Major RV industry supplier LCI Industries is temporarily shutting down production at some of its manufacturing facilities across the U.S. and Europe in response to circumstance brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak. LCI’s cited reasons for the production pause included the need to protect the health and safety of team members, align production with decreased demand levels due to the closure of many customers, and adhere to state and federal mandates.
Suspension of production is effective on various days through the end of the week, depending on the plant. Production at facilities considered essential will continue, utilizing reduced staff in conjunction with heightened cleaning and sanitization processes.
LCI has more than 90 manufacturing and distribution sites worldwide, according to a company press release.
This week, LCI is closing all but 15 sites, LCI Industries President and CEO Jason Lippert said.
“As the impact of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic continues, we are suspending production at certain manufacturing facilities, with 15 of our sites anticipated to remain open after the end of the week,” Lippert said. “We have also implemented a number of actions to ensure we are adhering to guidelines set forth by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We are monitoring the situation closely and are poised to promptly re-start production at closed facilities as soon as OEM and dealer partners see a less restricted consumer environment.”
Ryan Smith, LCI Industries’ senior vice president of operations commented: “Our team’s ability to come together and react quickly to increasing regulatory mandates and production suspensions by our key customers is a testament to the strength of LCI as an organization and the culture we have built. I could not be prouder of the extraordinary effort from our executive leadership to the men and women leading on the front lines of our operations.”
President and CEO Jason Lippert continued: “While we had a strong start to the first quarter, the uncertainties around the ultimate impact of COVID-19 are not clear at this point. As a result, we are making quick and prudent changes to the business to ensure we remain nimble as an organization to mitigate downside risk in a lower demand environment. We believe that our cash flow generation capabilities, coupled with a strong and flexible balance sheet, supported by current cash on hand and available borrowings on our existing revolving credit facility of approximately $240 million, will enable us to enhance our position as the leader in the various markets we serve during these difficult times. I remain extremely confident in our team’s ability to operate efficiently through this crisis. This leadership team has been together more than 20 years and has a proven ability to navigate challenging operating environments, such as September 11th and the 2008 great recession. In those times, we have always emerged faster and stronger than our supply side peers. Rest assured, we are taking the necessary steps to protect our team members, provide excellent support for our customers and dealers, and preserve long-term value for our shareholders.”
