade with engineering and production experience from the auto industry.

QUALITY:
Frankly I think he was surprised at the level (low) of quality in the RV industry.

His plans for Monaco are to work towards the quality that has been achieved in the auto industry.

He commented that RV?s are currently constructed to a set of plans rather than manufactured to a set of specifications. He plans to work with suppliers like they do in the auto industry. Parts ordered will be ordered to meet a series of specifications. He said he can?t blame suppliers for poorly working items when they were never giving real engineering specs to meet.  These will include both function and reliability.

Currently Monaco has an engineering staff and a New Products development team and engineering does not sign off on new designs. In the future these departments will work together reporting to a new position ? VP Engineering who will sign off on all new designs: function, ease of manufacture (improves quality), ease of service, reliability.

One of his reasons for moving all production to Wakarusa was to be closer to the suppliers, not only from a cost of shipment but more importantly to be able to work with them to design and meet new engineering standards. Also to be closer to Navistar engineering and Navistar purchasing. He plans to leverage off Navistar engineering and purchasing. Purchasing can help with pricing and with the clout to help get the quality specs achieved.

In an effort to make sure the customer gets the best product possible (at this time) he has reduced production and implemented a policy that no motorhome will be shipped if it has any known defect. As is standard in any good shop, he has implemented a policy that anyone on the line can stop production until a problem is fixed.

Surveys are going out to all owners who purchased in the last six months. Monaco wants to make sure that their quality matches or exceeds what their owner expect ? rather than just Monaco?s idea of quality.

  SERVICE:
His comment was that dealers don?t really want to be in the service business ? with the exception of a few larger dealers. Reasons: 1: They sell many brands and can?t possibly afford to train techs to be experts in all the brands. 2: (we all know this one) Motorhomes are not designed to be serviced (this he plans to change).

Immediate solution is have 4 factory service centers located to be within one day?s drive for over 80% of their registered owners.  These will be Coburg, OR (current), Wakarusa, IN (45 days), SE ? probably FL, SW ? probably AZ.

COBURG:
Coburg will continue Service, National parts, Customer Service and Technical support because the current staff in Oregon is very good and there is no need to move them.

INNOVATION:
He thinks there is a lack of real innovation in the RV business and wants Monaco to become known in the industry for innovation along with quality and service.

Osborne is leaving on an RV trip with his wife on Monday with his wife, who he says is very picky. They are taking a HR Endeavor for this trip.

They are going to develop new ideas, build them in a test coach and show them to a selected group of owners for feedback. The will meet with owner groups on other issues.

My Comment: If William Osborne can achieve half of his goals he will make Monaco a far better company and lift it above its current competition. Sheila was very impressed and wishes him good luck as it is the future for Monaco.

Service techs here at the rally are really behind his efforts.

Last item: He addressed the fact that Monaco/Navistar failed to stand behind the owners of coaches purchased for the ?old? company and acknowledged that he is trying to find a way to make that right. I had a discussion with Mike Snell the other day about this and what it cost Monaco in lost sales. It appears that William Osborne MAY do something about this situation. This may be a tough sell for him with Navistar as my past conversations with Navistar PR and CS people about this area indicated that they were dead set against picking up one dime because they were concerned about the legal consequences. I hope he can work something out. I should also mention that Osborne, while just recently hired to head this effort, was previously on the Board of Directors of Navistar (he resigned the board to take this position) so he does ?know? Navistar.
Ken

Excellent reporting Ken & Sheila. Monaco will regain their customer loyalty base if Osborne & team succeed. I hope they do!

ps almost packed, train leaves east at high noon.

Thank you very much. His concerns with engineering and quality are indeed encouraging developments for the industry. Here's hoping they succeed. I just would guess that it will take an upturn in the industry's sales before there is much impetus for substantial improvement across the industry.

Great report! Thanks!

I think Monaco is trying new things -- one example being the new Vesta/Trip. It definitely is a bit different than the normal cookie-cutter rig.

Will be interesting to see how Monaco can phase in his overall plan and vision. Seems like a few years out before we "see" the results of all the planning.

I've always said that the first manufacturer to really get this right will truly corner the market. I think Entegra Coach is already trying to do this as well, perhaps more centered on rig construction, longer warranty, etc., than the grand vision for Monaco. But still, steps in the right direction as to overall quality and customer-centric service and value.

Ken & Sheila said:

He commented that RV’s are currently constructed to a set of plans rather than manufactured to a set of specifications. He plans to work with suppliers like they do in the auto industry. Parts ordered will be ordered to meet a series of specifications. He said he can’t blame suppliers for poorly working items when they were never giving real engineering specs to meet.  These will include both function and reliability.

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Wish him luck with that.  Frankly, about the only reason the automotive industry has achieved the level of quality it has is because all of them had to compete with the Japanese.  That meant all US mfgr's began putting pressure on suppliers (many common suppliers) at about the same time.  The suppliers had to come along.  The problem Monaco will have with this is until other RV mfgr's get on board and make the same demands, the suppliers aren't going to get too excited about it.  The product demand is just not that great from only Monaco.  Get several major RV mfgr's doing the same thing and they might get the suppliers attention.

I'm rooting for Bill Osborne - it sure is a refreshing viewpoint. But I listened to a similar speech from the head of American Coach back in late 2007, and that never really happened either. Of course, Fleetwood went bankrupt two years later. Then the new owners, also an vehicle engineering outfit, promised  changes in production methods to improve quality.  Owners are still waiting to see evidence of this.

Will have to wait and see.

Ken,

Thanks for the detailed report.  I appreciate your effort..great job!

JerryF

Although I do not have a Monaco, I know many who do, and love them.

I know there will be a honeymoon period for the new guy, and I really hope he is successful. The bar has to be set high enough by someone with some guts; mediocrity should never be a corporate goal, and raising the bar is quite difficult in today's corporate America.

Hope all Monaco owners, old and new, will benefit from a new sheriff in town.

Enjoyed the reporting....thanks!

I appreciate your effort..great job!

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Ken,

So do I.  Very interesting report.  Needless to say, we'll all be keeping our fingers and toes crossed!  He and Navistar have a huge job ahead.  It's encouraging that the Osbornes are taking an RV vacation.  At least then, he'll have a better feel for the whole concept.

ArdraF

Thanks Ken for the thorough summary.  I felt like I was there. I hope all his dreams come true for  the Monaco RVer.

BB

I also should have mentioned that Navistar plans to setup many of its International Truck dealers to handle motorhome chassis work for Monaco/Roadmaster. Much like the Freightliner Oasis program. This is being done not so much because of a lack of current shops, but to support the Navistar Maxx Force Engines that will be replacing Cummins as the primary diesel for Monaco. In my experience it is easier to get warranty work done in a "company" shop.

ken