72cougarxr7 said:
I hear this arguement a lot, but it seems many of the quality control issues are not really cost saving issues.
Sloppy caulk work that leads to water leaks.
Loose wiring connections, plumbing leaks, sloppy trim work.
A majority of the rv issues we read on these forums could be corrected at no cost if there were proper quality control measures and employee accountability.
But these are all cost issues.
More accountability follows from workers having more to lose (higher wages and/or less-demanding work conditions).
More care in assembly takes time, which comes at the cost of slowing the production line or adding more workers, both of which increase the cost per unit.
Adding more QA inspectors and/or enforcing tighter standards comes at the cost of additional QA personnel and time stopping the line or correcting issues in post-production.
Better management techniques can certainly help to some degree, but consumers seem to prefer low price to better quality, so that's where all types of cost savings tend to show up.
Businesses that require large capital investments and have high fixed costs are demand-driven. Air travel is the poster child for this. They could put half as many seats in an airliner and bring back free meals and baggage, but how many of us would willingly pay more than twice as much for the same flight? The answer is found in the ratio of business and first-class seats to coach. And many of those business and first class seats aren't filled by full-fare passengers, but by people who've suffered multiple trips in coach who upgraded using their loyalty points.
Frankly, considering its price new, I'm impressed at how well my trailer, not a high-end unit by any means, has absorbed wear of the past 8 1/2 years, 65,000 miles and 644 camping days. It hasn't been maintenance-free, but issues that were caused by poor quality or design have been minor and easily correctable, most of them permanently. Am I lucky or typical? I don't know which. A single anecdote doesn't define a market.