EP 30 - Why MDC Caravans are Manufactured Overseas

At MDC Campers & Caravans, we’ve spent over 20 years building off-road caravans for Australian conditions — but there’s one question we hear all the time:

Why do we manufacture overseas?

In this episode of Off Grid Down Under, Sam sits down with Wayne, Steve, and James Field (General Manager – Commercial & Product) to break down exactly how MDC caravans are designed, built, and quality checked — from Australia to our exclusive manufacturing partner in China.

We cover:

• Why MDC chose an exclusive factory partnership
• How our caravans are designed for the Australian outback
• The full quality assurance process (China + Australia)
• What happens when every van arrives back in Australia
• The role of our Australian team, showrooms, and partners

This isn’t about what others say — it’s about showing you how we do things, and why.

Every MDC caravan tells a story — this is ours.

Escape with Confidence

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

A lot of chatter in the market about obviously manufacturing is made in Australia better than made in China. Proud Australian company that just so happens to manufacture with a short partner.

SPEAKER_01 0:11

We don't just find out parts willy-nilly the caravans, it's everything is documented, everything is serialised, it's we know where where everything is going all of the time.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

How big's the footprint of MDC in Australia, James? Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of Off Grid Down Under, the podcast. I'm Sam, I'm your host, and I'm joined here with Mr. Wayne Chevis. Hello, Sam, how are you? Mr. James Field. Hello, Sam, and Mark Banks. Hello from B2 Bush. How are you? Very good. I hear you've been away this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Mate, had a fantastic time up at the back of Mount Tambourine there, and uh a lot of clients had a great experience across many venues. It was a great weekend.

SPEAKER_03 0:59

Another successful tag along for you.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Yes, mate.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

Fantastic. Well, look, today we're talking about something a little bit different. We're talking about the MDC manufacturing process. We don't shy away from the way we produce our vans, and we put a lot of time and effort into the manufacturing process, the quality assurance, the certification of what we do. So this episode is about, I guess, talking about what does made in China look like? Which I think should be quite interesting for a lot of people. There's uh a lot of chatter in the market about obviously manufacturing. Is made in Australia better than made in China? Does it mean we compromise if you buy Chinese import product or things like that? So I guess the purpose today is to kind of address some of that, dispel some of the myths, and um give people a very clear and transparent insight into what happens when we make an MDC caravan. Because although we're an import, we're still very different to what a lot of other imports are in the market as well. And I think we'll go into some of the detail about what that looks like and why that's the case. So resident expert here, Mr. James Field, general manager of our commercial and product division. Um you're very you are our, I guess, head of RD, head of product development, head of commercialization of the product. So um I guess we want to talk a little bit about that. I'm just gonna preempt it though with Wayne, because I want you to give me an insight into what we are hearing from customers in the market. We've done something like 50 shows this year.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Yeah, I think Sam, we're sitting on about uh 56 shows we ended up on. So we have a few customers, right? A few weekends where we're uh doubling up on uh you know staff being out and about all at the same time. Um I think in the last 12, 18 months, that noise around uh Chinese imports has certainly disappeared, uh, especially in particular for for MDC because we have spent a lot of time and effort in uh one, highlighting the fact that we have our own manufacturing facility, like we have that partnership with China, uh, and and we we don't shy away from it. We we highlight the fact that we they are they are in partnership with us. Um we control the process from start to finish. We still design and engineer everything in Australia, and then we we work with them to uh control that build quality coming out of China. So there's a few steps in there. Oh, it's massive, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

So yeah, I guess we want to move this conversation around Chinese manufacturing forward a bit. You know, we want to talk about less about I guess where it's built into more in the the how it's built and the why it's built there. Yeah, because that is a significant barrier to entry. If we can't get a suitable product to market, you're not gonna sell it. The customer's not gonna want it. Yeah, so there's a few hurdles. It's not just send it off, send a design and get a product back, it's actually get it back in in a compliant and high quality state that a customer is happy to purchase.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

We could manufacture in Australia, but I think we've all had this discussion around the table once or twice. Like, you know, you just look at our Oz RVs as an example, they're a great little uh hybrid for for families and and for solar travellers and couples. To build that in Australia, you'd be looking at another 80 or 90 grand onto that process, which would turn it into a near$200,000 caravan instead of a you know sub-70,000 caravan.

SPEAKER_03 4:18

So we'll touch on that in a little while. So good little segue. So, James, look tell us a bit about the history of MDC and how we started and you know how how is it that MDC is a yeah Chinese manufactured import product?

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Yeah, um, I guess you can start from the beginning. Um, as you guys know, Vaughan has been on the podcast many times. Uh he did a lot of import of smaller things, camping goods, around 2005 when he founded the company and saw a natural progression into uh camping trailers or camper trailers, tent trailers to the point where in 2013 um Vaughan designed and made the first ever hybrid off-road caravan in China, and that was with our still partner manufacturing facility today. So I guess you look at that, we've had a long, long time doing it in China. Further to that, we have dedicated staff of our own in China. Um, and if you look back 10 or so years ago, we've had significant involvement in the setup of our partner manufacturing facility from the ground up, being involved in setting up their QC processes in collaboration with them, extensive time and feed on the ground for well over 10 years, where, as you touched on before, a lot of the other importers haven't had that longevity, but they also haven't had that time or you know, the runs on the board with that factory.

