Technology Development Institute helps manufacturer in northeast Kansas develop new products

Kansas State University's Technology Development Institute continues to support small business development in rural communities. The institute recently helped a premier manufacturer in northeast Kansas develop a new product for hunters.

RSI Outdoors, a leading hunting blind manufacturer based in Brogue, Pennsylvania, recently expanded into Paxico, where the company is establishing manufacturing operations and creating new jobs. RSI's parent company, River Supply, Inc., selected the region for its expansion west because of its great people and resources.

The Technology Development Institute is one of those valuable resources, and it recently provided support on the engineering and testing validation of new stand designs for RSI Outdoors' hunting blinds, as well as the creation of owner's manuals for the new products.

K-State's TDI staff helped the RSI Outdoors team update their computer-aided design, or CAD, models and provided structural analysis to determine weight and wind ratings for the new stand designs.

TDI engineers evaluated the design and delivered the results, confirming that the blind's stand is strong enough to support at least 1,250-1,500 pounds, the highest load rating of any stand on the market today.

This analysis, along with the two prototypes TDI created, gave RSI Outdoors additional marketing materials to promote the stands at a range of trade shows this spring and provided additional confidence as they began expanding production and preparing for manufacturing in Kansas.

"RSI has been a great team to work with, and they produce one of the highest quality hunting blinds on the market today," said Bret Lanz, TDI commercialization director. "We are excited to have RSI setting up manufacturing operations in Paxico and adding new jobs to the region. As they continue to expand their product offering, TDI will continue to provide engineering and manufacturing assistance along the way to help them grow and expand."

RSI is now on the road, attending trade shows across the country and demonstrating the new blind and stand design with updated marketing materials created in conjunction with TDI.

K-State's Technology Development Institute in the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering received a grant from the Research and Entrepreneurship Federal Matching Grant Dollars Fund and is a recipient of a grant from the Patterson Family Foundation to support rural entrepreneurship. TDI provides a broad range of engineering and business development services to both private industry and university researchers to advance the commercial readiness of new products or technologies.