Most people on this forum seem to happy with funfinders. We bought ours in Feb 2011 (warrantys just expired) and have had many problems with it. Most to do with shabby workman ship from the factory. everything from missing or stripped screws to leaking front markers. First time we took it out we ran out of water, upon looking into why I found out there is no pick up tube in the fresh water tank. Leaves about 10gl of water in the tank all the time. Most of the problems I have had repaired. I Hope after this seiason I can say the same as you all do about your trailers. Warpiggy
I often wonder about the manufacturing process now. I worked in manufacturing for 11 years dealing with automotive parts. We had a lot of rework at times because of wrong parts etc. It takes dedicated people working to produce a product with minimal defects. The final quality control checks should find any defects being produced and reduce them in the future.
Hope you have gotten all the bugs worked out...I would have really notified the manufacturer? Have a good camping season....
Ouch! That's a similar style trailer I'm looking for. Maybe I should buy used like motorhomes and let someone else work the bugs out Agree with Mark and Linda: Manufacturing has the all the tools needed to eliminate defects; the exec's just need to pay more atttention to the quality guy instead of the beancounter!
Mark and Linda wrote: I often wonder about the manufacturing process now. I worked in manufacturing for 11 years dealing with automotive parts. We had a lot of rework at times because of wrong parts etc. It takes dedicated people working to produce a product with minimal defects. The final quality control checks should find any defects being produced and reduce them in the future.
Hope you have gotten all the bugs worked out...I would have really notified the manufacturer? Have a good camping season....
Being a PROCESS IMPROVEMENT (Six Sigma/Lean/Total Quality management) professional the past 10 years, I also wonder about the manufacturing processes & quality control processes, with all of the RV companies. Look hard enough, and not look too hard, there are crazy stories about units that go out with total over-looked defects & poor workmanship.
One would think, the costs of warranty, poor press, shipping, and general quality issues, would drive these companies to a much stonger culture of process improvement & quality products.
There are a lot of variables(not always mfg fault), but I bet the data is out there, to make true changes & get to root causes, for fixing correctly many of the issues customers are finding.
Does anyone out there know if any of the RV Manufactuers, has (Six Sigma / Lean) cultures/programs as part of their company?
If not maybe, I have found my next job opporntunity?
I was a TQM trainer for the last ten years of employment myself. I would have to assume that if the OPs trailer is anything representative of the company, it would be the management process as much as the workers that is at fault. In order to build a quality product the process itself must be tuned for the task at hand regardless of the quality of training and dedication of workers. BOTH aspects must be quality oriented and looking at processes would be the place to start. I'm not familiar with the brand but according to the OP complaints are not common so it may be a disgruntled worker or poorly trained one was involved but without a lot of knowledge of the entire situation it's little more than a guess. One thing would be almost CERTAIN though, at least ONE process in their operation dropped the ball on at least ONE occasion and that was the quality assurance area. TQM teaches to put the quality in throughout the process rather than RELY on catching errors after it's finished but SOMETIMES they take that a little too far. HOPE you get everything corrected so you can begin enjoying your RV soon.
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Most of the issues should be caught when the dealership does the PDI.
You have to remember that these are houses on wheels built by hand. There is going to be issues. Also, anything that has a manufacturing defect will usually get caught in the first year of use.
Our first year involved a squeeky entrance step, that was caused by a spot weld failing. Manuf or dealership would obviously not catch this at PDI because the trailer was not used enough for the issue to show up (if that makes any sense).
"Most of the issues should be caught when the dealership does the PDI."
Dealers should not have to catch manufactures defects. Now shipping, and general small stuff, yes. Examples of inside, total misses of screws, lines not hooked-up, bracing in walls, frames cracked…on NEW units, SHOULD NOT LEAVE THE Manufacture, with good Quality processes in place
"You have to remember that these are houses on wheels built by hand. There is going to be issues."
Yes, there are many variables, (some of the complaints are not manufacture caused, but owner maintenance). Still hear about many examples of, just lack of quality(defects) at the manufacture level & original assembly.
"Also, anything that has a manufacturing defect will usually get caught in the first year of use."
