Possible cause to all Airstream Quailty Control Issues

[turk123]

just a note: quality control is in a building that is not on the tour. My suggestion to AS is make it the last visit on the tour.

[smithcreek]

Not sure I get it. The "Possible cause to all Airstream Quailty Control Issues" is a disagreement with one woman (at this point) regarding the FMLA and how overtime was calculated?

[OTRA15]

. . . if folks aren't paid correctly for overtime . . . no motive to do quality work during extra work hours . . . or so the logic might go . . . IMO.

If there is indeed some systemic problem in their HR pay system, this could indeed be certified as a class action, and might involve millions of dollars over many years, not including interest, punitive damages, attorneys' fees, and so forth.

Lot of low-hanging fruit as Frank said . . .

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by turk123

just a note: quality control is in a building that is not on the tour. My suggestion to AS is make it the last visit on the tour.

Hey- I see your "getting excited"! Are you considering going to Alumalina end of October?? That's a great place to share your excitement, meet new friends, and have a great time! Hope your able to make it with your new AS 30!

[Steamguy]

Originally Posted by sbowman

Take a look at etrailer.com either Mighty Cord or Epicord. We bought the 25' Mighty Cord w/90 turn down. Coils easily and less stress on trailer connection. Worth the money. We still carry our AS cord. Love the Mighty Cord.

At risk of thread drift, would you mind posting an Amazon link for an Airstream newbie, or give me a model number? We just got our IS and have been out with it once. Yeah, I agree: holey cow, that cord is HEAVY!

Thanks so much!

[Louieless]

I'm fairly new here, trying to talk myself into an AS, even with all of the quality issues people are posting, hmm makes me wonder. Maybe hit me in the head with a 2x4?

Believe me, if AS wanted to build a high quality camper they could very easily, but to them, it’s more about record profits.

When a company is making boats loads of money, like AS, you can hire some pretty good talent.There are a lot of talented Quality/Mfg. Engineers out there that would love the challenge of implementing various quality systems. I should know, I’m one of them, lol.

Obviously, AS, chooses not to do it, but rather continue reaping the profits while letting the customer be the quality department.

Like one poster said, they have no competition in this nitch camper market.

The perfect scenario was the big 3 back in the 70’s and 80’s before Toyota took over. The rest is in the history books.

It's too bad a cool nostalgic company like AS was bought by a large dead beat conglomerate like THOR.

My $0.02

David

[SteveSueMac]

Louieless - my $0.02 is that what you’ll read in these forums is skewed - I’ve posted several times on the volume of trailers produced and if you totaled the individual complaints here, you’re not even at a percent of totals made. That being said - the expectations are high with this brand which commands an equivalent price. The level of quality should be commensurate.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Plus, we will never know how every AS owner feels, as the Forum probably represents less the 10% of the total.

I don't recall a 👍 or 👎 poll.

Bob
🇺🇸

[Ray Eklund]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

Plus, we will never know how every AS owner feels, as the Forum probably represents less the 10% of the total.

I don't recall a �� or �� poll.

Bob
����

*******
I was going to respond to SteveSueMac's post just before yours. Great insight on both your 'parts'itation. (Participation / Parts'itation )

The Airforum indicates 130,880 members.
At the time I was getting information to post:
- 104 members on line
- 932 guests on line

My 2014 was in the 530,000 serial numbers and today... lets say getting closer to 560,000? Not all still exist of the pre-1970 models, but the number would be larger than expected.

Such a small group actually participate on the Forum. My wife follows the Forum, but would avoid ever posting. There are thousands of other AirStream owners who would never participate, unless had a problem that could not be fixed from previous posts.

'Guests' on a Forum may also count 'robots' or computers scanning for content. Hey... I turn my computer on and if it works, great. Someone else might know how to interpret these numbers.

I find Airforum advertising on my post that correlates with something I did this week on a search. So cookies are rampant and we may all get a specific advertisement directed at something you did earlier in the week... or hour.

