Gearing Up for Greatness: Celebrating Manufacturing at Winnebago Industries

Manufacturing is more than assembling parts; it’s people working together to turn outdoor recreation dreams into reality. It’s relentless excellence in action, driven by unparalleled collaboration to make products for our customers that inspire connection and create lasting memories. From motorhomes and trailers, to pontoons, powerboats and power systems, every product that rolls off the line is the result of a shared commitment to Be Great, Outdoors — solving problems, innovating new delights and raising the bar for outdoor recreation.

Safety is integral to every step of manufacturing. Joel Ostercamp, production manager at Winnebago, leads his line and chassis weld assembly with this mindset. He always looks for ways to make processes safer and more efficient – like improving how the team handles 90-pound bucket seats.

“We can’t risk injuries every time someone lifts something heavy,” Joel says. “So, between myself and our manufacturing engineering team, we partnered with a company to build a manipulator that handles the heavy lifting for us. Now the machine twists, lifts and positions the seat, and our team just needs to bolt it down. That is a huge safety win.”

Joel’s team also redesigned scaffolding by adding railings to eliminate fall hazards from risky bridge crossings. He insists these wins are the result of many hands working together. He’s proud of the career he’s built and for anyone considering the same, his advice is simple. “Give it a shot,” he says. “There are many things you can do within manufacturing. We have safety personnel, quality teams, engineering teams and more. Just get in the door and realize all the opportunities available to you.”

Purposeful innovation drives every product we build. Jamie Lloyd, a manufacturing engineering team leader at Newmar, has spent nearly three decades helping the brand drive customer-centric evolution and advancing technology to meet customer needs.

From the early days of building towables to Newmar’s modern luxury coaches of today, the pace of advancement is remarkable. “When I started, we used incandescent lights. Now it’s LEDs,” he recalls. “We’ve gone from standard batteries to lithium to be more energy efficient, and now we’re integrating GPS and radar-assisted cruise control.”

As customers look for motorhomes with more automotive-like features, the team’s ability to integrate new technologies is essential. “You get to see the results of your work,” he explains. “Sometimes things don’t go as planned, but you learn from that. Shaping a project from start to finish is incredibly rewarding.”

Innovation takes many forms at Winnebago Industries. At Lithionics, it means building advanced lithium battery systems that power many of our RVs and boats. Behind every power system is a team of innovators like Matt Tartaglia, manufacturing team lead, and Jimmy McKinney, a master technician, who bring precision to the shop floor every day.

Matt has been with Lithionics since the very beginning. He coordinates with multiple teams to produce batteries both big and small every day. “From battery management systems to final discharge testing, the process is cyclical,” he says. “We can build anywhere from 50 to 100 batteries a day.”

Jimmy specializes in battery cell balancing, ensuring consistent system performance. His work involves cycling hundreds of cores daily and using custom-built equipment, designed in-house, to keep pace with Lithionics’ unique technology. “You can’t buy this kind of equipment off the shelf,” Jimmy explains. “For every single core that we sell, all shapes and sizes have to be custom built by our engineering team.” 

What’s a build without parts? Heather Nihart, a parts runner at Barletta Boats, knows that better than just about anyone. She’s been with the brand almost from the beginning and supplies one of Barletta’s assembly lines with everything they need for a day of production.

“At the end of the day, we load up carts with all the parts for the next couple of days,” she says. “I walk the line, take inventory and make sure everything is ready. We have built a solid system.”

With a deep bench of experience, Heather thrives on the hands-on nature of manufacturing and getting to try new tasks. One of her proudest accomplishments is driving the Combi lift—a large walk-behind forklift. “I was intimidated at first,” she recalls, “but it took focus and concentration, and I ended up enjoying it. I was surprised how easy it was to pick up.”

No matter the role, our manufacturing team members across Winnebago Industries are the heart of our purpose to elevate every moment outdoors. We’re proud of their hard work and grateful for their commitment to creating extraordinary experiences that help our customers connect with the outdoors.