SPEAKER_03 5:37

So the thing that stood out to me when I joined the business was yeah, in the boardroom, there's the boardroom. Let's not get too overstated. It's our meeting room, let's call it. Um, we're not that grand, guys, it's okay. Um, we're still a family business. The there's a big picture up on the wall, literally of the essentially the slab of the factory, and there's Vaughan and um, I believe the factory owner there, and one of our Australian employees over there at the time. So just elaborate on what does that partnership look like? Because people feel like they I think there's a perception that people will have a manufacturer or a brand that goes out and says, cool, there's my manufacturing partner. I'm gonna go and order 50 caravans from them, and they're my partner. What does the relationship look like for MDC? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

I think the example you give there, that's a customer. I think that's a that's the distinct difference there is being a customer of a China manufacturer or a caravan made in China versus a genuine partner where you develop all things together and you're not just flicking through a magazine, you're seeing what that caravan looks like. You go, I'll grab 50 of those, let's just do these small little changes. We have you know six full-time product and technical team members within Market Direct Group in Australia that do all of that design work, product scope, supplier integration, right through from prototyping design work all the way through to manufacture. So when you talk about supplier integration, just elaborate on that for us. Yeah, I think that kind of ties into the whole why China thing as well. So everyone knows most of the time things are made out of China, so even all of the Australian-made vans, the predominantly a lot of those key components, appliances, and suppliers, all of that stuff's made in China. So from an efficiency and cost supply chain and even engineering support perspective, doing it in China makes a lot of sense because a lot of those key partners of ours as an importer, as well as our you know, Australian counterparts, are all the same suppliers. Yeah, we have that on the ground China to China integration.

SPEAKER_03 7:41

Okay, yeah, right. That's I think, yeah, from a supplier's point of view, as you say, we have all these other brands that we use as trusted brands, and I guess the consideration to where does that fit in the manufacturing process of the product. So you can't just say we want to use this brand's electrical system and send it to China and we just hope it happens, they've got to wire it up before they put the panels on. So there's got to be some pre-work done over there and obviously captured as part of that manufacturing process. It's not all just done as soon as it comes back to Australia.

SPEAKER_02 8:09

And even to the point where we've got, and we've done, I think, of many projects we've done in the past, where we have our Australian partners come over, so our key Australian suppliers, let's say an electrical supplier, for example, they'll come over with their engineers, their China counterpart engineers will meet with us, our Australian design team will go over to our China factory, and all four of these parties will work together on a project in collaboration through the prototyping together.

SPEAKER_03 8:37

So that development of design, I guess, how do we end up that every hybrid in Australia looks very similar to one another? Every caravan looks very similar to one another. I mean, I I know a bit of a background there, but it's do one of you guys want to sort of take that on and respond to that? Because I think that that goes a long way to people thinking everything comes out of the same fact.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Yeah, that's true. I think it's an element of copy paste. Um as we touched on before, we were the first in China to do so. We've been doing hybrids for over 10 years, 11 years or something now. And I think uh they've seen that success and the the product that it is, and it's easier to essentially build off that base and do something very, very similar, knowing that it's tried and tested by MDC.

SPEAKER_03 9:27

A bit like a Great Wall Ute driving around that looks a lot like a Hylux or an F-150 or a cross between a Toyota Tundra and an F-150.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

That age-old mimicry is the finest form of flattery. So I agree. So essentially that's how it comes about.

SPEAKER_03 9:41

So, yeah, we've in in a lot of cases it's been MDC that's come up with the design and the concept and it's proven its worth and gone, that's a great idea, and somebody else has gone, oh okay, let's make a few of those.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

So well, I've actually seen at the show one year I come along to um help MBC at a show in Brisbane, and we were there, and and the man of um people going around that were um Chinese taking photos. Uh there was someone in the background with a laptop and they were punching away. Then you could see him doing little step-outs, and um, it was everywhere that particular show. Um, and I was amazed. And then I asked one of the guys what was going on, and he goes, Oh, it's um manufacturers that have come over for the show to look at other vans for other ideas to basically go duplicate.

SPEAKER_03 10:22

Uh it's in the building industry too, like in the high-end windows and doors markets and things like that, where energy efficiency is huge in Australia. We're gonna be off track here, but energy efficiency is huge in Australia, and those patented designs are very well sought after. So we see a lot of them coming over and yeah, bringing out copies that yeah, then leads the question to compliance. Is everything made to the standard that it needs to be? And I think that's that then starts another discussion. So we'll get into that as well in a bit. But um I guess those partnerships, does it partnering with a manufacturer in China? What's the main benefit? Is it faster? Is it uh you know, is it cost efficiencies, is it potentially a shortcut to market to get it there quicker or easier?

SPEAKER_02 11:12

It's certainly not a shortcut. I think uh a lot of people, if they were trying to do it now or trying to get into it or thought about it. I think it looks easy in in practice, very, very hard to do well, I guess is the best way to put it. As to the why, yeah, certainly there's some efficiency gains, supply chain is easier. Uh the access to technology, like in China, you have access to technology and supply chains that we couldn't even imagine having access to here.

SPEAKER_03 11:44

Talk about some of those because I mean we're talking kind of robots and things, right? We're not talking about necessarily better software, but it might be robot systems that can do the welding on the on the chassis and things like that, is yeah, that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

Yeah, for sure. And even just I guess the the speed to be able to do things that we just a lot of Australian manufacturers would be envious of. I can think of countless times that I've been over in China myself working on projects and we'll be working on something and maybe something wasn't exactly as we pictured, so we'll redraw it up again, and then within six hours or the next morning we'll come back into the factory, and not only is it made, but it's completely fitted to perfection on the prototype again. And you can only people are so envious of that in Australia. It's just that that sheer ability to do things at a very, very high quality, fast and efficiently.

