U.S. Repeating Arms Co

Shooting Industry, March, 1996 by Robert M. Hausman

One of the most significant changes at today's Winchester is that the employees now share responsibility for overall product quality.

"The old-style adversarial relationship between union and management just won't make it in the future," said Don Gobel, USRAC's president, proclaimed at the plant's dedication ceremonies.

Bob Kuskowski, USRAC's vice president of manufacturing, agrees. "What inspired this new attitude between management and labor emanates from the period in 1990 when we ran out of cash and found ourselves standing around in the unemployment office questioning where we went wrong.

"Upon returning to work, trust was established between both parties. In the past, upper management's idea was to handcuff an operator to a piece of machinery and expect perfect quality parts at 100 percent efficiency day after day," continued Kuskowski. "The new management of this company listens to the hourly person at the point of production because in reality, that worker on the shop floor knows best what is going on."

The new plant is divided into three separate production businesses - shotguns, Model 70 production and lever actions. Unlike the old functional organization method in which there were separate departments producing a particular part with a foreman or manager for each, there are now just three managers. Production workers have been organized into team cells to complete an entire product, rather than just one part.

"We have cut the business down into three separate bites which gives us a lot more control for better management, instead of trying to keep track of a great mass of operations with little communication between departments," Kuskowski said.

The old plant, dating back to the 19th Century, comprised about 900,000-square-feet. Parts in process sometimes traveled as much as 13 miles through the expansive structures, according to a long-time employee. A year-long employee training effort preceded the commencement of operations in the new facility. State-of-the-art production equipment is combined with refurbished machinery to yield the double benefits of greater precision for tighter production tolerances while allowing flexibility for design changes to meet changing consumer preferences.

New Products

"New products are the key to the future," proclaimed Gobel. He said that during the 10- to 12-year period prior to GIAT stepping in, "There was just no money available for investment in new products."

For 1996, dealers will find there is a new .30-'06 Springfield chambering in the Model 70 Ultimate Classic rifle. The new Model 70 Custom Classic Sharpshooter and Sporting Sharpshooter II rifles are the result of a partnership between USRAC and H-S Precision. In the classic rifle, the action rests in an H-S heavy target stock and sports an H-S stainless match grade heavy barrel. In the Sporting, the pre-'64 style action rests in an H-S Precision fiberglass stock and has an H-S stainless sporting barrel.

The new Classic Featherweight All-Terrain version of the Model 70 is a true mountain rifle with an action and barrel constructed of weather-resistant stainless steel with a synthetic stock made of black fiberglass/graphite. It is available with or without the BOSS option in .270 Win., .30-'06, 7mm Rem. Mag. and .300 Win. Mag.