Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH2KGQTeKzc (8 min)

At the end of a long week at the Rippa factory in China, Mike stops in the employee cafeteria to show the part of the visit that is not on the factory floor.

In the video he explains that quality at Rippa goes beyond the machines. Factory workers eat free, with as much as they want each day, and the meals are prepared fresh on site by an outsourced restaurant team and change daily. Signs in Chinese and English ask workers to take what they need and leave no waste. Mike says the cafeteria sits on the fourth floor of the office building, with a fifth floor planned as a relaxation area for employees.

He also tells a story about taking Rippa's owner, Jackie, to a Chinese restaurant in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and why he rates the factory cafeteria food as good as any he has eaten. His point: how a company treats its workers says something about the quality of what it builds.

Questions? Call Rippa USA Sales at 817-382-3201 or visit RippaUSASales.com. We deliver nationwide with flat rate shipping, and you get 50% off attachments when you buy a machine from us.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAOkccK4BRA (27 min)

Mike walks the Rippa factory in China after a week of looking at larger excavators, and the site has grown a lot since his visit the year before. Where the first phase was about 80% complete, both buildings are now finished.

HIGHLIGHTS

- The new office building and a full display area with every current model except forklifts, which are shown separately.

- Rippa attachments in several colors. Some, like the puller, have been rebuilt heavier, at roughly double the thickness of the earlier version.

- A fresh R57 excavator coming off the line after passing vertical load testing, where the base is stressed to 100% above spec.

- The QA area, and an inspection pit where Mike would like a machine to be driven over for easy undercarriage work at his own future building.

- Grease points on the excavator swing ring and the right way to grease them: a couple of pumps, rotate the cab a little, repeat all the way around.

- A reminder that draining the factory fluids can void an engine warranty, because the engine is meant to run on the factory oil for its first 50 hours.

Part 2 continues the tour through production.

Questions? Call Rippa USA Sales at 817-382-3201 or visit RippaUSASales.com. We deliver nationwide with flat rate shipping, and you get 50% off attachments when you buy a machine from us.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smRrq_bb064 (28 min)

In the second half of his factory tour, Mike moves from the finished machines into the production areas of the Rippa factory.

WHAT HE SHOWS

- Skid steer and loader assembly, including RS06 mini skid steers being built, and the operator seat he likes.

- The paint booth area, which is much larger than in the original factory, with multiple booths.

- A comparison of welds on older machines (February 2025 and earlier) with current ones, which he says are a world of difference.

- Where large steel sheets come in and are cut on CNC tables before frames are assembled.

- The machine shop, which now runs many more machines than the three he saw the year before, cutting bar stock into parts.

- A third building under construction next to the finished second one.

Mike also demonstrates the proper way to grease the excavator swing gear: two to three pumps, rotate the cab a little, and repeat around the machine so the teeth are covered evenly. The tour ends after about an hour in the factory, followed by a look at finished machines.

Questions? Call Rippa USA Sales at 817-382-3201 or visit RippaUSASales.com. We deliver nationwide with flat rate shipping, and you get 50% off attachments when you buy a machine from us.