Gaining the Customer Perspective: Q&A on Developing the One-Bolt Coupling

Meet Luke, the product manager for GRINNELL G-Fire couplings, who worked with engineering in ensuring the customer wants and needs were the focus in every aspect of the coupling’s design. Throughout the research and development process, Luke’s role was to make sure that the voice of the customer was heard and factored into how the product looks, feels and functions.

Q: What was your role in the design of the One-Bolt Coupling?

A: My goal was to bring a new product to the market that would be received well by the installers, so I helped to set up hands-on experiences with these installers to ensure we had fine-tuned the design to work well in real-world settings.  I’m confident we have now done just that.

Q: How did you in incorporate the customer perspective into the One-Bolt coupling?

A: We asked installers what they liked and disliked about current offerings on the market and why.  The feedback was clear that they preferred the pre-assembled, push-on concept but that there was still room for improvement when completing the installation.  We took this into consideration when determining how the coupling should feel when you put it on the pipe and also how we could make the installation easier and more consistent.  We think our new One-Bolt coupling not only has the desired speed and ease of installation but also a design that leads to consistent and confident grooved joints.

Q: You’ve had the opportunity to work with customers getting hands-on with the product, what were some of the biggest doubts customers had when they first saw the coupling and how did installing the product change their minds?

A: It looks “different” was one of the things we heard most.  Seeing a one-bolt coupling with our unique housing initially makes people pause or hesitate. In an industry that has generally had the same basic coupling look for decades, this is to be expected. Once installers had it in their hands and could begin to see how it worked, their hesitation quickly turned to interest.  And once they had a chance to install it, their interest turned into an endorsement that this new coupling was as easy and fast as advertised.

Q: Any other major takeaways? 

A: We’re excited, because this product really was designed with the end-user in mind.  To hear people who install these types of products everyday tell us that this new coupling was a “game changer” is exactly what we were hoping to hear.

We captured some customer reactions to seeing the coupling for the first time – see what they had to say and learn more about the One-Bolt Coupling here: