Rev Group Raising the Bar

During Mike Lanciotti’s first year as president of Rev Recreation Group, the longtime Renegade RV executive instituted divisional shared best practices and operational excellence standards.

By RV News Staff

Rev Group’s recreation division had been without a president for four years. That changed in 2021, when Mike Lanciotti was promoted to oversee all six company brands. Lanciotti said he has spent the last year working to improve efficiencies and capitalizing on each facility’s best practices by sharing them companywide.

Before his promotion, Lanciotti led Renegade RV for 13 years. When Rev Group acquired Renegade in 2017, he began calling into monthly management meetings alongside other divisional leaders. On the call, attendees discussed aspects of their divisions. Lanciotti said that initial knowledge gave him the bare–bones foundation he is now building upon to lead the company.

He said relying merely on his Renegade RV experience, which provided basic Rev Group divisional knowledge, was insufficient to oversee the RV conglomerate—he needed a holistic perspective to succeed in growing the company. Lanciotti envisioned a future that more effectively united the different divisions to share best practices and use each division’s unique talents companywide. Through better communication and collaboration, he believed the company would reach a new pinnacle.

I am pretty picky on who I bring in and how I fill spots when they become open. It is not just the best person. It has to be the best person that fits the people they are going to manage and lead.”

– Mike Lanciotti

Lanciotti said he first wanted to understand each manufacturing plant’s unique culture. Understanding the cultures would entail more than simply listening in on monthly operations calls while at Renegade RV. Deeply understanding each division’s leadership, employees and manufacturing floors required talking with staff and immersing himself in each plant.

“I am pretty picky on who I bring in and how I fill spots when they become open,” he said. “It is not just the best person. It has to be the best person that fits the people they are going to manage and lead.”

After personally exploring and experiencing the various divisions, Lanciotti contemplated how to maximize RV manufacturing. He calculated what the company needed to improve efficiencies for the group as a whole. His goal was not to clone a single culture companywide through each plant, he said. Instead, he wanted to encourage divisional leadership to work within and capitalize on the strengths of each culture.

Philosophy Lanciotti next focused on building more RVs. He identifi ed potential plant effi ciency gains.

“Looking at product categories, looking at geographies, targeting investments for the group was

(L to R) Jason Bird, Rev Recreation Group director of operations; Mike Lanciotti, president; and Rich Brown, director of operations; walk through Rev Group’s Decatur, Indiana, plant.

(L to R) Don Gephart, marketing manager; Mike Brinker, senior human resources manager; Lanciotti and Mandy Weimerskirch, controller; discuss operations at the manufacturer’s monthly operations meeting.

Lanciotti was president and co-owner of Renegade RV from 2008 until the company was bought by Rev Group in 2017.

important to me,” Lanciotti said. “That means asking, ‘Where could we best implement this innovation?’ ‘Where can we increase capacity without a lot of capital expenditures?’ Those are things we can do for the group first.”

To leverage untapped potential, Lanciotti enlisted outside consulting talent to teach Operational Excellence concepts to his co–workers and employees.

Operational Excellence is a philosophy used to enhance workplace culture and improve overall manufacturing performance. The concept is not merely a set of activities but is instead a business philosophy fueled by procedure. Those procedures include Lean manufacturing principles, Six Sigma tools/techniques and Kaizen, a Japanese term meaning “continuous improvement.”

Operational Excellence driven manufacturing strives to produce more products at faster rates and lower costs. Rev Group began implementing Operational Excellence with a value creation model: making something of value (RVs) to receive something more valuable (orders/money).

Lanciotti said Rev Group’s new value creation model focuses on managing the supply chain, purchasing, building quality products, and enhancing design and subsequently manufacturing.

To provide improvements in those areas, outside consultants taught Rev Group staff a host of lessons encompassing Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma processes, process capabilities, quality, materials, management, logistics and product platforming to use common OE materials/parts when developing new models and floorplans.

