Heartland landmark factory tour

[chaplady]

I'm guessing the quality of the tour depends on who is leading it. We had a regional landmark manager as our guide. From bring greeted at the door to touring the plant was a great experience. The guide was in no hurry answered all questions and even after tour spent more time talking to us.

 

[Gary521]

I agree that I would have been upset at the tour ( or lack of it ). However, if you a making a decision on the brand based upon the factory tour, it will not help that much. We have toured three different brands from three different companies. They are all about the same and its difficult to discern any differences unless you are knowledgeable about specific processes

 

[danemayer]

I've heard there may have been some circumstances that caused an unexpected plant shutdown, rather than just workers finishing up early and turning the lights off. Tours are probably scheduled on the assumption that things are operating normally and there's apparently no process dealing with tours that might be affected by unexpected circumstances. But even if there were one, you might have already been well on your way to Elkhart by the time the situation changed.

Andy may weigh in with more info.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Safety rules might apply for tours. Do tours happen while the plant is running??

 

[smoothie]

I've heard there may have been some circumstances that caused an unexpected plant shutdown, rather than just workers finishing up early and turning the lights off. Tours are probably scheduled on the assumption that things are operating normally and there's apparently no process dealing with tours that might be affected by unexpected circumstances. But even if there were one, you might have already been well on your way to Elkhart by the time the situation changed.

Andy may weigh in with more info.

From what I have been told you can request a tour earlier in the day during working hours. That is not made clear in the website nor was that option offered during any communication. With a 3:00 tour time I fully expected that we would not see any actual work in progress so that wasn't an issue for me.

 

[jnbhobe]

We toured the LM-BH-BC plant when the plant was up and running. I can tell you that you best be ready to RUN. Them boys are working like mad-men. When they move a rig you have to pay attention or get run over, It's a very fast pace.

 

[AWesdorp]

Hi all,
Smoothie I'm very sorry about your experience. Lyndsey at the front desk is a lifesaver but had no idea of the plant situation. It is a poor representation of how HRV operates and what we build in Plant 2. Due to the overwhelming growth of HRV and our industry brethren, many plants, HRV and other factories across the county have had to shutdown certain days, sometimes hastily planned, due to simple lack of raw materials. It is a perfect storm of lack of labor/supply at the raw material supply side coinciding with the massive growth in sales. Suppliers are getting a hold of their shortage situations and I hope this never happens again. Elkhart's story of 22% unemployment 9 years ago to 2.1% today is kind of mind blowing, but we still need many more good workers industry-wide to maintain the growth.
All said, please call me at 574-206-2178 (My direct line, Smoothie or anyone) and myself or our sales team will absolutely assist you.
Thanks all,
Andy

 

[smoothie]

Hi all,
Smoothie I'm very sorry about your experience. Lyndsey at the front desk is a lifesaver but had no idea of the plant situation. It is a poor representation of how HRV operates and what we build in Plant 2. Due to the overwhelming growth of HRV and our industry brethren, many plants, HRV and other factories across the county have had to shutdown certain days, sometimes hastily planned, due to simple lack of raw materials. It is a perfect storm of lack of labor/supply at the raw material supply side coinciding with the massive growth in sales. Suppliers are getting a hold of their shortage situations and I hope this never happens again. Elkhart's story of 22% unemployment 9 years ago to 2.1% today is kind of mind blowing, but we still need many more good workers industry-wide to maintain the growth.
All said, please call me at 574-206-2178 (My direct line, Smoothie or anyone) and myself or our sales team will absolutely assist you.
Thanks all,
Andy

I really appreciate your response Mr. Wesdorp. I will be giving you a call. This really means a lot. Thank you.

 

[kowAlski631]

And this is why we bought our Heartland and, if we ever find ourselves in the market again, will choose Heartland. Do things break, yeah. Are mistakes made in manufacturing, yeah. But they actually try to make it right. We believe you'll like Heartland and their products.

 

[mslater]

I've heard there may have been some circumstances that caused an unexpected plant shutdown, rather than just workers finishing up early and turning the lights off. Tours are probably scheduled on the assumption that things are operating normally and there's apparently no process dealing with tours that might be affected by unexpected circumstances. But even if there were one, you might have already been well on your way to Elkhart by the time the situation changed.

Andy may weigh in with more info.

mine happened at 3:00 ...watched the employees clean up and leave ....thats when they decided to turn the lights off....we had a group of about 10 people along with the salesman that had sold me my unit on a tour that had been scheduled for several weeks

 

[smoothie]

Hi all,
Smoothie I'm very sorry about your experience. Lyndsey at the front desk is a lifesaver but had no idea of the plant situation. It is a poor representation of how HRV operates and what we build in Plant 2. Due to the overwhelming growth of HRV and our industry brethren, many plants, HRV and other factories across the county have had to shutdown certain days, sometimes hastily planned, due to simple lack of raw materials. It is a perfect storm of lack of labor/supply at the raw material supply side coinciding with the massive growth in sales. Suppliers are getting a hold of their shortage situations and I hope this never happens again. Elkhart's story of 22% unemployment 9 years ago to 2.1% today is kind of mind blowing, but we still need many more good workers industry-wide to maintain the growth.
All said, please call me at 574-206-2178 (My direct line, Smoothie or anyone) and myself or our sales team will absolutely assist you.
Thanks all,
Andy

I contacted Andy at Heartland per his request. Suffice it to say FAITH RESTORED!!!! Thank you Andy for everything. A great example of management that cares.

 

[brw549]

My wife and just returned from a week in Elkhart Indian and the surrounding communities. We are planning our retirement and wanted to tour several of the fifth wheel manufacturers who claim to have "four season" or "full-time living" units. The trip was well worth the cost of flying, hotel and car rentals. The tours were eye opening and from the facilities we visited I would have to say there are only three that have made our short list. I was greatly disappointing in some of the manufacturers that I had hoped would have made that list. As to the unemployment in Elkhart In. if you want a job go there. There are many postings "HELP WANTED" all over the area. Out of curiosity I asked what the pay was at some locations. 15.00 per hour at a cheese factory store working the cash register to over 40.00 per hour in the RV factories. If you are looking to deliver RVs the opportunities are unlimited. Every location had a back log of units waiting to be transported somewhere in the country. I was told those drivers make an estimated 100,000.00 per year but they use their own trucks and most cost to operate are their own. If you would like more info on the three finalist for our retirement/full-time purchase feel free to email me brw549@bellsouth.net I will be glad to share my views.

One other item I will had, the 3:00 shutdown occurred with us also but, I later found out that most of the Amish employees begin work at 430 a.m. work till 3:00 p.m. so they can return home for chores and other responsibilities they have there