SPEAKER_03 12:37

Yeah, well, and so that's obviously coming about through us as a customer having that expectation on the facility, but obviously then the management in the facility itself to make that happen with the staff. Yes, agree. Amazing. That's great. That I guess that's that's a good segue into I guess where we've kind of where we work really closely with them and what does that mean from an engineering point of view? So you I guess you just elaborated on that, that we can design engineer here and then implement change or whatever it is when we get to the factory. Is there sort of a real example that stands out where we've worked really closely with the factory?

SPEAKER_02 13:13

Yeah, I think so. I look back and um so both Market Direct Group and our China manufacturing partner have ISO 9001 quality management system certification. So as part of that process many years ago, we have a very, very set process around engineering changes. So when you're coming back to that example around how do we know this and you know how are things kept consistent, these engineering changes, there's so much transparency between us and our manufacturer that we know exactly what we're gonna change. There's a proposal, we'll go through it together. They will not change a thing without us knowing, and vice versa. And it's that transparency and that partnership that allows us to drive that quality consistency every time, unlike you know, even some Australian manufacturers may uh challenge be challenged in that space along with a lot of our other uh import competitors.

SPEAKER_03 14:03

So I guess I've got two questions off the back of that. Just explain at a very high level what the ISO 9001 accreditation means, because it's a nationally recognized uh standard. Yeah. Um just describe that for us, and then I just want to dive into understanding how that process with us works versus perhaps a customer-based um supply agreement from a another Chinese manufacturer.

SPEAKER_02 14:29

Uh so yeah, I say 9001 is an internationally recognised certification. Basically, it's all around providing a framework for better business practices, consistency in doing things at the same time to a as an acceptable quality standard.

SPEAKER_03 14:44

So it's having standards and checklists essentially throughout the manufacturing process, right up from design to delivery to make sure the boxes are ticked.

SPEAKER_02 14:52

But also going back and the business being set up to be able to check that those boxes are being ticked, not just setting it up and going, here's this checklist, I need you to tick this off every time you do it. You're going back and making sure it's getting done. If it's not, why?

SPEAKER_03 15:06

Yeah, and then adapting it. Yeah. So then how is that different to as say if I was to walk up and I wanted to start a business and I want to order 200 caravans? You know, what am I going to have the same checks and balances in place, or is that something that is is not a given?

SPEAKER_02 15:22

I think I said that before. I mean, it looks easy on paper to go and place an order and get some caravans into the country, but there's so much stuff behind the scenes that goes into making sure they're safe, compliant. You've ticked all the regulatory boxes, you can actually get them off the ports because you've got the right approvals. And some of that stuff can take six to twelve months to get in place. So someone trying to do it tomorrow, I think you're gonna have some challenges.

SPEAKER_03 15:48

What about implementing change? So is those engineering changes as well? Is it something that you can sort of go back and say I want something done? Or do you sort of drop into a queue there kind of thing? And it you might see that in 12 or 18 months. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

Yeah, you'd be in the queue and then you'd see the same change across a lot of your competitor brands as well. That's why we see the similarities across everything. Yeah, right. And I think even to that point too, uh trying to instill that culture with your partner around making those changes and then the trust as to okay, this is why we're doing the change, it's important because of this. Now there's never that discussion with our factory. There's such a level of trust that if we will work together on a change or we suggest a change, it's not a oh, why would you want to do that? They trust that it's the best decision because we as a company know what we're doing as just as much as they do. Great.

SPEAKER_03 16:38

Banksy, you're a customer. Yes, I am. You're you're a multi-time customer of MDC. Yes. Tell us a bit about, I guess, what that means for you. So you know, from uh providing feedback or knowing that there's that ongoing kind of development, from a customer perspective, how has that relationship in terms of development impacted you?

SPEAKER_00 17:00

So I was one of those uh dreaded customers that the show team would uh frown upon.

SPEAKER_03 17:07

So you kick every tie 14 times and never buy, never purchase. I spent on with it.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

Yeah, I probably got three quotes over that year. Um Wayne stopped answering your calls. It's pre-me. It's pre-Wayne, actually. Um and I would crawl under vans and definitely I'd be on my back looking underneath, uh opening up cupboards, looking through the framework of the cupboard. Um, and I soon learnt that you can see a frame that's um the ambient frame internally where it's um welded all the way down. Then you saw ones where you'd open up a cupboard and you look in, and there was a spot weld and a spot weld and nothing in between. Um, then you look underneath and you'd look at the chassis component of it, and you'd go, oh, okay, that doesn't look strong enough. Um so then from those um visits and that, I finally bit the bullet and got the van, um, which was a 17 HRT. Um at the time, um I couldn't find a van that was spec'd the way it was with the air conditioning, um the heater, all that in there, um, off-road capable, um, and the seals that you could adjust, and you could adjust quite easily.

