Jayco Travel Trailer

Jayco, Inc. is a manufacturer of recreational vehicles. They make fold-down (aka "pop-up") travel trailers, "fifth-wheelers", truck campers and motorhomes.

Corporate history

Jayco is based in Middlebury, Indiana. The company was founded in 1967 by inventor and entrepreneur Lloyd Jay Bontrager. The company name is derived from his middle name. Bontrager played a major role in the development and innovations of several types of unique lifter systems for their travel trailers. Bontrager invented a trailer fold-down system in 1967 and started the business of making travel trailers in two chicken houses and a barn. In the first year of operations the company sold 132 trailers and had 15 employees at the end of 1968. Because of the large demand for the unique product of the camper they moved out of Bontrager's farm buildings in 1969 to a new factory site nearby. The company immediately became quite successful and in 1970 built another plant in Harper, Kansas. In 1970 the company built some 2,000 fold-down travel trailers and sold them throughout the United States and Canada. In 1971 they produced about 3,500 camper trailers.

Jayco introduced the first fold-down camper. Another model that was unique in design was a camper designed to fit on a pick-up truck bed. The company also introduced the first fold-down camper with dual axles. They also build a camper model that is small enough to fit in a standard garage and is not a fold-down model. They also have a model that has a deck that holds several bikes. Jayco also makes fishing boats.

Jayco employment of approximately 1700 employees is about 70 percent Amish and Mennonite. Jayco is the largest privately held manufacturer of recreational vehicles in North America. Presently Jayco sells about 25,000 vehicles per year, including camping travel trailers, Class C motor homes and "toy haulers." There are about 300 dealers that sell the Jayco products in the United States as well as International dealerships in Canada, Australia, and Europe.

Philosophy

Bontrager believed in and wished to convey to his employees the concepts of good work ethics, inspiration, respect, trust, integrity, honesty, fairness, and a family atmosphere. With his wife they started an all-you-can-eat chicken dinner for their employees as an annual company family picnic. The picnic not only comes with plenty of food, but there are games for the children as well as a greased pig contest. The idea behind this is that it encourages production quotas.

Just before Bontrager was killed in a plane accident on Easter in 1985, he wrote his philosophy he hoped Jayco would follow.

The 57-year-old Al Yoder, Jr. served as president of the still privately held company after Bontrager's death. He was a partner from the beginnings of the company. Yoder immediately started an aggressive drive to improve quality of the products they produced. His philosophy was that all employees were to be informed of all the other phases of production even if they were not in those other departments.

Building materials and techniques

Jayco camper trailers are made of plywood, insulated with fiberglass, and use upholstered fabric for chairs and couches. They have their own cabinet shops in the factory for cabinetry of the various models. At the factory they install all the custom-made chairs and couches. They also install the various appliances and water tanks needed. These operations can be seen at their free tour of their 500,000 square foot factory at Middlebury, Indiana.

International

Jayco campers are sold in Canada. They partnered with a British based company in the late 1970s and produced a tent-camper for the European market. Their campers were sold in Australia starting in 1972 and went into the 1990s. Jayco camper parts were sent to the Australian plant where they are then assembled.

Energy crisis

The company was hard hit in the energy crunch of the 1970s and several of their plants were closed temporarly, including their Kansas and Canadian plants. In the late 1980s and early 1990s they also suffered another slowdown due to the high price of gasoline, however not as serious as that of the 1970s. In spite of this they increased their plants and production output. They went from the fourth largest manufacturer of towable products to the second largest by 1995. Their work force then was 1300 and has since increased to about 1500 employees.

Unsuccessful campers

Jayco once built a fold-down style camper onto a pontoon boat; however, it was not successful. Jayco also produced a 4 wheel camper trailer that resembled a motorhome without a cab, which also failed to sell. Jayco also produced for awhile a fold-down trailer camper version, where the living area flipped out directly onto the ground. Customers were not interested in that concept either.

Jayco Travel Club

Jayco developed a special travel club called "Jayco Travel Club" that has yearly vacation plans. It has over 100 chapters in the United States and Canada for their customers.

Factory tour

Jayco has a free factory tour year-round with extra tours during the summer months. This starts at the "Griner House," an old restored farmhouse originally built in 1880. This is their Visitor Center where a 15-minute video on the company’s history and production methods are shown. The factory tour takes about one and a half hours.

Brand names

• Baja
• Designer
• Eagle
• Greyhawk
• Jay Flight
• Jay Feather
• Jay Series
• Melbourne
• Octane ZX
• Recon ZX
• Select
• Seneca

Sources

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} Jayco, Inc. company history
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Jayco Factory Tour in Middlebury, IN
3. ^ ^{a b c} Jayco, Inc company bio in Cemeterians (automobile industry market researcher)
4. ^ ^{a b} JAYCO PLANS 40TH ANNIVERSARY
5. ^ NATIONAL RV DEALERS ASSOCIATION HONORS JAYCO WITH QUALITY CIRCLE AWARD
6. ^ RV Manufacturer Announces Production Consolidating
7. ^ Jayco, America's most livable RVs
8. ^ Jayco Travel Club Tour Schedule
9. ^ About Jayco Travel Club
10. ^ Jayco Travel Club Chapters
11. ^ JAYCO’S MIDDLEBURY FACTORY TOUR RANKED AMONG AMERICA’S BEST BY LEADING TRAVEL GUIDE

References

• Axelrod, Karen, Watch It Made in the U.S.A.: A Visitor's Guide to the Best Factory Tours and Company Museums , Avalon Travel Publishing, 2006, ISBN 1-5988000-0-0

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