STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD

I headed out to the heartland of Australian caravan manufacturing — Campbellfield, Victoria — to check out the new La Vista factory and do a review on the El Toro 1. In case you were wondering, the ‘1’ designates single axle. Owners Alan Nisbet, Mary Lorenzo, and son Shane Summer were keen to greet me and show me around. Shane explained that they were small volume builders and had no plans for rapid expansion. The move to the new factory had been motivated to improve efficiency, giving them the room to set up an organised workflow for vans to progress through the build stages in an orderly manner. Compared to the big names, it is still a modest size factory at 1500sqm. But having seen a few factories from various industries in my time, I can tell you it is well laid out, with component stock located centrally to feed the line and assembly equipment positioned ergonomically for efficient use by operators. These are good indicators of a manufacturer committed to building a quality product.

We hooked up the El Toro 1, and Alan, Shane, and I headed off in pursuit of some photogenic spots. Often the cruise in the car is when the conversation flows, and the passion of the duo is obvious. Alan explained that they had been building