SPEAKER_03 18:21

Um the pressure seals on the closures and things like that.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

Yeah, just so that that when I was travelling, because when we bought this van uh 2006, I had a different van, and I went around Australia and did all the outside and couldn't get to those places in the middle because it was um on-road van where the um 17 was off-road van. So then I decided that I'm gonna start ticking off all those little tracks and to take him out there and have no dramas um is a good thing. And from that, um I ran into Vaughn 2018, I think, at um Birdsville. Um, I had seen him at a show, didn't know who he was at the time. Saw him there, and I gave him a little suggestion on um little mod that I'd done to my van, and then um he's like, Thank you for that. Do you mind sending some photos through? And I said, Oh yeah, of course, I'll do that. And then they put that into play. So to me, it was own it, mate.

SPEAKER_03 19:12

What was it?

SPEAKER_00 19:13

Uh so on the 17 was um I put electric step in, and then they um from that, all I did was I wanted to put uh mud flap in front of the motor because where the wheel was, it went had the mud flap of the wheel, but you could still get gravel come up and hit the back of the step, which would then flick up and bounce off that mud flap onto the motor. So I just got put in there, and then when I bought the 14E, um I was doing a trip out there one day with Vaughan, and Vaughn saw these drawers that I'd um fitted to the van because it was such a great space. I had the payload to play with. Um, I made a modification. Um, a guy over in Western Australia was doing the same sort of thing but similar. Um I looked at that and went, Oh, yeah, I could do this and do that, and now Vaughan took photos, and now that is a permanent thing in a 14E.

SPEAKER_03 20:02

It's the Banksy drawer.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Banksy drawer.

SPEAKER_03 20:04

It just slides out and it slides out right next to the kitchen. So if you've got a 14, that's where it came from. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

And then when I got into doing um my tag-alongs, um, I talked to Vaughn about one day the the customers out there would like to see how it all goes together. Because there was back then a lot of noise about um Chinese built and how do you control all that and what's the difference with accreditation. So we got to go along and visit, and he actually led the tour around with the people, customers.

SPEAKER_03 20:34

You talk about the factory tour down here at uh Brisbane.

SPEAKER_00 20:36

Yeah, and um mate, they all worked away and around the campfire that night, um, because Vaughn actually came along as well to the camp and just the talk about wow, I never realized all these checks and balances were put in place. Um, everyone was having their tablet and they're going through. You could they from us just watching, you can't fake it, right? Because there's a set of eyes there, set of eyes there, so and so there, they come out of the van, they've done something on the tablet, tick it off, come back. Um, then when we saw some vans that were fed, there's another person that cover. So you could see, and and from that, people got more trust.

SPEAKER_03 21:14

These are part of these, you know, ISO quality processes, it's part of the processes that are in place to make sure everything is captured, documented, and if it needs adjusting, we we change it on the system.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

And then just then from that, I've met these guys. Um, I love my little tinkering, and so does my wife. So we've sent many a design across. Um, one day we've seen a few things that we've we've talked about, and yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:37

So, Wayne, from a customer's perspective, you've been to a lot of the big red bashes and things like that. Yeah, what are you hearing from other customers that have bought the product and I guess the feedback that they're seeing? Does it change your perceptions?

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Uh look, it's it's one of those things where you're always going to have customers who who, you know, practice and preach the product and come back for more. Um not sure. If that's necessarily a good thing, Mark? No, no, look, uh, Mark and Sarah are uh absolutely massive in the owners group, and you know, we we've had this discussion on another podcast where you've developed friendships to the point where you know we we hang out outside of work now and outside of events. Um and it's those repeat customers that we like because they're they're the ones that we've built that confidence in and they've come back for for another MDC. And I know we've got customers now that are up to I've got a fella in uh Newcastle who's up to his eighth MDC, I think. So yeah, so that's between him and his dad, they're up to number eight now. Um started off in a camper trailer and they've built their way up. So after nine, the next one's free. There's like a loyalty cut.

SPEAKER_03 22:46

This is my anti-marketing coming through.

SPEAKER_01 22:49

Don't tell Borden, right? Yeah, yeah. Uh yeah, just tick off the boxes until you get to number ten. Um, no, there's the the confidence that our customers have in our product, it uh it comes back to us. So, you know, we have people come up to us at shows and customers who don't need to go to a caravan show because they own a caravan, but they'll uh they'll come and have a chat with us on the stand and they'll they'll go around and they'll look at everything else out there and just come to see what's new and come and tell us what other people are doing in particular, or tell us what other people are doing wrong, which is what I really like.

SPEAKER_03 23:22

So, look, we we also talked about building in Australia and what is made in Australia. Like it's I I sort of sometimes do question personally, is it actually worth paying the extra? Because at the end of the day, you've still got you're building an end product, right? And it doesn't matter where it is, it's who it's who's actually done it, who's done the work on the product, and have they done as good a job as someone else? I think it doesn't really matter where it is. Have has MDC sort of embarked or tried to do the Made in Australia piece?

SPEAKER_02 23:52

Yeah, so this is this was pre-me. Um I think from memory about 10 years ago, say 2017-ish, uh was the Os RV Australian-made project that uh that Vaughan did in Australia and hired a gun team, had the vision. Based on feedback, right?

SPEAKER_03 24:08

Based on customer feedback around Chinese imports.

SPEAKER_02 24:11

Yeah, it was around that feedback, it was diversifying having an Australian-made range to see if it you know grew the business. But I think uh Vaughan found and he gave it a red-hot crack, as we all know, you know, he certainly gives everything a red-hot go. But I think he found because he had done this China manufacturing partnership for so long, then trying to do it in Australia and trying to get the right people, the consistency, the supply chain, it ended up being you know, where it was just easier and better quality doing it out of our China manufacturing partner.