USUALLY -- Takes an owner to be very diligent, and use unit, many times, to catch in first year. Many, use unit ½ dozen times a year, then magically RIGHT after a year, some MANUFACTUER issues show up. A year goes by really fast; especially the older I get… your quote below (was not used enough for the issue to show up).
"Our first year involved a squeeky entrance step, that was caused by a spot weld failing. Manuf or dealership would obviously not catch this at PDI because the trailer was not used enough for the issue to show up (if that makes any sense)."
"it would be the management process as much as the workers that is at fault."
I agree, most people want to do the right thing, metrics & the way company rewards along with management drives the culture, more than the employee’s per-say. I would assume quantity over quality is the push, hence the examples of some very extreme defects getting to the customer.
Quote: Dealers should not have to catch manufactures defects. Now shipping, and general small stuff, yes. Examples of inside, total misses of screws, lines not hooked-up, bracing in walls, frames cracked…on NEW units, SHOULD NOT LEAVE THE Manufacture, with good Quality processes in place
Well.. We're both on the same mindset (sort of).
But look at it this way. They are not (for the most part) selling one brand only. so a dealership is selling a reputation more so than the manufacturer. If they don't want to sell shody trailers, that's their choice, OR they can do a proper PDI and check everything. The dealership is the last check.
Another thing. Alot of this stuff can be caught at a walk-thru. I spent 90 mins doing a walk thru. filled up fresh water tank, used city water system, drained waste tanks, plugged in trailer (both 15a/30a), rolled out awning, slides, jacks, checked every square inch of the trailer. Now, before my walkthru, the dealership said we've got some small stuff to fix. I stopped him from telling me those issues, and guess what, at the end of my walkthru, our lists were close to the same.
Quote: USUALLY -- Takes an owner to be very diligent, and use unit, many times, to catch in first year. Many, use unit ½ dozen times a year, then magically RIGHT after a year, some MANUFACTUER issues show up. A year goes by really fast; especially the older I get… your quote below (was not used enough for the issue to show up).
Which is why, when I purchased my trailer in February, I told the dealership that I want my warranty to start May 15th (dealership was storing trailer til then anyways), AND I bought a trailer with 2 year warranty. Although our trailer was used 35 nights last summer, so we found most of the defects.
It's all about being smart when purchasing something. If you are not happy, don't take it. tell them to fix it. If they are rushing you through the walk-thru, tell them too bad.
Not trying to be disrespectful of the OP or to minimize his problems with his TT but three minor defects might be par for something built as complex as his Funfinder. A stripped or missing screw happens, out of the thousands in one unit, it should be expected. The leaking marker may be due to a myriad of reasons and may have nothing to do with the overall quality of the manufacturing process. The lack of a pickup tube of sufficient length makes me think it is an inherent design flaw but I don't have enough information to say.
The things about manufacture that I do know, generally, is that with the advent of the "New Workplace", where there is no bond between the management of the company and it's employees, the quality is going to go down. That bond I'm referring to is the past relationship where an employer wanted to keep employees and cross-train them in many aspects in order to keep them as long as possible, resulting in better workmanship. In parallel, the employee had expectation of long tenure and the ambition to increase his skills in many aspects with the same company. This increase would usually be rewarded monetarily and with promotion in status. That relationship rarely exists in a manufacturing environment, now.
My work career has put me in both roles, as an employee and as a business owner in the service sector. My experience tells me that quality starts at the top and if it isn't a primary priority and continually reinforced, it becomes an afterthought. I hope the OP can overlook some of the minor defects in his TT and enjoy the rest for many years.
Mark and Linda wrote: I often wonder about the manufacturing process now. I worked in manufacturing for 11 years dealing with automotive parts. We had a lot of rework at times because of wrong parts etc.
With all the literature out there, it would seem all the TT's are built by the Amish. I guess you need to take the power tools away and let them build everything with hand tools. That'll take care of quality issues.
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Agree with Mark and Linda: Manufacturing has the all the tools needed to eliminate defects; the exec's just need to pay more atttention to the quality guy instead of the beancounter!
