Tuesday, July 01, 2008
REDUCTIONS AT CARRIAGE
By Greg Gerber @ 11:57 AM :: :: 0 Comments :: :: Manufacturing News
MILLERSBURG, Ind. -- Carriage, Inc., will consolidate production lines in September as the company takes advantages of new efficiencies built into its main production building, the company confirmed today.
In light of news that Newmar would lay off a significant portion of its production staff, RV Industry News had received a tip that Carriage would be laying off staff as well.
That's true to a point, said Don Emahiser, vice president of sales and marketing. "It's all part of our big master plan," he explained. "It's been our objective all along to build everything in our main production building because it is, by far, our most efficient production center."
When the building opened almost 18 months ago, the company could only build six units a day in the facility. Yet, company officials believed the capacity to be around 12 units per day. Over time, production managers have been able to increase production to eight units per day, but could not add the Domani line to the product mix due to its complexity, Emahiser said.
So, for model year 2009, the company dropped its full-size Carriage product in order to replace it with the Domani. Once production of the Domani is transferred to the main production building in September, the original Domani line will be closed with may result in some layoffs.
"Yes, we will be laying off some workers, but it's not quite for the same reasons other companies in the industry are laying off staff," said Emahiser. "We just completed our 11th record month in a row and retail sales are at a record high for us as well."
SOURCE: RV Industry News
MILLERSBURG, Ind. -- Carriage, Inc., will consolidate production lines in September as the company takes advantages of new efficiencies built into its main production building, the company confirmed today.
In light of news that Newmar would lay off a significant portion of its production staff, RV Industry News had received a tip that Carriage would be laying off staff as well.
That's true to a point, said Don Emahiser, vice president of sales and marketing. "It's all part of our big master plan," he explained. "It's been our objective all along to build everything in our main production building because it is, by far, our most efficient production center."
When the building opened almost 18 months ago, the company could only build six units a day in the facility. Yet, company officials believed the capacity to be around 12 units per day. Over time, production managers have been able to increase production to eight units per day, but could not add the Domani line to the product mix due to its complexity, Emahiser said.
So, for model year 2009, the company dropped its full-size Carriage product in order to replace it with the Domani. Once production of the Domani is transferred to the main production building in September, the original Domani line will be closed with may result in some layoffs.
"Yes, we will be laying off some workers, but it's not quite for the same reasons other companies in the industry are laying off staff," said Emahiser. "We just completed our 11th record month in a row and retail sales are at a record high for us as well."
SOURCE: RV Industry News
