Remington Shut Down!

[Remington Employee]

Supposedly it's a temporary shutdown, but I know for a fact that CD&R (the holding company that owns Remington) has been giving the old girl a fresh coat of paint. (kinda like putting lipstick on a pig) Anyway, the speculation within the plant is that CD&R wants to sell Remington. I sure hope Blount will step up to the plate!
These management types Remington has had in the past 7 years have run the plant, and the quality of firearms manufactured there down the tubes!
Remington workers get unpaid furlough

Fri, Oct 31, 2003

KRISTA J. KARCH
Observer-Dispatch

More than 900 employees at Remington Arms in Ilion were given a month off for Christmas, without pay, according to an announcement made to the workers Thursday, Remington Arms officials said.

This is the third time in the gun factory's history that officials have resorted to an unpaid furlough for employees at Herkimer County's largest company, company spokesman Paul Gallagher said.

In similar circumstances in 1996 and 1997, he said, all of the employees returned to full-time positions after the furlough.

"We do not expect to have any layoffs," Gallagher said. (this guy was fired the day after giving this interview)

Gallagher said the furlough is the result of the region's economic downturn. If economic indicators are correct, the company can expect business to pick up early next year.

Until then, employees can expect to be out of work from Dec. 1 until Jan. 2. They will be eligible for unemployment benefits, Gallagher said.

Remington Arms has made a significant impact on the economy of Herkimer County since it started in the area in the early 1800s. The village of Ilion currently boasts 8,700 residents.

Here's a link to another story in the local paper.
http://www.herkimertelegram.com/art...news/news02.txt

 

[444]

Good Luck

 

[cdbeaver]

Are the workers' jobs going to Mexico or China?

 

[10-Ring]

That sucks! I hope someone of quality steps up to take over.

 

[Remington Employee]

some have already been taken by China, the action bars are made in China now!
We've also had shotgun ribs imported from Italy, but they were dissimilar metal to the barrels and caused alot of problems, so they're rusting in a corner of the shop.

Also when this new plant manager came in in 2001 he was picking the brains of employees for ideas, you guessed it!

This A-hole and the Corprate types took one guy's idea for a shotgun and ran with it...and he's still working on the floor in a position that is usually filled by some of the new guys rather than made a engineering tech or assinged to the engineering department.

They even threatened the guy if he sues them he'll loose everything, and this guy has a family!
:banghead:

 

[P95Carry]

RE .... warm welcome to THR bud ..... but sorry to hear about this ''predicament'' ... not good at all. Depressing in fact.

Do keep us up to speed if you will now you are here ... stick around, and hopefully too, enjoy some relative relaxation in our many debating areas.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Sorry to hear your predicament. Sounds like it'll be one cold Christmas in Herkermir County and in Illion in particular.

Remington should have gone the way of S&W when it came to developing QC circles. S&W eliminated a lot of middle mgmt that way and improved production. Corporate Remington seems to really have runned that fine company into the ground. Sad.

I wish you guys (and gals) the best.

 

[Bowlcut]

Welcome....

sounds like typcial factory BS going on from one point. And typical corprate crap goign on up top. Not much fun. Good luck at it all....keep up the good fight

 

[45Badger]

Good luck! Those folks at CD&R are some of the best bottom feeders in the business!

They buy distressed or underperforming businesses, "manage" them more efficiently, and create value for themselves when they break up, sell in whole or part, or take public. Their form of "managing" typically comes at employees and suppliers' expense. Price and wage concessions, late payments, furloughs, etc. Capitalism at its best!

They bought foodservice division of Kraft, renamed it "Alliant", ran it for a few years, and sold it to a scuzzball competitor. Lots of good folks and careers chewed up in the process.

 

[Boom Vang]

Wow, this is sad news. Having toured the plant as recently as July, I can say that there are some very fine folks working there.