SPEAKER_03 24:47

And consistency in the finished product too, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:51

So yeah, again, tried it because it seemed like it was something a direction we should have gone and the market was asking for it and listened and yeah. But um, yeah, and then obviously refolded that Oz RV brand back into the the China Manufacturing Partnership.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

So the the range still exists, but it's obviously manufactured out of China. Here's one of those big things that we we highlight to customers, to our teams themselves, is China doesn't mean cheap, and when I say cheap, I don't it you know, cheaper um price, cheaper quality, like lower quality. It's just you know Where's your iPhone made? Yeah, exactly. Where's your iPhone made versus where's your where's your Garmin watch made?

SPEAKER_03 25:35

Yeah, yeah. Some of the highest quality devices.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

Where's your DJI drone made? iPhone versus Oppo, yeah, DJI drones and you know, all those kind of things. Like just because it's built in China, it doesn't mean that it's it's to a bat to a to a lower standard. So no, agree.

SPEAKER_03 25:51

So I guess looking at that bit further, even though they're made in made in China, look, we build them to an Australian standard, and I think we don't really build them to a price point necessarily. Yes, a price point has a a a role in the past to market, but at the same time, we're trying to achieve something that's going to be it's going to last and do what it needs to do. And I think every inspection that we do on those vans has probably got to be about one thing, and you know, would we tow it to Cape York? So I think every not everyone here, but I know a couple of you have been up to been up to Cape and uh it's somewhere I would take mine for sure. Banksy, you just did the trip to Cape York. Do you want to tell us a bit about that very high level? We've got the YouTube episode, the the series that's run just recently.

SPEAKER_00 26:38

There was uh a couple of times there at Fraser where the cameraman borrowed my van to run it up somewhere, and uh they drive a bit different to mine because I own mine, and uh it held up to it. And then um doing the actual trip up there, um, there were sections there of corrugation, especially when we come out of gunshot and did the bypass. The corrugation, I would have said it's probably the worst I've ever been on. And when we got back to camp um that day, come along there and we done the bypass, come back out, and the van just perfect.

SPEAKER_03 27:13

Not an issue.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

Yeah, and I think Shane found one screw that had worked its way out. And yeah, that's that's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 27:20

Yeah, to get I mean, to give if you're listening and haven't seen this, I mean, we've towed two of the caravans of 15-4 and the Fort 9 uh up the old telegraph track, which is epic. Like just driving that truck is hard enough, let alone towing a 15-foot caravan up there that weighs you know two and a half ton.

SPEAKER_00 27:37

So when we did um going to Birdsville, the guys always decide to go a different way. So um I think it was 2020. Around there, where we come up from South Australia into Minka, or was that 2022? 22. 22, yeah. 22. We come up through the desert there, and uh I think we had 11 vans there, all MDC. Um, and that track from where we went to to get to Birdsville is was all dirt. Uh something like that. 790 K's in total. Um track was in fairly good, Nick, but we had weather at the start of it, so that sort of tested you out a little bit. And then when we come out of that weather, you got you know, causeways that are a bit deeper because water's pulled out there, and some of them you don't see on time because of shadows. Those vans, when we got through, perfect condition. Um when we set up at Birdsville, you're setting up in a big area, and people coming over having a look because it does stand out, and they're going through, oh, you've come through there and look all the dirt and mud over it, and they're checking things. And oh, my door would have fallen off by there, where we had none of that, so it was really good.

SPEAKER_03 28:44

I think the only the only issue we had on the Cape the Cape trip was uh one of the vans filling up with water, but that's because they hadn't put the dust seal over the door when they drove through Nolan's Nolan's crossing. So that'll happen to anybody when it's halfway up the doors and you don't have any seal on there, it will fill up with water probably. So that was a learning. So look, I guess we're doing all those trips. Yeah, what's the QA process look like to get a van to the state that we're happy to just say, see you later, off you go, out the showroom and how at the cake. Yeah. What does that what what do we do? What's our process look like?

SPEAKER_02 29:15

Well, I think it it starts well before it gets to Australia. It starts in, you know, first and second quality gates in our manufacturing facility in China where that's been set up and every single stage is checked. Then obviously they come across into Australia.

SPEAKER_03 29:30

So we do testing over in China too, don't we? For sure. So it's not just a check and make sure it's doing it. What does that check look like?

SPEAKER_02 29:36

Four functional, full functional checks of everything. Uh we've got a rain room, every single part is taken a photo of and documented. So we can go back on a unit from years ago and pull all the data from that right from our China side all the way through to our Australian facility side as well. And do you guys do some toe testing over there, sort of more in the product development stage? Yes, we have. That's always an interesting thing to do. But uh, yes, we have done some toe testing on the China side. Yeah, they're not overly comfortable going, you know, the speeds that we're expecting to go, but we get it done. And um, it's good because we we've done it for some projects around suspension before, and we've had our suspension engineers come along and we have data loggers, we've got cameras, so yeah, we we take it very, very seriously.

SPEAKER_03 30:22

Yeah, cool. And so yeah, that's the China side. Then when it comes to Australia, what's what's the process when it hits the ground here? Because as Banksy was saying, walk through the factory and see how busy it is. It's not like these things rock up, we put wheels on them and off they go. There's a few steps involved when they get to Australia too.

