In this business, opportunity doesn’t wait for your tooling to cool. The brands that win are the ones who can turn an idea on a whiteboard into a product on the shelf before the competition finishes arguing over SKU names.

And more often than not, the ones who make that happen aren’t sitting in the OEM’s marketing department — they’re sitting in your shop.

Suppliers — you — hold the keys to how fast new products move from concept to customer. Which means the faster you can work, the more chances your OEM partners have to grab market share, open new categories, and fill those precious distributor slots before the next shiny thing shows up.

Climbing out of the current downturn means bringing new products to market. Companies with experience weathering the firearms industry downturns know this and have already introduced new products to capture the attention of reluctant consumers, as well as reticent dealers.

Those companies without that experience tend to founder through the downturn, searching for a way out while hoping that cutting staff—and even worse, marketing—will carry them through to when the market picks back up.

The Bottleneck Nobody Wants to Talk About

Every brand loves to talk innovation. But the dirty secret in the firearms, optics and accessories world is that innovation often gets stuck somewhere between design and delivery.

Raw materials are harder to secure, freight is unpredictable, labor is tight, and every second project seems to require a new tooling setup. The net result? Development cycles that used to take six months now take nine. Or twelve.

And that’s bad business.

Because in this market—where sales are soft, distributors are cautious, and consumers are distracted—timing is everything. Launch too late and you miss the buying cycle. Launch too slowly and you look stale.

That’s where the right supplier partners can make all the difference.

Be the Speed Partner

If you want to be indispensable to your OEM customers, start by helping them go faster. That doesn’t mean cutting corners; it means cutting waste.

Get in early. Don’t wait for a final print to hit your inbox. If you can get a look at CAD models or preliminary specs early in the process, you can spot manufacturability issues before they become six-week delays. A quick Design-for-Manufacture review can save everyone a headache—and a lot of overnight freight.

Run in parallel, not in sequence. The old “wait for approval” mindset is dead. Today, successful suppliers are building prototypes, tooling, and test fixtures side-by-side. Overlap the process so that when the OEM gives the green light, you’re already halfway to first article.

Prototype fast. Additive manufacturing isn’t just a buzzword anymore. Whether it’s a new optic mount, rail section, or small internal component, having the ability to print a part overnight for fit-and-function testing keeps momentum alive—and your customer engaged.

Be transparent about capacity. Nobody likes surprises. Let your OEMs know what your production load looks like, when you have open press time, and where the bottlenecks are. Visibility builds trust, and trust turns into repeat business. In other words, properly manage your client’s expectations.

Create a rapid-response team. Think of it as your “NPI QRF team” — a small group dedicated to new product launches that can problem-solve fast and get the first parts out the door while the rest of the shop keeps running.

Think Hours, Not Days. When it’s crunch time and you’re facing a deadline, you need to look at it in terms of hours and not days. Three days is 72 hours. It’s not three eight hour work days. Yes, it means you’re facing a lot of work, but companies looking to bring a new product to market aren’t looking for partners who see ‘work’ as a four-letter word.

Data Drives Credibility

Speed is great — but controlled speed wins races. Track the metrics that matter: prototype lead times, on-time delivery, first-pass yield. Share those numbers. OEMs remember suppliers who can prove performance instead of promising it.

And if you’re not already using some form of digital project tracking or ERP visibility, now’s the time. Even a basic shared dashboard can make you look like the organized adult in the relationship—which, let’s be honest, is more often than not a rare and valuable thing in this industry.

Speed Equals Sales

Here’s the real incentive: every time an OEM launches faster, it opens a window for everyone in the supply chain. Dealers get new stories to tell. Consumers get something new to covet. And suppliers—the ones who made it possible—get first call when the next project kicks off.

In a capacity-constrained world, shaving two weeks off development is no small thing. That’s two extra weeks of orders, press coverage, buzz, and revenue.

You can’t buy that kind of advantage. You have to build it.

The Takeaway

Speed is no longer optional—it’s strategy. The brands that survive the next market cycle will be the ones that can execute fast, clean, and confidently.

And behind every one of those “fast” brands will be a supplier who figured out how to say, “Yeah, we can make that happen—and have it ready by Monday.”

If that’s you, you’re not just a supplier anymore. You’re a partner. And in this business, that’s the spot everyone wants.

— Paul Erhardt, Managing Editor, the Outdoor Wire Digital Network