One Thing Leads to Another

While we were at the Tiffin rally in California, recently, I hopped onto one of the display motor homes. There was a young fella on the floor. "Uh, are you OK?" I inquired?
It turns out that he is the National Sales Rep for Villa Furniture, one of the companies that manufacture furniture for RV's, and he was inspecting the driver's seat.
"Oh," I said, "Let me tell you about the Villa Furniture on my RV..."
He replied, "Better yet, show me."
So, off we trotted to look at a sofa whose back cushions were crooked, and the passenger chair that was so overstuffed it was uncomfortable to sit in.
He seemed to agree with me. He suggested we come to the plant in Cerritos, CA, a mere 90 miles away. After a brief discussion with Mr. Dreamy, we decided we had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
So, off we went to Cerritos.
We arrived bright and early to avoid LA traffic. By 9:00 AM we had taken a tour of the plant and Vincent had supervised the removal of the sofa and the passenger seat. By 2:00 PM, we were on the road again. Many thanks to all of the folks at Villa Furniture. Your customer service is so very much appreciated!

Interesting pictures from the day:

Upholstery patterns are cut from cardboard and stored for future use

Pieces of died, matched leather await cutting.

Rolls of vinyl fabric can be seen stacked on the lower right of the picture.

Vinyl is cut by a computerized machine. The software minimizes waste. The vinyl is held on the table by suction as a cutting head moves swiftly according to the computer's instructions.

Computerized sewing machines are used for embroidered features. The machine on the left is stitching the Tiffin logo on a piece that will be used on the backs of the captain's chairs. The blue computer screen shows the progress of the stitching.

A finished logo:

Almost a dozen women use heavy-duty machines to sew the covers of sofas and chairs.

Finished covers are placed in large bins waiting to be fit over forms constructed of foam and fiberfill on top of a steel tube skeleton. 

Huge foam blocks, at least 2' x 4' x 8',  are sliced into different sizes by the blue machine in the background. Different colored foam has different densities.

Here a passenger seat is close to being completed.

Finished sofas for different makes of motorhomes await packaging and shipment

Part of our sofa is removed for repair...

... and carefully returned for installation.

We really enjoyed our hours at the Villa Furniture plant in Cerritos. It was very interesting to see how the furniture is built.

Build-A-Motorhome

So, would you like a motorhome?
Why not build it yourself?
It looks easy....
if you have the space,
the materials,
and the tools....
oh, and 850 workers!
(Over 1500 are needed for outside services as well)

Well, maybe you won't want to build one after all!
Mr. Dreamy & I enjoyed a tour of the
Tiffin plant in Red Bay, AL.
I thought you might enjoy a look inside, too.

A basic chassis is driven to the assembly plant.

Tiffin uses some chassis manufactured elsewhere,

and some they assemble at the factory,
depending on the style of the motorhome.

(Did you know that the plural of chassis is... chassis?!)

 Additional steel is welded to the chassis to support storage bays,
water tanks and the floor.

Up to 3 miles of wire is used in each motorhome. 

Wiring harnesses are created for each model.

Wires are labeled by computers and cut individually.

They are laid out along this board 

and sections are taped together.

One of the wire harnesses is installed along the chassis.

More wire is enclosed in walls and the ceiling at 

other points in the assembly area.

CNC machines cut huge sheets of foam layered with other materials

for the floor and the roof of the motorhome.
Cutouts are made for roof vents, lights and wiring.
This machine zips along and little widgets of foam fly all over.
On a bad static day I wonder if the workers go home looking
like little snowmen?

The tile floor for some models is glued down on sub flooring and

grouted at another location and brought to the factory in one piece.

This 'suction' rig will pick the floor up and lay it on top 

of the precut layered foam sandwich that was mounted on the chassis. 

Cabinets, doors and appliances are assembled,

and are ready to be placed on the flooring.

All cabinetry is built at the factory in a huge cabinet shop.

Walls are put together offsite.

Here is the "Flat Stanley" model of a motorhome.

Once everything is inside the motorhome, the walls are put in place.

The roof is almost ready to be placed on the motorhome.

Notice that all roof-top equipment is in place.

 Slide outs, complete with furniture and window treatments,

are ready to be slid into the openings of the walls.

Here goes the slide out.
Geesh, that worker is strong -
look at him lift that slideout as if it weighs nothing,
and one handed, at that!
;-)

The motorhome moves on, 

getting the front cap, windows,

and doors for the storage bays.

The front cap is fully assembled, with wiring and windshield 

 before it is put into place.

Finally, the motorhome goes to another site for painting.

It will return to the factory for inspection and cleaning,

and for minor repairs.

Looks easy, right?

What factories have you enjoyed visiting?