Improving Efficiency Employees who successfully completed the training goals were recognized with awards, designated by different belt levels.

Group leaders who achieved training program goals received a bronze belt designation. Mid–management received green belt designations. Company leaders who mastered the content achieved black belt designations.

Right now, demand isn’t unlimited, but it is pretty high. We are monitoring stations and making changes in a very professional, Operational Excellence driven way.”

– Mike Lanciotti

An ongoing secondary focus has been to add experienced employees. Rev Group is now enlisting value analysis and value engineering (VAVE) engineers to further improve 2022 operations.

“We are bringing qualified people in there,” Lanciotti said. “More than anything, it makes you look at the business just a little different than they ever did.”

A New Takt As individual and team skills advance, manufacturing efficiency improves. Value stream mapping is a Lean manufacturing tool now in use across Rev Group divisions. Using a flowchart, the manufacturer documents each step in the manufacturing process to help leaders identify waste and implement improvements.

Rev Group began by scrutinizing its manufacturing lines’ takt times. Takt, a German word meaning “beat” or “pulse,” was used in the 1930s to determine German airplane construction times. In the 1950s, Toyota adopted the term to define automobile manufacturing times. Rev Group now applies takt to RV manufacturing.

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Takt time is the rate a manufacturer needs to create products to meet demand. On a manufacturing line, each stage has a cycle time—the time needed to complete a single aspect of the manufacturing process. Rev Group defines takt time as the total time required to build an RV relative to the time needed to meet existing customer demand.

For example, when a manufacturing line requires an eight–hour day to manufacture four RVs, each RV would then have a two–hour takt time.

“Say your takt time is an hour for simplicity,” Lanciotti said. “Maybe some stations take an hour and 10 minutes, another one requires 40 minutes. You have to rebalance the workload so you can achieve what you need.”

The goal, Lanciotti said, is to continually rebalance each station. Those stations taking longer periods to complete their respective tasks would have their workloads reduced, the number of station employees increased, or other efficiencies implemented to lower the station’s cycle time. Stations completing tasks faster than others might take on more work or have workers reassigned to slower stations.

By lowering each station’s cycle time, the overall takt time falls.

“The takt time is driven by demand,” he said. “Right now, demand isn’t unlimited, but it is pretty high. We are monitoring stations and making changes in a very professional, Operational Excellence driven way.”

As Rev Group works to improve takt times, divisional leadership has incorporated recent OE products/ innovations into the vehicles. Lanciotti said adding new items or changing the product being built increases station cycle and takt times. He said integrating innovated products and features is vital to creating new floorplans that result in leading–edge RVs.

Trailers Expanding East Operational Excellence identified a specific area where Rev Group could see significant improvement— Lance Camper travel trailers.

Lanciotti contemplated how Lance’s travel trailers were priced to absorb the added freight and manufacturing costs of building travel trailers in California despite significant consumer demand further east. By expanding travel trailer production to Decatur, Indiana, Lance Camper could reduce fixed costs and subsequently lower pricing to be competitive.

In February, Rev Group announced it was expanding Lance Camper travel trailer manufacturing from California to Decatur. Lance Camper’s strong Midwest, East Coast and Southeast sales dictated the decision. The vehicles will be constructed in a repurposed former Fleetwood RV facility. The move eliminates having to buy OE materials/parts from suppliers in

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(L to R) Kevin Scudder, associate; Justin Carnahan, associate; Lanciotti and Bird review a dishwasher Carnahan is preparing to install.

Elkhart, Indiana, ship them to California for construction, and then transport the finished RVs back east to dealerships.

“You are shipping a lot of air on a truck when you go from California all the way to those destinations,” Lanciotti said.

The switch will enable Lance Camper to adopt towable manufacturing plant best practices.

“I think expanding in Decatur creates a little bit of a best practice between the two companies,” he said.

Lanciotti praised each division’s success and said over time each plant has proven its worth. He said adding Operational Excellence processes in Indiana and California will improve each division.

