Rimfire Advisory Council

I originally developed the concept of a web-based advisory council because I needed a quick, easily accessible way to gain continuous in-depth end-user feedback in real time. I wanted to use a web-based option over traditional methods such as surveys, questionnaires, and intercepts, because it would allow me to be engaged with the panel on a daily basis and would provide a stable user base for ongoing testing versus having to elicit new user groups for each level of testing. The goal was to gain insight into the features and benefits of competitive products, gain a better understanding of how Remington could improve its current products, test concept products for potential future development, test prototypes for quality, accuracy and reliability, test pre-production models prior to launch to ensure that the products met or exceeded consumer expectations, and test marketing messages prior to print to ensure that the product messaging was on target.

A panel of 20 participants was established by first e-mailing requests to participate to over 5,000 users from our end-user database. Prospective participants were asked to write a short essay on why they should be considered for the project. The essay responses allowed me to vet down the list of respondents to 20 avid end-users that were passionate about rimfire rifles specifically. From there I built a free password secure website using Google Sites which provided me with a web-based platform for easy reliable communication among all of the participants. The final 20 participants all signed non-disclosure agreements and were very active throughout the project. Most participants were posting to the secure website on a daily basis and all were able to turn around test projects quickly and provide solid feedback in all cases. None of the participants were paid, nor did they have an expectation of payment, although at the conclusion of the project I did allow the participants one purchase at employee prices as a thank you for their efforts.

The yield from this project was massive and exceeded all expectations. I was able to gain valuable information about where competitors' products were out-performing Remington’s current product offering. Based upon the feedback from the advisory council, I was also able to define ways to improve current products to better compete in the future. The advisory council tested numerous prototypes and identified areas (some significant) for improvement of a new product offering, which successfully launched in Q2 2011. Once those potential improvements were identified, our engineering team was able to alter their designs to meet consumer expectation of quality, reliability, and accuracy. Marketing messages were vetted to ensure that our messaging was properly targeted to our key user demographic. Ultimately, I was able to take a product to market that was demonstrably better than the current market leading product. The program performed above initial expectations to achieve a 20% shift in competitive share.

Some product improvements that were made based upon the input of this advisory council included:

● Improved stock geometry for better handling and improved shouldering

● Addition of a 4oz. weight included in the buttstock to improve overall balance

● Redesigned firing pin geometry to dramatically reduce misfires

● Defined improvements to the assembly process that improved ejection reliability

● An increase to the bolt head length for a deeper, more reliable firing pin indent

● Development of a sourcing initiative to improve the quality of our 3x9x32 scopes

The Rimfire Advisory Council was the first of its type in Remington’s history and was heralded by the entire executive team as an outstanding example of creative thinking, solid execution, and an example of an organizational best practice. After the organization saw the massive yield from this project initiatives were put in place to develop future advisory councils to support the other product categories in Remington’s portfolio.

Patrick Boehnen

(336) 453-1922

pat.boehnen@gmail.com