trailernovice
Mission TX
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On another thread, several mentioned that factory workers at most RV plants are paid piecemeal rather than an hourly wage...is this seriously the case? Seems that would give waaaaaaaaaay too much incentive to get it done slapdash and, worse, to--knowing you haven't done the job right--letting it keep moving down the line rather than slowing or stopping the line (which, presumably, would enrage all your co-workers further down the assembly line, since slowing/stopping means THEY can't get as many pieces done and therefore THEIR paychecks are also affected)...
along the same lines, what authority do QC inspectors have, and how do THEY get paid? Can they order something ripped out and re-done, or just direct that shoddy work be corrected to make it functional rather than perfect? If the QC people get paid the same way, seems like they would have the same incentives to send it out onto the market regardless of whether the unit's been put together properly
this whole 'piecemeal' thing is news to me, and kinda hard to believe it's done that way
don't car factories--which in concept are doing a similar thing by taking in components and assembling them--pay by the hour?
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Supercharged
Az.
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trailernovice wrote:On another thread, several mentioned that factory workers at most RV plants are paid piecemeal rather than an hourly wage...is this seriously the case? Seems that would give waaaaaaaaaay too much incentive to get it done slapdash and, worse, to--knowing you haven't done the job right--letting it keep moving down the line rather than slowing or stopping the line (which, presumably, would enrage all your co-workers further down the assembly line, since slowing/stopping means THEY can't get as many pieces done and therefore THEIR paychecks are also affected)...
along the same lines, what authority do QC inspectors have, and how do THEY get paid? Can they order something ripped out and re-done, or just direct that shoddy work be corrected to make it functional rather than perfect? If the QC people get paid the same way, seems like they would have the same incentives to send it out onto the market regardless of whether the unit's been put together properly
this whole 'piecemeal' thing is news to me, and kinda hard to believe it's done that way
don't car factories--which in concept are doing a similar thing by taking in components and assembling them--pay by the hour? If you went hour your RV would be 2 years old before it made it to the end of the line.
2005 Chev 5.3 Supercharged 395HP 425 T hp. Two wheels on front, 2 on back. one seat, tint windows. front and rear bumpers, headlights, windows. Door on each side. Heater, floor mats, 6 Reese candy bars, junk behind seats, some dirt. Pulls so hard.
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wbwood
Troutman, NC
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You could consider it similar to building a home as well. A general contractor pays a sub contractor to do a job. While the subcontractor may pay his employees by the hour (and then again maybe by the job), they want to get a job done as quickly as possible to move to the next one as the subcontractor can make more money that way.
It's dang if you do and dang if you don't...
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wbwood
Troutman, NC
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Supercharged wrote:trailernovice wrote:On another thread, several mentioned that factory workers at most RV plants are paid piecemeal rather than an hourly wage...is this seriously the case? Seems that would give waaaaaaaaaay too much incentive to get it done slapdash and, worse, to--knowing you haven't done the job right--letting it keep moving down the line rather than slowing or stopping the line (which, presumably, would enrage all your co-workers further down the assembly line, since slowing/stopping means THEY can't get as many pieces done and therefore THEIR paychecks are also affected)...
along the same lines, what authority do QC inspectors have, and how do THEY get paid? Can they order something ripped out and re-done, or just direct that shoddy work be corrected to make it functional rather than perfect? If the QC people get paid the same way, seems like they would have the same incentives to send it out onto the market regardless of whether the unit's been put together properly
this whole 'piecemeal' thing is news to me, and kinda hard to believe it's done that way
don't car factories--which in concept are doing a similar thing by taking in components and assembling them--pay by the hour? If you went hour your RV would be 2 years old before it made it to the end of the line.
And cost a heck of a lot more!
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Johnny G1
Clearwater, British Columbia ,Canada
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And that's the way Newmar factory works, I told them after the plant tour that I would not be buying another Newmar product after seeing the piecemeal shoddy work, they were not impressed but other's in the group agreed with me.
1998 34' Newmar Mountain Aire,210 Cummins Puller, 542 Allison 4 speed, BD Performance Exhaust Brake, BD Torque Convertor, Hendrickson Air suspension, 4 wheel disc brakes. 4-120 Watt 2-80 Watt Kyocera panels 8-T105s Toad 2003 VW Jetta TDI.
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ArcticDodge
Sammamish, WA
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In todays manufactuing environment, paying by the piece is a model of a dinosaur. Today's manufacturing relies heavily on teams that are heavily cross trained to complete dozens of different tasks and flexing from one task / area to another as needed. The day of single process personnel like the gluer - the stapler - the pipe cutter - the drawer inserter is long gone or at least it should be gone. In my shops I give all my worker the same title "manufacturing technicians" regardless of what they do or don't do. I train as many as I can in as many areas as possible. I even have a training matrix on the shop floor that shows who can do what and to their level of expertise.
You'll still have areas of expertise within like electricians, cabinet makers, and upholstery.
On edit: Is it possible that some of the piecemeal employees are more contract type labor? They show up build a few cabinets and invoice the RV co for the cabinets made? I dunno just thinking.
* This post was
edited 02/02/12 03:12pm by ArcticDodge *
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ol Bombero-JC
USA
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trailernovice wrote:
this whole 'piecemeal' thing is news to me, and kinda hard to believe it's done that way
don't car factories--which in concept are doing a similar thing by taking in components and assembling them--pay by the hour?
Why is it hard to believe?.
(No doubt there are some mfgrs with hourly employees)
and -
*WORLD* of difference between auto manufacturers and RV manufacturers - dealer networks, amount of "units", etc.
Take up way to much space to compare.
And - why do you think everyone complains about Quality Control, LOL!
BTW - lots of RV assembly workers workers are "Quality Amish Craftsman" - just ask Bob Villa..
~
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tonyandkaren
pennsylvania
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The last that we heard Born Free has a team of workers for each RV constructed. That team works on the same RV from start to finish and also is responsible for anything that needs tweaked or re-done after the RV is sold. Seems like this would result in a much better built RV.
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aruba5er
Neenah Wisconsin
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Why do you think most RV's are a piece of junk on wheels? Hurry up, there's another right behind this one. My unit had 17 things wrong with it. "Let the dealer take care of it" Thats the mentality of the manufactures. Is it piecework when you don't put in the hole for the manuel crank. who is responible when they don't connect a water line to the heater. Oh, it was right there, just not hooked up and on and on and on.
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old guy
Oregon (pronounced Or e gun)
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I know that this manufacture I about to tell you about is not a RV maker but it is the same type construction ways. I had two sons and many friends that worked at Marlette Homes in eastern Oregon. One told me that when the horn blew the unit moved down the line to the next station, whether you were done or not. They said that many guys would work through their lunch hours down the line trying to get things completed. if they had too many, then the crew who went to the dealers fixed the problems reported by the dealers, if the dealer misses it then the crews in the field drove hundreds of miles to fix problems found by the owners. In a way all Assembly lines are the same. get done what you can and if the horn blows or the unit moves you stop and go to the next. let the next guy worry about it. Yes I know that dealers go through the new units with a fine tooth comb, but they will miss things too. I've seen it. I worked at a dealership for a couple of years. the guys did the best they could but they do miss things. You buy it and sure enough things go wrong or they will pop up. face it, if it's made by humans, it is subject to failure, and that includes children. that's a fact.
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