SPEAKER_02 30:37

Yeah, so we've got two facilities in Australia that we do our assembly in in Perth and Brisbane. Um, and it really does depend on the model, but most of the time it's all of the roof work uh and all of the side fixtures, putting the wheels and tires on, but every single part of that is documented and there's a process for it. They're told, for example, what sealant that needs to be used, what primer needs to be used.

SPEAKER_03 30:59

And they're a branded sealant, they're not just some cheap stuff off a factory where you're the sicker, I think, they're sicker sealants and things like that.

SPEAKER_01 31:07

Yeah. But it's even down to the QA of parts as well, James. Like we don't we don't just signed out parts willy-nilly to caravans. It's everything is documented, everything is serialised, it's we know where where everything is going all of the time.

SPEAKER_03 31:20

Yeah, yeah. So in that process too, I guess it that's probably a point where we uncover things that need to be, I guess, assessed, or if if standards change or if procedures change around compliance, you know, the governing bodies in Australia have compliance standards. Uh they've they've resulted in us having to re-look at how we do things along the way, haven't they?

SPEAKER_02 31:40

Yeah, yeah. And we I I can think of, I don't know, five examples of where regulatory change has happened in the last five years for us that we've need to significantly change our layouts, uh, floor plans and designs accordingly. And when you're talking about compliance and regulatory stuff, I always find it fascinating the narrative around shortcuts and Australian-made versus China-made, where you know, we're all playing by the same rules. We've all got the same rule book that we have to comply to. It doesn't specify in there where it has to happen or how it has to happen. You just have to make sure you're compliant to those standards, which we arguably, you know, do more carefully than others.

SPEAKER_03 32:22

Where how does that get policed? So it's okay to say it, right? It's okay to say we're compliant and that these things happen, but you know, my understanding is that you know you will get people from the industry literally roaming the shows. Yeah. And they'll come to shows, they'll look at vans, so they're doing these random site inspections. Is that is that what happens? It's true.

SPEAKER_02 32:41

Yeah. So all the industry caravan shows, there are, you know, call them the caravan police, but there are those uh in engineers that come around and check the main compliance items at random on all brands, whether that's an import or Australian-made. Um, when we're talking about compliance to, we are part of the RV Map program, recreational vehicle manufacturing accreditation program. And part of that, we basically voluntarily put our hand up to be under additional scrutiny so that we have a second independent set of eyes looking out over our product, you know, quarterly, six monthly, yearly for all things electrical, gas, Australian design rules. And that's good because it adds an extra layer of protection for us to make sure that we are doing the right thing and we're getting other people to check. When it comes to the government's involvement, there's uh you have to get type approvals and an approval to be able to sell a caravan um in Australia or put it, you know, get it registered with state transport authorities. So to get that approval, you have to go through a fairly rigorous approval process, um put in some applications, and then you get those these numbers assigned to you that gives you the authority to register caravans.

SPEAKER_03 33:55

So if you are looking to buy one, come to the MTC stand and you'll see the little RV map logo.

SPEAKER_01 33:59

The R V map as well as the uh CSAP accreditation for our salespeople as well, James. But yes, James and Sam. Um James is just there, I'm just drawn to him, you know. Uh no, and as as James said, the uh CIA engineers come around and we we actively engage with them. We don't hide from them. Like they were I've just spent two and a half weeks on the road doing two association shows in Victoria, and I saw four four of that team come through, and it's oh, hey Wayne, what have you got for us? And I'm like, well, 22 vans over here, you can come and have a look at it, take your pick, come through. Uh it was actually funny because there was two back-to-back association shows one after the other, and and they still came through. You know, we we got um inspected at Bendigo and then we got inspected six days later in in Geelong as well. So it just goes to show that it that it is you know transparency across the board. It doesn't matter if you've if you've passed it once, you might have a second set of eyes on it that that won't uh pass it the second time.

SPEAKER_03 34:56

Well you can have a van that's come off the production line that might be missing something. That's that's the point, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:00

So it holds you to account. I know Jane James said there's probably been four or five uh industry, like government regulatory changes. And I remember when uh the the gas regulations changed around gas boxes, and that was a ADR change that came through and it was passed out to the showrooms, and within seven days, every single caravan within that MDC sphere was compliant with uh the ADR change. And that's absolutely amazing considering most of the showrooms are sitting on 30 to 40 units, so displays and static stock. So, you know, for for something to be implemented, say on a Monday, and then by the following Monday, every single caravan within the country underneath that MDC banner ticks the box, is just goes to show that the QA process is absolutely amazing. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 35:41

I did some work um for the showrooms a couple weeks ago for a show and did some deliveries from the showrooms and the factory to the um showgrounds, and they bump in, they call it bump in. So they're about four or five days before the show. And as soon as I got there, I'm just a fun bloke turned up, and there's these two guys sitting there crawling under vans and writing down serial numbers and taking photos. And I've gone back to the showroom going, what's going on there? You kick them and abuse them and say get out from under the caravans. Because I I at first thing they're going, What are you doing down here? And then they tried to explain, and I was like, Okay. And then when I got back to the showroom and went, ah right, that's that's the check that they do. For me, too, it's just a good thing that shows you that they're out there checking and it's at random. Yeah, that's right. So no one's safe.