From burrowing into Threads... there is a very articulate and vocal group that become familiar over time. It gives me the impression that the number is very shallow when considering how many visit the Forum, and those who actually participate.

[Tim A.]

Originally Posted by Louieless

It's too bad a cool nostalgic company like AS was bought by a large dead beat conglomerate like THOR.

Thor began with Hi-Lo and then bought Airstream as their second acquisition. The Thor name is a combination of the names of the two people who began the company at that time. It was AFTER the acquisition of Airstream that the company began to buy other RV manufacturers.

Beatrice Foods was a prior owner of Airstream. At least Thor is primarily in the RV business.

Tim

[fladealer]

Let me start by saying, these iconic travel trailers are made with human hands and those hands are attached to people who love the job they do.... over 1000 of hard working families.
This labor of love is because the demand of the product is the highest in the history of the brand.

The quality has been pushed to the limit, but it has nothing to do with Thor or cost cutting measures. Airstream spends a lot of money on R&D as well as testing the products that are the best of the best of the industry. Do they get it right every time? Heck no...but I am unaware of anyone or any company that does. Just my two cents.

[smithcreek]

Originally Posted by Louieless

It's too bad a cool nostalgic company like AS was bought by a large dead beat conglomerate like THOR.

So that's how it went down eh? The big bad multi-national conglomerate came in a scooped up little 'ol Airstream that was doing perfectly fine, producing near perfect trailers? You seem very knowledgeable about Airstream history, please do tell us more.

[guskmg]

Almost 1,000 soon to be 1,400 employees. That is a lot of quality to control. Dedication, good work ethic, learned skills, steady and reliable work speed, relaxing and timely work breaks and comfortable surroundings all improve production output. Especially, if it is produced by human being and not robots. Automatined cutting and drilling tables are helping fitting accuracy, but assembly is still by hand. The new factory building will add much needed room and greatly improve employ safely. The old plant is crowded. The future of our of Airstreams is dependent on the viability of THOR. They now control 52% of RV manufacturing. All Airsreams are bought and paid for before the leave the factory. I would assume that sales policy applies to all of Thors subsidiaries. During the economic downturn of 2008 THOR was one of five compamies that were cash rich. Look at their stock, it went from $13 to well over $100 during the recovery. Meanwhile, they loaned Camping World $20 million so they could stay afloat. They are a solid well run company and will be around for a while. It is hard to believe the two founders bought their flagship company from Beatrice Foods for nothing down and enough time to pay off the loan. All other aluminum trailers disappeared. Not Airstream, they are still going strong and growing.
guskmg

[hopmonster]

So my intent in posting this soecifically in the Basecamp forum was to assist other BC owners who have had epidemic issues. Correct me if I’m mistaken, but I do not recall such problems across other AS models. The Basecamp suffers from some on going issues with fridge performance, or lack there of and water infiltration on such a level that many owners have given up after multiple dealer trips to address the problems. Some have removed fridges or rigged gutters to try and keep water from destroying their investment. I’ve also read of several instance where the glass panels have flown off while in transit. These issues have persisted since the redesign, so that should have afforded ample opportunity to address the faults.

I’m certain this is a combination of design flaws and QC and I’m also certain that such performance is not acceptable from ANY company. Even treasured brands like Airtsream. I will allow the dealer to address these issues on my unit but at some point one must say “enough is enough”

[centennialman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIuo0KIqD_E

[RandyNH]

Originally Posted by turk123

just a note: quality control is in a building that is not on the tour. My suggestion to AS is make it the last visit on the tour.

Are you offering tours of your garage? That's where the quality control building seems to be located ; )

[xrvr]

Originally Posted by Louieless

I'm fairly new here, trying to talk myself into an AS, even with all of the quality issues people are posting, hmm makes me wonder. Maybe hit me in the head with a 2x4?

Believe me, if AS wanted to build a high quality camper they could very easily, but to them, it’s more about record profits.