However, Remington "management" has really instituted some bone-head ideas in the past few years. The result is that it has turned-off customers for their good products:

Eg. The J Lock. No one wants that garbage in a hunting rifle. Many feel it is just something to go wrong and break at the wrong moment, and another unwanted complexity to the rifle.

Eg. The non-adjustable adjustable trigger. What could be a fine trigger leaves the factory at an unacceptable 5.5+ pounds, and then they seal the adjustment screws and warn you against tampering with it. Then they changed the safety so that when engaged it leaves the bolt unlocked - - now your bolt opens up while hard hunting and you miss the shot. Then they add a "connector" piece that has been the source of litigation for causing ADs.

Eg. 870 Shotgun "HD" model. To please politicians only, not as a legal requirement, they refuse to sell the top-folding stock to the public, and also change the magazine tube so it won't accept the factory extended tube kit. Then to save $0.02 per gun, they use a weaker mag tube spring in all the commericial 870s, as opposed to the police guns. I could go on and on, but it's bean-counting mania at the expense of a quality product.

Eg. 7mm/.300 SAUM (Short Action Ultra Mag). This one needs no explanation. Nothing more than a slightly more energetic 7mm-08 or a .308 with a new haircut. Plus the worst name for a cartridge ever.

Eg. .25-06. Here's a fine cartridge, one of the flatest shooting deer cartridges ever designed, which was made a SAAMI regular by Remington. But try finding one of the more useful Remingtons (Sendero, Mountain Rifle, Ti) chambered for it. You won't. It's only available in the non-selling 1970s-schlock-look BDL.

Eg. The Peerless. The emphasis was on "less". Thankfully, they killed it.

Eg. The Remington Museum a Ilion. A great idea that for some odd reason stops at 1982. For 22 years no one has bothered to update it?

Eg. The Model 597 .22. An accurate gun that they decided to make just a little to cheap. They break and malfunction far too often.

Eg. The Model 710. Oh My God. An example of a product that can single-handedly ruin a company's reputation. It should have never been sold in the United States.

Eg. A customer service that says "We don't care once it's out the door."

These kind of things overshadow the good guns: 700 Ti, Mountain, Sendero, Varmint, 870 Police, 11-87, some Model 7s, etc.

Consumers, especially in this market, respect quality. Remington needs to start listening to it's customers. Remington has an attitude, like Browning, but not the products/features to back it up, unlike Browning. Once Remington starts listening, then customers will return.

 

[Remington Employee]

Thanks guys for the words on encouragement!
I could tell you a thousand shortcuts CD&R have made in the production process, and not scratch the surface.

The shotgun thmy buddy gave them the idea for , he's had this same shotgun since at least 1986 with a CHOATE extended bolt handle, rifle sights, mag tube extension,and a sidesaddle.

Gave them the idea for a 3 gun competition gun and after 9/11/01 a home companion gun.

They came out with it after poo pooing his idea after 6 months of not hearing anything.

It tore his heart out when he saw it unveiled at the state of the company meeting NEW for 2003!

He's wized up now, working on his first patent for an accessory for the FAL rifle!
He also had a radical stock design and re-designed gas system for the 1100 and 1187 shotguns ...well suffice to say Remington isn't getting them!

45BADGER
sounds like you've had some dealings with CD&R or had someone close to you that's dealt with them.

 

[George Hill]

Remington is in need of a new owner, and some new blood at the upper levels.
But then again the same can be said of most other companies.

There are only a few who are doing things right in my opinion,

 

[NIB]

Believe me, I went to 4 different gun stores when I was in the market for a Rem 870 a few months ago. All the 870s I held just didn't feel right so I opted for spending $100 more for a NIB older model 870 I saw at another store.

 

[Orthonym]

I thought Remington had already left NY and moved to one of the Carolinas.

 

[Remington Employee]

No, they still have a plant here in Ilion, corprate office in NC , Mayfield KY makes the atrocious 710 and the 597, and the ammo plant in in Arkansas.

