bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
- Messages
- 13,536
All,
The past week or so I was on the road up to Ohio to camp out and visit family in my birth state. However, it is my nature to "sight see" along the way. On the way up to my destination, I stopped in Sugarcreek, Ohio at a non-descript building to take a tour of the Pleasant Valley manufacturing building where they build the T@b, T@g, Little Guy, and a new truck trailer. http://www.truckcampermagazine.com/news/little-guy-announces-cirrus-truck-campers
Although I own an Aliner, the T@b teardrop is a draw for many people. I was most interested in the T@b Clamshell model (kitchen in back) which was NOT in production that day but nevertheless I saw several beautiful trailers - there's one there to make everyone happy.
Pleasant Valley is the manufacturing company that builds T@bs. Little Guys is the sales company that you see as the company providing trailers to dealers - they work together very smoothly.
PV does a LOT of building in house (cabinets, frames, etc.) and works several lines (one for Little Guys, one for T@b/T@g, and one for Cirrus (the new truck trailer). The units are pushed down the line on a single rail to the next work station and supplies line both sides of a work line. After about 12 stations, a trailer is finished and ready to go.
What are these trailers? Little Guy was a company that started out selling small teardrops just big enough to sleep in. Small and light was the concept.
In 2009 they bought the US rights to the T@b line of trailers from the Dutchman company that stopped making them in the economic downturn. They were originally designed by a German company. Little Guy made improvements to the design and began building the teardrop T@B in 2011.
Then Little Guy merged the two concepts and designs to create the T@G, a Little Guy with T@B design concepts.
Enough talk. Let's see some pix of the plant. I visited on a Friday afternoon when the work crew was gone so I could get up close.
Here is the T@b/T@g line from the 2nd floor. Note the units nearest us are early in the build process and the ones further away are more finished. Supplies for this line are on both sides.
Here is the woodshop where raw sheet wood is made into countertops, desks, and cabinets to go in the trailers.
Here is the woodshop raw material receiving area.
Materials from the 2nd floor are dropped down a slide to the production floor as needed for each unit. Does your unit require a cupboard door face? It comes down the slide from the 2nd floor.
Here is the new pickup truck trailer line they are building (new this year I think). It's called Cirrus IIRC.
Between the production lines are corridors for stocking the build materials (forklifts, etc.). It's just in time production in action.
More to come and I have a new product announcement later on.
Bama Ed
PS - the Corvette part will come at the end.
The past week or so I was on the road up to Ohio to camp out and visit family in my birth state. However, it is my nature to "sight see" along the way. On the way up to my destination, I stopped in Sugarcreek, Ohio at a non-descript building to take a tour of the Pleasant Valley manufacturing building where they build the T@b, T@g, Little Guy, and a new truck trailer. http://www.truckcampermagazine.com/news/little-guy-announces-cirrus-truck-campers
Although I own an Aliner, the T@b teardrop is a draw for many people. I was most interested in the T@b Clamshell model (kitchen in back) which was NOT in production that day but nevertheless I saw several beautiful trailers - there's one there to make everyone happy.
Pleasant Valley is the manufacturing company that builds T@bs. Little Guys is the sales company that you see as the company providing trailers to dealers - they work together very smoothly.
PV does a LOT of building in house (cabinets, frames, etc.) and works several lines (one for Little Guys, one for T@b/T@g, and one for Cirrus (the new truck trailer). The units are pushed down the line on a single rail to the next work station and supplies line both sides of a work line. After about 12 stations, a trailer is finished and ready to go.
What are these trailers? Little Guy was a company that started out selling small teardrops just big enough to sleep in. Small and light was the concept.
In 2009 they bought the US rights to the T@b line of trailers from the Dutchman company that stopped making them in the economic downturn. They were originally designed by a German company. Little Guy made improvements to the design and began building the teardrop T@B in 2011.
Then Little Guy merged the two concepts and designs to create the T@G, a Little Guy with T@B design concepts.
Enough talk. Let's see some pix of the plant. I visited on a Friday afternoon when the work crew was gone so I could get up close.
Here is the T@b/T@g line from the 2nd floor. Note the units nearest us are early in the build process and the ones further away are more finished. Supplies for this line are on both sides.
Here is the woodshop where raw sheet wood is made into countertops, desks, and cabinets to go in the trailers.
Here is the woodshop raw material receiving area.
Materials from the 2nd floor are dropped down a slide to the production floor as needed for each unit. Does your unit require a cupboard door face? It comes down the slide from the 2nd floor.
Here is the new pickup truck trailer line they are building (new this year I think). It's called Cirrus IIRC.
Between the production lines are corridors for stocking the build materials (forklifts, etc.). It's just in time production in action.
More to come and I have a new product announcement later on.
Bama Ed
PS - the Corvette part will come at the end.
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Dammit it better be coming or else I'm 
).
Maybe another model will come out soon.
