Red Oxx New PR5 Receives Recognition, Testing

Just as Red Oxx Manufacturing of Billings was having its PR5 Safari Beano tested against a competitor’s at the Army Natick Soldier Center testing lab in Natick, Mass., the PR5 received “Gear of the Year” recognition in the spring issue of Outdoor Buyers Guide.

The PR5 is a rugged airline carry-on bag, one of 15 outdoor products receiving special recognition in the annual buyer’s review. It is manufactured in Billings, Montana. It features locking pockets, an inner-locked compartment, and 12 color choices.

Lab data confirmed that the Red Oxx bag has features superior to its overseas competitor. The lab used specialized equipment to grab, pull, and generally stress the complete PR5 and its broken out components. In tests lasting about 3 weeks, experiments covered design, materials, and construction of the gear.

Together, the trade magazine testimonial and positive hard test data about the bag’s strengths make for a powerful marketing tool. Interestingly, the two events are not related.

Guide Testing

“The Buyer’s Guide honor was purely a lightening strike,” Jim Markel, Red Oxx owner, said, explaining that they had read about it on the website www.redoxx.com, and it piqued their interest.

They tested one by filling it with rocks, dragging it behind a car, and throwing it off a second story balcony in an effort to destroy it. It came back with just a small hole in it, the former Marine Corps parachutist noted.

While not surprised, Markel is still glad he moved forward with the lab tests that he learned about through the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center and its MSU TechLink affiliation. TechLink occasionally helps companies gain access to specialized government facilities for product testing and development as a subset of its mission to help high-tech companies find and obtain relevant technologies among the thousands of inventions that scientists in federal laboratories create. When a fit is established, TechLink can help with the process of licensing the rights to practice the invention -- an effort intended to help turn a technology into a product to be sold to the public or to the military. Through its role, it has developed a strong connection with many federal labs.

One of the biggest challenges Red Oxx faces is competition from the import of cheap “knock off” imitations. For that reason the company works hard to differentiate its product and build customer relationships.

Put a Number to It

“We know our products are strong by the materials we put into them. But if I’ve learned anything from MMEC, it’s put a number to it,” said Markel. “No matter if the number is good, bad, or ugly -- and if it’s ugly, find out how to make it good.”

Both he and co-owner Perry Jones are former military riggers and quite familiar with fabric quality and dependability and build those features into their products. When asked how the Natick Lab results compared to his expectation, Markel said they exceeded them in some ways. The numbers, he said, were all very good.

Fabric strength, seam construction, and shoulder strap design were tested for strength before and after weathering. Red Oxx fabric withstood the weathering better, testing more than 3.5 times stronger than the competitor bag after weathering and was 2.5 times stronger even before weathering. The shoulder strap design, much stronger at the outset, suffered less after weathering. And Red Oxx seams, while rated stronger both before and after weathering, were affected slightly more by weathering than the competition. A statistic that did not go unnoticed by a rigger’s eye.

Tests Are Springboard

“The test results have stimulated lots of things: Exploration of new thread, concrete numbers to help build business, and a nice add on to marketing. We’re going to make the most of it,” Markel said. “ Soldier Center is working on a second phase of tests, as we have some thread issues. We have contacted thread companies about specifications, and they are sending samples for more testing.

“We want it even better so there is no question about superior quality. The numbers provide insight and are concrete – we’re not just saying its strong.”

Like other manufacturers, Red Oxx is learning it cannot take its materials and suppliers for granted.

“Thread used 15 years ago is not the same as today; I’d say I’ve seen a 15-30 percent decrease in quality over the years. I knew it, but now we’re going to try new thread to see if there are gains.”

Red Oxx has used the military gold standard in nylon sewing for a long time. It can go up a notch and test to see if there is a gain. Even then, any change must be carefully monitored. A thread change may create production problems.

“If the gain is significant, it may be worth the trade off; the numbers help make the decisions. That’s another take away from Lean learnings,” Markel said. “Measuring things is important in business -- financials, strength, throughput, and capacity. You can see how to break them down and manage them.”

Real Opportunity

Connecting with the Natick Labs was a real opportunity for a small company to get world class testing, Markel said. MMEC Field Engineer Al Deibert, whose office is at MSU TechLink to develop a more synergistic relationship between the centers, helped Red Oxx with the application and throughout the process. He made the initial contacts and compiled the resulting data into Excel charts. This enabled Markel to clearly visualize important data for business and marketing decisions. The company has seven employees and sells direct to the consumer using its website, trade shows, and its own retail floor space.

Meanwhile, the Buyer’s Guide publicity took on life of its own. Red Oxx was interviewed for a product review in a men’s health magazine; the PR5 was featured on “NBC In the Morning” in early summer, 2004 in local media. Sales bumped up by about five percent in one month, after the Guide became available at the end of April. The magazine stayed on shelf through the summer, and Red Oxx owners projected more sales as word of Gear of the Year and superior quality ratings spreads.

“We’ve already had more web and phone traffic, Markel said, in addition to a huge difference in walk-ins to the manufacturing/retail storefront at 310 North 13 th in Billings. “Not a tidal wave, but nice flow.”

- 2004