 

[280PLUS]

ive watched a few of these "corporations" take over a foundering company, blow smoke and flowers up all our butts and then bleed it dry

as soon as i see the corprate types running around with al their "groundbreaking ideas" i know its time to be looking for a new job

that way your ahead of the game either way

cause if they don't lay you off, they'll more than likely make your life miserable

they always seem to keep the dead wood and let the real workers go, ive never figured that line of thinking out

maybe cause the dead wood don't rock the boat as much??

good luck

question...

as the owner of an 870 bought in ohhh, 1993. chinese parts or american?

i feel for you, cause i've been there

i won't bore you with the long story

regards

m

 

[280PLUS]

an afterthought,,,

why not band the employees together and buy remington?

that way the right people would be running the show

it wouldnt be the first time this happened

and youll all be proud to have your names on the products that leave there

as opposed to what it sounds like you have now?

m

 

[Black92LX]

why not band the employees together and buy remington?

yeah and throw in some THR members

 

[wingman]

Manufacturing jobs are going to third world countries and more third world
is coming here so where does that put us.?

 

[280PLUS]

eroding income for the u.s. worker,,,

thats why you have to be willing to buy american,

we've got to support each other

too many people sell out for the bottom line

i see it every day

all anyone looks at is the bottom line

thats why these peeps that are boycotting certain gun manufacturers in the u.s. over the signing of "the agreement" kind of irk me

the manufacturers had 2 choices

1. sign zee papers

2. close zee doors

so now we'll compund their problems by boycotting them and sending our money and our neighbor's work overseas

but thats ok,,,we don't mind

 

[Preacherman]

Is there any truth to the rumor that Wal-Mart has been trying to buy Remington? The dealer who told me said that from what he'd heard, Wal-Mart would then become the sole distribution channel for Remington's "civilian" (as opposed to LE) line of firearms.

 

[AUTIGER04]

Im in the same boat. The local mills in my home town are shutting down due to overseas trade. Our local mills produce bed sheets and towels and we lost our jobs to Mexico. Im glad somebody in Mexico is eating and living the good life. WHAT EVER YOU BUY. "BUY AMERICAN!!!"

 

[moa]

Just heard recently in the news that 96% of the new clothing sold in USA was made overseas. Kind of hard to buy American under those circumstances.

It is also of interest that many American jobs that moved to Mexico in the 1980s and 1990s are now leaving Mexico and going to other countries. So, I guess now all those out of work Mexicans are coming to the USA.

 

[280PLUS]

so find that 4% and buy those products,,,

96%,,,sounds pretty serious to me, how long can the last 4% hang on if we don't support them?

theres a lot of small companies in the US turning out some very superior products, all you have to do is find and patronize them,,,

incidently, my area is dotted with textile mills built as far back as the 1700's that went belly up in the 50's because the industry moved to the carolinas, where the labor was cheaper,,,

a few years back, and evidently still, the south suffers the same fate

the abandoned mills are mostly being remodeled into upscale yuppie apartments, or burning down,,,or just falling down sometimes

close to here was a mill that wove the silk fabric for the inaugural suits for 2 presidents, one was cleveland and the other was,,,uhhh maybe harding,,,anyways, at the time considered the finest silk fabric in the world, gone forever a long time ago now

the foreign market and the quest for the better bottom line have been eating away at us for quite some time and its forcing us to do more and more but get less in return

almost everything i buy is purchased right in my local area because i am a local businessman and i support the others like myself as close to home as possible and they do likewise for me.

i may pay a little more but i think its worth it so joe hardware up the street doesn't fold and force me to go 10 miles to home cheapo for a nut and bolt,,,

ah well,,,i'm starting to ramble

m

 

[jar]

And Bush is about to drop the tariff on imported steel. he's afraid the Florida and Texas Orange crops would be hurt. Gee, I wonder why Florida and Texas are more improtant than PA, WV and MI?

I sure hope somebody comes up with a good way to make weapons from oranges before the next war cause we are about to lose our steel industry.