GOSHEN — Managers at some factories in the Goshen area have announced they plan to restart work Monday with the goal of even more production by May 4.
Smoker Craft Inc. in New Paris, which manufactures boats, will resume limited production Monday and return to full production on May 4. The company has 440 employees.
Lippert Components, which manufactures products for the recreational vehicle manufacturing industry, also plans to reopen its factories May 4.
Smoker Craft has had a five-week shutdown in compliance with the executive order issued by Gov. Eric Holcomb on March 23, calling for Indiana residents to remain at home and non-essential businesses to temporarily cease operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Smoker Craft Inc. counts the health and welfare of its staff, dealers and partners as its top priority,” said Senior Vice President of Marking and Corporate Development Peter Barrett. “With the expiration of that order, we will implement a carefully phased return to full production under the guidance of six new health and safety protocols that have been developed by our Covid-19 Response Team in order to fully protect our most valuable asset — the exceptionally talented and skilled people who build the best boats on the water.”
The company announced its reopening Friday in a news release.
The new safety protocols at Smoker Craft include, “provisions for increased social distancing, the provision of personal protective equipment, enhanced environmental cleaning procedures, controlled plant access with screening facilities for all employees and visitors, an exposure-response plan for employees who should display symptoms and a greater level of personal responsibility shared among Smoker Craft employees,” the release states.
Next week there will be a small number of workers at Smoker Craft to test and refine the new safety protocols, the company stated.
“We are fortunate to have the same management team in place as we had in 2008 when the company last faced a major operational challenge,” Barrett said in reference to The Great Recession. “Having that experienced leadership team at the helm gives us confidence to move forward, knowing that the key decision makers have navigated difficult waters before. As a family-owned and operated company that has been building boats since 1903, we have faced and overcome many challenges over our history. With our employees, our dealers, our vendors and our industry partners, we will get through this difficulty as well, and we look forward to continuing to build the best boats in the industry.”
RV INDUSTRY
Lippert Components Inc., headquartered in Elkhart, plans to restart production at about 90 plants May 4, according to the trade news outlet rvbusiness.com. The company supplies parts and accessories to the RV, marine and related industries.
Winnebago and Thor Industries, two of the largest manufacturers of RVs in the United States, have already announced they will reopen their local plants May 4.
CEO Jason Lippert told the magazine, “So, obviously most of our customers are opening up on the 4th of May. So that’s when we’ll be opening our doors for the majority of our facilities. But we do have more than 10 plants in the marine, bus and commercial transit businesses that are open already.
“As far as the RV industry goes, though, we’re hearing really positive things about the fact that amidst the crisis, the dealers are selling some inventory,” he added. “It sounds like with the exception of the East Coast and Michigan, a lot of dealers are selling 30% to 50% of what they normally do. So, that’s better than what most people might have assumed — which was that no RVs are being sold at all.”
Lippert told the magazine that LCI’s production levels will be contingent on demand and other factors.
“Boats and RVs are selling right now,” Lippert told rvbusiness.com. “And we’re confident that because there’s been no wholesale production this month that that will bode well for inventories. And we feel the dealers are going to need products. We’re already seeing some of the rates that OEMs are planning at coming back at, and they’re better than we expected. They’re still much lower than where they would have been in a regular year. But we’re just happy to be in a position where we can have 100% of our plants producing on May 4th.”