Plant Tour
Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 5:07 pm
On August 27th I toured the Cardinal plant in Elkhart. I was hoping I might see our 30ST we have on order in production, but I was a bit early. A unit takes three days to produce and their production is 12 Cardinal a day and 6 Georgie Boy’s. They have a production order file of just over 500 Cardinal at this time so we still need to wait unit the end of September for ours.
Over the years I’ve toured the Winnebago and Monaco plants. These are larger and far more automated than the Cardinal plant. I think Cardinal has the advantage. With the hands on production facility their was a lot more attention to quality control. Because they produce a more expensive motor home in the same plant and the lines run parallel they really emphasized the quality of material that they use in both their 5th wheel and MH’s.
After reading on this forum about the problems and concerns with the Chinese tires I did ask if I could get different tires. They said that they have heard some feed back, but they were not sure if it was a tire problem or improper tire care. They are reviewing their present supplies but at this time I was unable to get a replacement at the factory.
I enjoyed the tour and must say I was impressed not only with the tour but also the people I met.
It’s hard to wait unit the end of September to take delivery, but it’s like a kid waiting for Christmas.
Over the years I’ve toured the Winnebago and Monaco plants. These are larger and far more automated than the Cardinal plant. I think Cardinal has the advantage. With the hands on production facility their was a lot more attention to quality control. Because they produce a more expensive motor home in the same plant and the lines run parallel they really emphasized the quality of material that they use in both their 5th wheel and MH’s.
After reading on this forum about the problems and concerns with the Chinese tires I did ask if I could get different tires. They said that they have heard some feed back, but they were not sure if it was a tire problem or improper tire care. They are reviewing their present supplies but at this time I was unable to get a replacement at the factory.
I enjoyed the tour and must say I was impressed not only with the tour but also the people I met.
It’s hard to wait unit the end of September to take delivery, but it’s like a kid waiting for Christmas.