When a company is making boats loads of money, like AS, you can hire some pretty good talent.There are a lot of talented Quality/Mfg. Engineers out there that would love the challenge of implementing various quality systems. I should know, I’m one of them, lol.

Obviously, AS, chooses not to do it, but rather continue reaping the profits while letting the customer be the quality department.

Like one poster said, they have no competition in this nitch camper market.

The perfect scenario was the big 3 back in the 70’s and 80’s before Toyota took over. The rest is in the history books.

It's too bad a cool nostalgic company like AS was bought by a large dead beat conglomerate like THOR.

My $0.02

David

You do not know what you are talking about concerning thor.

[70CT]

Originally Posted by Louieless

I'm fairly new here, trying to talk myself into an AS, even with all of the quality issues people are posting, hmm makes me wonder. Maybe hit me in the head with a 2x4?

Believe me, if AS wanted to build a high quality camper they could very easily, but to them, it’s more about record profits.

When a company is making boats loads of money, like AS, you can hire some pretty good talent.There are a lot of talented Quality/Mfg. Engineers out there that would love the challenge of implementing various quality systems. I should know, I’m one of them, lol.

Obviously, AS, chooses not to do it, but rather continue reaping the profits while letting the customer be the quality department.

Like one poster said, they have no competition in this nitch camper market.

The perfect scenario was the big 3 back in the 70’s and 80’s before Toyota took over. The rest is in the history books.

It's too bad a cool nostalgic company like AS was bought by a large dead beat conglomerate like THOR.

My $0.02

David

You seem like you have all of the qualifications necessary to Start a company that would be a competitor. Why bash a company and a product you don’t even own when you can reap the rewards of their short comings? More importantly the question you might want to ask your self is why hasn’t another clear competitor arisen to the task of taking market share?

Forums are more often a place the few come to “vent” or find answers to their problems. Very few come to gush about how perfect the product is. That would be a very boring forum IMHO.

[franklyfrank]

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

Louieless - my $0.02 is that what you’ll read in these forums is skewed - I’ve posted several times on the volume of trailers produced and if you totaled the individual complaints here, you’re not even at a percent of totals made. That being said - the expectations are high with this brand which commands an equivalent price. The level of quality should be commensurate.

Here is my 2 cents worth:

While management is ultimately responsible for what goes out the door we need to acknowledge the sorry state of workforce our schools turn loose every year. These trailers are stick built like a house. Every rivet,screw,cabinet etc.etc is made and installed by a pair of human hands. We can not compare this to auto manufacturing. So the human component is crucial to producing a quality product.

A high school graduate today is turned lose on us without any marketable skills. Since we eliminated the draft they don't have the opportunity to even learn personal discipline and responsibility. They are a product of the sixties Woodstock generation. Responsible for nothing expect others to provide them with everything and they all expected to become millionaires by age 25 just by looking cool.

I will bet over 25 percent smoke pot on the job and another 10 percent use more potent stuff. This is the gene pool Airstream draws their workforce.
As Napoleon Hill established long ago, after shadowing Dale Carnegie for two years the 80/20 rule. In all organizations 20 percent of the work force produces 80 percent and the remaining 80 are pulled along by their draft.

I was fortunate to have started to build my small family business in 1979. I was able to hire ex military. The best workers ever. They were disciplined and delivered a days work for a days pay and were self starters. I loved them all.
By 1990 that labor pool retired and running a business with the new crop became a real challenge. I needed a foreman with a crew truck for every 4 workers in the field and profitability suffered as well.

This is our society gentleman building our products. If it weren't for Automation and technical progress ensuring quality we would be scooping horse manure relying on the current crop of labor pool .

They are very well versed in their "Rights" know the phone number of the local labor board to file a complaint at a drop of the hat and the discussion 24/7/365 on the job site is about how they are being exploited and taken advantage of by management.

[ROBERT CROSS]

I acknowledge your 2cents...thats all.
You hired VN Vet's, good on 'ya, we never smoked 'pot'.

Bob
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