SPEAKER_03 36:27

Yeah. So I guess look our caravans, obviously, MD's caravans are designed here, they're built with our partner overseas, and I guess finished here to all of the Australian standards and the industry standards. So it's not just Australian caravanning standards, there's obviously electrical and plumbing standards as well that we have to abide by. Um so it's obviously one big seamless process and not just an import. But I guess how does that look like from a an ongoing customer support piece from MDC? If customers buying the van and then they head off, you know, when they hit the road in terms of ongoing support, what do we what does that look like?

SPEAKER_01 37:03

We we've got a dedicated team, I think it's of uh seven in our seven or eight now after sales now. Um and that's that's in addition to the fact that a customer can still call their salesperson and ask for advice and for assistance on on what they need to do on their day-to-day with their caravan, because even though we do, you know, handovers anywhere between an hour to two hours long, it is a lot of information to soak up. Um, so just just down to little things like that after sales service, the ability to pick up a uh a phone and say, Hey, I need help with this, or um the the owner's group, I know that's not part of the M the MDC, you know, market direct group itself, but the ability for uh, you know, just that that um community that we've built where where everyone can help each other. And then the warranty process is it's quite simple at down to the point where it's you know, lodge a claim online, and it's it's the easiest way to do it. Yeah, you can call the the 1300 number and lodge the claim over the phone, but the you're gonna have to supply a heap of information anyway. So just jump on the website, whether it's an off-road or on-road warranty and yeah, run through it that way.

SPEAKER_03 38:08

It might seem like a bit of effort, but it's obviously the fastest way to do it because with over 40,000 caravans out on the road, there's there's going to be some things, or even people use it the service for scheduling, yeah, repairs and things like that along the way. So servicing and stuff too.

SPEAKER_02 38:23

I think sorry, just to jump in further to what Wayne was saying around how do we support the customers, what's the experience on that after service side of things? As an importer, we make a very conscious decision at Market Direct Group to be using very uh well-known brands and suppliers that have extensive supplier uh service networks around Australia. So we go back to that conversation in question before around Joe's caravans wants to go start importing caravans tomorrow. They wouldn't know where to start to start looking at those things and making sure that all those key and critical elements in that van are going to be well supported, nor would they have the ability to hold over a million dollars worth of spare parts like we do at our head office here in at MDC.

SPEAKER_03 39:08

The online stores certainly been very popular in the last two years since that's really kicked off. Just basic spare parts people might want to carry on the road with them and things like that. But there's also the service repair network, obviously, that we've got around the country too.

SPEAKER_01 39:21

I was just uh thinking I've discussed this once or twice already today, but that's because I was filming something else earlier on. Uh I'm like, this sounds repetitive. No, it's that it's the fact that we don't have that back-to-base warranty. So and I as a as a salesperson, I like to use this as the example. You know, say you're up up the Cape Darwin or the Kimberley, we don't have uh a showroom or a service centre up there. And it's it's that that ability to assure the customer that we will look after you no matter where you are in the country. We'll get it sorted. Yeah, we'll get it sorted. And because we have so many spare parts available readily available, you know, it's it's nothing for us to air freight them out somewhere or express post something to someone to get you back on the road. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 40:04

Which you're only going to know exactly what those spare parts are through that longevity of relationship and that transparency. So you actually know which spare parts you need. Yeah. You wouldn't have the slightest idea starting this as a first-time importer, or to be fair, some of the Australian-made guys wouldn't even know where some of the things are or how to source them quickly.

SPEAKER_03 40:25

Absolutely. So just diving a little bit, we sort of alluded to it a minute ago, like the certifications of the electrical systems and plumbing systems and things like that. Obviously, that's a big part. Where talk about the factory because there's a lot of people in there, and obviously, we hire a whole bunch of qualified tradespeople that work out of the factory, and what are some of their roles? Just to just to give, I guess, the audience a bit of reassurance that it's not a you know, it's not just a slap-together job.

SPEAKER_02 40:56

So let's use the electrical system as an example. Uh, we've had a 10 plus year working relationship with projector, and as part of that, when we start any new project, we will basically give them and work with them and say, okay, this is what we're trying to achieve. And usually it's key specs, so it's like battery capacity, solar capacity, and what are we wanting to run? So we start with that and then we'll workshop, okay, what does the system design look like? Then we'll identify the parts that can achieve that, and then from there we'll work with the engineers at projector on the wiring diagram for the entire caravan. And this is all done in Australia, right? 100%. So all of this is all done, uh signed off on, and then from there we do our prototyping, then we'll build one, we'll make sure it's, as you said, compliant and works as it should, work with the engineers directly, and then that's all then set up from there to be repeatable.

SPEAKER_03 41:48

Yeah, fantastic. And then the guys that are doing the installs in the factory, I know we've got a couple of Sparkies that work out of there and keep them busy. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So it's not just an anybody who does the electrical system and it's on rotation, there's dedicated guys that are fully trained in that space to do that.

SPEAKER_02 42:04

And the more the more complex the systems become, not just within MDC, but within industry, there's so much importance around calibration and the setup of the software of the system. So basically the screen you look at that gives you all the cool metrics, that has to be calibrated accurately, otherwise, the metrics it's giving you aren't going to mean you.

SPEAKER_03 42:23

A DC D C charger is not just a DCDC charger. It's got to be calibrated for the battery, the size of the battery that you've got, the power consumption you're using.

