Former RV Industry Association Chair Enyart Urges Ongoing Focus on Repair Event Cycle Time

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following guest opinion was written by Garry Enyart, the Director of the RV Generator Business at Cummins and the Past Chairman of the RV Industry Association, where he has been a board member since 2006. This guest opinion was published in the May/June issue of RVBusiness magazine.

After 40 years, first with Onan and then Cummins (Cummins purchased Onan in 1986) I have decided that it’s time to retire.

My last job at Cummins, which was leading the RV generator business since Richard Coon left Cummins to become president of the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) in 2005, was what I had aspired to do for some time.  It has been a pleasure to be associated with the RV Industry for so long. There truly is no other industry like it!

When explaining the industry to others I simply tell them that it is like the line from the Eagles classic rock song “Hotel California” that goes “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave”.  It is an industry that gets in your blood!

I am grateful for the time that I have spent at Cummins and my time on the RVIA Board of Directors. I’m also grateful for the opportunity that I’ve had to work closely with the OEMs, suppliers, wholesalers and many of the key RV dealers, first on the Committee on Excellence in 2006 and then on the Repair Event Cycle Time (RECT) Six Sigma project that I launched in 2018. Both of these initiatives brought focus to one of the most important things that we can do to protect and grow the RV industry: making customers for life by providing good aftermarket support.

Recently, I had two dealer interactions that underscored the importance of this work.

First, on a trip to Phoenix I stopped by Robert Crist RV and talked to Martin O’Malley, the parts department manager.  I described to him the RECT project that we have been working on and what we as an industry (RVIA and RVDA) are trying to accomplish.

He summarized what the industry feels perfectly by stating “I LOVE this business; it really does get under your skin/in your blood. The RV business is so different, so diverse, and so delicate at best – it is a constant learning adventure. Those of us who have spent any time working in it will tell you, every day we learn, every day we teach, and every day we have a little fun, make a new friend, a new customer, a new work companion. I can think of no other industry anywhere in the world where you must combine so many industries into one, construction, electronics, décor and design, plumbing, heating and cooling, automotive, solar and communication technology, etc. – except maybe NASA and space exploration. All so people can go out and have fun!”

Second, in March I visited with my friend Mike Pearo from Hilltop Camper and RV, and current RVDA chairman, to discuss the progress that we’ve made on RECT and the next steps as we work to support our industry customers.

To summarize our meeting, Mike related that RVDA is very excited that it and RVIA have RECT on the very forefront of our respective goals and objectives. He went on to summarize RVDA board’s assessment on what’s working and what we need to continue to focus on:

What’s working:

• DMS RECT reports. Two providers reports are working for dealers that use them. Several are reporting increased service department efficiency using RECT data.
• One manufacturer (Jayco) is providing monthly RECT reports to dealers.
• One manufacturer (Keystone) is providing Top 100 parts lists.
• Several manufacturers have improved the warranty process, providing more timely approvals and additional pre-approvals for certain Repair Order
• Manufacturer/distributor dropship programs have improved parts delivery time.
• Product quality is generally steady during a time of rapid production increase.
• RV Learning Center and RV Technical Institute employee training initiatives are gaining traction within the industry.

What needs improvement:

• Further work needs to be done to encourage “standardized best practices” that will allow us to aggregate the RECT information and measure the industry’s
• If additional manufacturers and major suppliers could provide their Top 50 or Top 100 parts, that would help the dealers align their inventory with the consumers’
• Common parts number initiative needs to continue.
• A continued focus on product quality.

Possible Next Steps

• Wider industry distribution of RECT Progress Report.
• Hold stakeholder task force meeting(s) on the common parts number initiative.
• Hold RECT summit with key stakeholders at a future meeting(s).
• Engage RECT discussion “Partners in Progress” meetings at the RVDA Convention/Expo.
• We (RVIA and RVDA) will be launching a quarterly newsletter to inform the industry on our ongoing work and celebrate our progress.

In summary, I am excited about the progress that we have made as an industry to focus on reducing the Repair Event Cycle Time and improving the customer experience and look forward to working with industry stakeholders to further this work.