Dometic_web

to includemanyother necessities and amenities,includ- ing: awnings,screen rooms and slide out toppers,toilet systems,climate control systems,washingmachines, water purification products,air purifiers,consumables and cleaning supplies,safes,cooking products,microwave ovens,lighting products,mattresses,generators,central vacuumsystems,fans,alarmsystems,and other RVand truckaccessories that make living on the roadmuchmore like being comfortable at home. “Today,when an RVgoes down the road,it’s going to have some Dometic content,and,more than likely,it’s going to have a lot of Dometic content,”says Dave Schutz,DometicCorpora- tion’s Senior Vice President for RVOEMSales. “It’s a house onwheels,”he says,referring to the travel trailers and fifthwheels,whichmake up about 57percent of the company’s business.“If you build a house,you buyawater heater,you buya furnace,you buya refrigerator,you buya stove.Well,wemake those things specifically for recreational vehicles.Our products aremade and tested to go down the road at 70miles an hour while bouncing around.Andmanyof our products workon LPgas,12 volt,or 110 volt,so you have a choice of power.” Today,the DometicCorporation has 6,700 em- ployees whoworkout of 22 plants around theworld.In the U.S.,1,900 workers staff sixmanufacturing facilities and eight warehouses.“Ab- sorption refrigeration is still a very viable product to the point that we build over 750 a day,here in Elkhart, THE DOMETIC CORPORATION Indiana; about 400 a day in Germany; and another 300 a day inZhuhai,China,”Schutz says. But,like a good chunkof the recreational vehicle industry, Dometichad tomake profound changes in its corporate struc- ture due to the Great Recession.Schutz recounts the damage: “In 2006,the industrybuilt 393,000 RVs,”he begins.“In2009, whichwas the first fullyearof theRecession,webuilt164,000 RVs.At least twenty-twoRVfactorieswentoutofbusinessand probably50suppliers.”Dometicsurvivedbydownsizing itswork- force fromits then8,000-personpre-recession level,andclosing sevenof its29plants,fourofwhichmanufacturedrefrigerators. “Wehadsevenplantsaroundtheworldthatmanufacturedrefrig- erators,”Schutzrecalls.“Todaywehave three–one inEurope,one inChina,andone inElkhart.” Therewere,however,a fewsalutary results borne from