SPEAKER_01 42:30

To add on to what James just said. I remember when we moved over to the BM500 BTs, the new Bluetooth modules. Uh, well, they were new back at the when when we first got them, they were brand new to the industry. Uh, and it was even down to the sales team had to do training modules on how to calibrate and check that a customer's unit was calibrated correctly. So it just goes down to that the ECRs and the T and the TSBs that we let out to our teams just to make sure that everything is done properly.

unknown 43:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:01

Even from our tour that we've done through the factory, um, there were there was these one group that went before, and another group um went with one of the team leaders there, and we're watching them doing the gas check on the um stoves on the outside stove. So this gentleman had two stoves out on different vans there, and he had it out, had it lit, and then he was doing some timing. They went back and then it had a sign on it saying leave out um for 10 minutes, and then they went across to another one, came straight back. It was back to back, they were. Um, so just seeing that that was going through, then we went past the warranty um team over there, and there's a checklist of things that have been put on the warranty sheet, and you could see that someone signed it, and then someone's come along and verified that that was completed. And you could see that on their job sheet basically.

SPEAKER_03 43:49

Yeah, it's it's captured in the process and all written down. So, uh what what does that look like? I I guess we talk about being manufactured in China, obviously, a lot of work goes on there, but we still have a few people here. How big's the footprint of MDC in Australia, James?

SPEAKER_02 44:04

150 staff, give or take, a nationwide for for MDC. That's across all departments. But if we look primarily we're talking assembly, we'd have, I don't know, 60 or 70. I reckon about 50% of that 150 workforce would be direct related to production and assembly.

SPEAKER_03 44:22

Wow. Or head office processes related to production. Yep. So pretty big footprint. We're not just a we don't just pull them out of a container and put wheels on them and off they go.

SPEAKER_02 44:34

And I think I think that's the that's the perception around there's a shortcut or it's easier. It's the the the path of least resistance as an importer. Yeah you could try and do it that way but you're not going to be very successful. But as you said like 150 staff that's no sense that's not a small business.

SPEAKER_01 44:52

No, that's right. Yeah it's significant. We we've seen we've seen a lot of manufacturers and speaking from experience and doing a lot of trade shows here you see you know just mum and pop's caravans you see them pop up and then they're only around for six or seven months and then they're not at the next show and you you know ask the questions and you go well what happened and it's like oh that they're an importer and they're only importing you know 10 or 15 a year 20 to 30 a year so they're not having to to hit those levels that we do. And because they don't have that backing and the and the amount of hard work that we've put into our side of the industry they're not lasting as long as the rest of us or as long as MDC yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:31

Yeah yeah all right some quick fire questions for you I don't mind who takes these. James Chinese built vans are all mass produced in the same factory. Incorrect absolutely not absolutely incorrect. Look yeah look our partner builds for MDC which means we're not sharing the tooling yeah there's no badge engineering and no third party production which means they're not taking our design sticking it somewhere else.

SPEAKER_02 45:52

MDC is trying to MDC USA as well so for sure. So they do build the MDC USA stuff for all so everything under the market direct group umbrella our factory in China builds for us as part of that partnership. Yes there is contract manufacturing that happens in China but I'd suggest it's no more than the contract manufacturing that happens in Australia.

SPEAKER_03 46:12

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 46:12

Wayne imported vans skip or don't have to comply with the Australian standards. Completely false James 100% have to comply with Australian standards.

SPEAKER_03 46:21

Absolutely exactly so every product meets or exceeds our standards here in Australia. Banks you can't get parts or service for your for an import van that's incorrect.

SPEAKER_00 46:32

Even on my tours and travels when I even do travels with MVC I carry a wide range of parts that they supply me and quite willingly they asked me if someone's in trouble to drop that off at a pub. At Birdsville there we probably me and Link probably knocked over eight vans one afternoon and that was from Anson plugs that fell out because they got full of mud and pulled out and they were destroyed and the customer could have gone just the three dollar part for something like that. Went there put it together and then even when we're at the Cape there there's a gentleman that had some bush problems that we just left our head um so you can get every part you want and then you got the backing of the supplies that are like the fridge you can go to them direct you can order part off them if you happen to be somewhere down that way you can always get them.

SPEAKER_03 47:19

Yep. And all vans that look the same must be the same. False false very false very false we can all tell that from from uh experience I think so look that's very good I guess look to sum it up I guess MDC yeah we represent what the modern Australian caravan industry wants to be and and and I guess is we're doing it right um I guess it demonstrates that it can be globally built yeah Australian owned and deliver a stand that extra that Australians expect to be you know high quality long lasting and you know of a good reputation so I think we can give ourselves a pat on the back it's a bit biased but you know but at the same time I think we've probably opened up people's eyes to a bit about what goes on and I guess why we can be quite confident in that yeah kind of sits with the mantra right we want to escape with confidence. I think we're trying to demonstrate that confidence quite clearly and I think we're doing a reasonable job.

SPEAKER_02 48:13

Exactly a proud Australian company that just so happens to manufacture with an offshore partner which is no different to many other iconic brands an American company that manufactures iPhones in China very similar very just a bit bigger than us right yeah all right guys well look thank you very much for joining us thanks Banks Twitter nice to see you again thanks James for joining us busy man very busy man thanks Mr.

SPEAKER_03 48:39

Chavez thank you Sam good to see you again yeah good to be back and thank you Sam oh thank you why not thank you Sam for hosting another successful podcast this is what I do all right guys well look thank you very much for joining us if you do like what you see please like please subscribe please follow wherever you're watching this Spotify Apple Podcasts I don't know you choose but uh thanks for joining us we'll see you next time bye bye