“I could see where Operational Excellence is adding a lot of value,” he said. “I am still a believer that if you produce the finest product, meaning the finest workmanship, keep on–time with deliveries and you are a leader in innovation, the customers and dealers are going to support you.”

Lance Camper’s truck camper manufacturing will continue at the California facility because much of the consumer truck camper demand comes from the Western U.S.

Cool Running Lanciotti said although chassis shortages hampered manufacturing lines in 2021, he is confident about current chassis and chip availability. However, returning to maximum manufacturing levels will continue to be a work in progress.

We can say, ‘What does Fleetwood use? Can Renegade match it?’ Our As and our Cs more closely resemble components they could share and use. We take a look, and we try and help each other.”

– Mike Lanciotti

“We are starting to build and ramp it back up, and it seems like we have the chassis available,” he said. “Once you tear something down, getting that cadence back together, getting the supply chain back together, getting your trained people back together—because you probably moved them to somewhere else in the plant—is hard. It’s not like you can just flip the switch.”

Lanciotti said although OE material/ part supplies have been uncertain, Rev Group’s divisions have been nimble. Plants change daily or weekly to accommodate available OE materials. The company has been successful at accommodating shortages by using similar OE part SKUs on different models.

“We can say, ‘What does Fleetwood use? Can Renegade match it?’ Our As and our Cs more closely resemble components they could share and use,” Lanciotti said. “We take a look, and we try and help each other.”

Items that fit all models, such as generators, are shuffled between various plants as needed. Lanciotti said if one plant has a six–week supply of a common part, and another plant has only a week’s worth on hand, the manufacturer shares parts until a plant can restock its sister division.

“We are doing a lot of that as a group now, which helps,” he said. “That is a lot of what I do. I travel around; I get to sit in these meetings. The supply chain continues to be a big important meeting. I look to see who has a little bit more of something than somebody else.”

(L to R) Bird, Lanciotti and Brown discuss potential facility changes as they walk the chassis yard.

Future Focus The manufacturing climate remains tough, Lanciotti said, but consumer demand is driving orders. He said dealer inventory will improve. When demand slows, he said he thinks dealers will be able to sufficiently restock their lots.

In the short term, Lanciotti said he is pushing each division to grow. Moving Lance manufacturing to Decatur is one way to do so, as are the ongoing Operational Excellence improvements.

“Growing the businesses the way they sit today, without a lot of capital expenditures and with the same personnel, is pretty important,” he said.

Rev Group also wants to increase market share by expanding the number of Rev Group divisions on their collective dealer body’s lots.

“Renegade maybe never appeared where a Fleetwood is, and now they are around each other a little bit more at the same dealers,” he said. “Maybe somebody has more action with La Mesa or General RV or someone else. What could we do to have another brand on that lot, too? As these dealers continue to consolidate and grow, we find there is now a lot of cross–pollination.”

Growing the businesses the way they sit today, without a lot of capital expenditures and with the same personnel, is pretty important.”

– Mike Lanciotti

Lanciotti said employee appreciation has been and will continue to be another of his primary focuses.

“Sometimes it is important things: suggestion boxes, attendance awards and lunches, safety awards,” he said. “Respect them for their expertise, because they are doing things that most of the leadership cannot do themselves. Then you have to make sure you celebrate career milestones.”

Numerous Rev Group division employees are at or near longevity milestones, such as 40 years of service. Lanciotti said acknowledging employees’ commitment to invest entire careers with the manufacturer is vital.

“I really do want to be an employer of choice, because everybody is fighting for talent right now,” he said. “You want them to say that Rev is a great place to work.”

As for his personal goals, Lanciotti said he still gains satisfaction seeing the people and companies he works with improve.

“I know the different things I am sharing and talking about from a 20,000–foot mark gives them the chance to come up with the ideas and solve it,” he said. “I just love seeing the management of these companies grow and expand.”