Cummins Care Now Available For RV Market
Cummins Inc. announced that it has added the RV market to its new Cummins Care enhanced customer assistance program, which provides around-the-clock response for customers with Cummins engines. The program is the latest addition to the new Cummins Customer Support Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
Cummins employs 110 specialists at the 25,000-square-foot facility who are prepared to answer questions and help customers find the nearest available and qualified service location accessible to RV customers.
Cummins Care complements the relationship between customers and Cummins distributors throughout the United States and Canada, as well as vehicle and equipment dealers. Customers who use Cummins Care can tap into the largest service network in the industry, with more than 3,500 locations.
Cummins Care also provides a trusted information source for questions regarding the latest engine and product technology, including EPA 2010. The Nashville-based team is prepared to answer all operational questions on topics such as fuel and oil specifications and maintenance intervals.
Cummins Care utilizes the same (800) 343-7357 (DIESELS) number that customers know today. The enhanced support hours are now available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Newell Coach’s New Suspension System
Newell Coach Corporation has announced that its new StabilRide active-suspension system will be available on Newell motorhomes delivered beginning January 1, 2012. StabilRide is said to dramatically improve coach handling, stability, and ride quality to levels previously unattainable in a vehicle the size and weight of a Newell.
“StabilRide is a key reason Car and Driver magazine [July 2011] recently said the ride in a Newell “˜approaches Lexus-like perfection’,” said Newell president Karl Blade.
The state-of-the-art, computer-controlled active-suspension system automatically adjusts the suspension firmness or softness at each of the six wheel positions every 10 milliseconds. When a soft suspension setting is required to absorb a road irregularity, the selected suspension damper or dampers adjust accordingly. To control excessive vehicle movement, such as immediately following a bump, or to keep the coach level when entering a turn or executing a quick lane change, the suspension adjusts to optimal firm settings.
According to company literature, the adjustments happen automatically and almost instantaneously, and they are unnoticeable, except that the coach rides more comfortably, has less “lean” in corners, and “porpoising” action following dips in the road is eliminated, as are excessive body movements.
Newell developed StabilRide in partnership with ZF. Active suspension featuring ZF components has been introduced on select premium and high-performance passenger cars over the past two decades and has become increasingly popular. ZF is now offering active-suspension systems for large trucks and motor coaches. However, according to Newell officials, theirs is the only motor coach manufactured in North America to feature an active-suspension system.
For more information about Newell StabilRide, visit www.newellcoach.com or call Boyd Vanover at (888) 363-9355.
Navistar To Move Motorhome Production To Indiana
Navistar International Corporation announced that it will consolidate all Monaco motorhome production at the company’s Wakarusa, Indiana, manufacturing facility, adding approximately 400 jobs at that location. The restructuring will significantly scale back operations at its Monaco headquarters and manufacturing plant in Coburg, Oregon, which will impact approximately 450 people. The company plans to continue producing towable RVs and retain certain finance and information systems operations in Oregon, as well as maintain an RV service center there. Certain Monaco headquarters functions will be consolidated at Navistar’s new corporate campus in Lisle, Illinois.
The company also announced plans to close its Workhorse Custom Chassis plant in Union City, Indiana, impacting about 225 employees. Motorhome chassis manufacturing will be consolidated into other existing Navistar facilities for greater efficiency and productivity.
The Monaco/Workhorse consolidation is expected to result in ongoing savings of $20 million to $30 million annually once all of the actions are implemented.
Spartan To Relocate RV Chassis Unit To Indiana
Spartan Motors Inc., based in Charlotte, Michigan, announced plans to relocate its motorhome chassis manufacturing operations to Wakarusa, Indiana, which will create up to 60 new jobs in that area by the second half of 2012. The move is intended to move chassis production closer to the company’s client base.
The motorhome chassis operation will move into the Wakarusa-based Utilimaster Corporation facility, which Spartan Motors acquired in 2009. The Utilimaster plant has more than 550,000 square feet of manufacturing capacity and consists of four manufacturing and 15 subassembly, support, and paint plants. The company plans to invest an estimated $1.8 million on machinery, equipment, tooling, and facilities to accommodate the move. It will continue to employ the existing workforce of nearly 600 at this location.
New Sources Of Parts And Supplies
Dehco Inc., parent company of TriStar Distributing and Cast Products “” suppliers of RV, marine, spa, utility vehicle, and manufactured housing parts “” has launched a new division called Recreation Nation. Headquartered in Eugene, Oregon, Recreation Nation will provide aftermarket dealers and customers with parts, equipment, and accessories that were previously available only to original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
Recreation Nation’s product offerings include everything its sister companies provide, as well as new products selected especially for the retail market. With distribution points in Indiana, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, Dehco stocks thousands of different parts, ranging from audio/video equipment, appliances, and accessories to faucets, propane tanks, and plumbing parts. Sharp, Kenwood, MTX, Sirius, LG, RCA, Danze, Gaggenau, Frigidaire, Magnadyne, Armstrong, Danby, Samsung, Empire, and American Brass are among the company’s brand partners. In addition, Dehco has manufacturing facilities that produce a wide variety of products, such as butyl tapes, adhesives, molded showers, tubs, sinks, and more.
For more information, visit www.recreationnation.me or contact April Klein at (855) 866-8877; aklein@dehco.com.
Lippert Components Inc., a subsidiary of Drew Industries Incorporated, has opened a new state-of-the-art customer service center in Goshen, Indiana, and announced that the company also will have the capability to sell and install aftermarket products such as windows, doors, and suspension products.
The new service center has five service bays and is staffed by 40 trained repair personnel and service technicians, who can both install and answer technical questions about the RV products sold by Lippert Components and its sister company, Kinro Inc. Lippert Components and Kinro supply a broad array of components for RVs and manufactured homes, including RV slide-out mechanisms, upholstered furniture, mattresses, windows, doors, and thermoformed products. For additional information, visit www.lci1.com and www.Kinro.com or call (866) 524-7821.