deepstash
Beta
Deepstash brings you key ideas from the most inspiring articles like this one:
Read more efficiently
Save what inspires you
Remember anything
How the Invention of Scotch Tape Led to a Revolution in How Companies Managed Employees
3
Key Ideas
Save all ideas
The invention of scotch tape
Richard Drew invented The Scotch transparent tape while working as a lab tech at the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, which was then manufacturing sandpaper.
- Drew first invented masking tape. Drew would deliver sandpaper samples to auto manufacturers, who used it for the painting process. Workers needed to mask off part of the car, often using glued-on newspaper or butcher paper. But it was difficult to get off and often resulted in a sticky mess.
- Drew promised a solution. He spent two years developing a tape until the company executive told him to get back to his regular job. Drew kept doing tape experiments on his own time.
- In 1930, he received a patent for his masking tape. In the same year, he also invented his waterproof transparent tape, taking advantage of newly developed cellophane.
54 SAVES
Using tape for everything
The Scotch tape was released at the start of the Great Depression when people had to mend and make do.
People used the transparent tape for everything. While many companies were going under, tape sales helped the company to grow.
45 SAVES
Experimental work and the 15 percent rule
- William McKnight, the executive who told Richard Drew to stop working on Scotch tape, became chairman of Scotch, then known as 3M's board. Drew helped McKnight understand that experimentation could lead to innovation.
- McKnight developed a policy known as the 15 percent rule, which allows engineers to spend 15 percent of their work hours on experimental doodling.
- After his tape successes, Drew led a Products Fabrication Laboratory for 3M, where he could freely develop new ideas.
- He and his team filed 30 patents for inventions, from face masks to reflective sheeting for road signs. He also mentored young engineers to develop their ideas.
58 SAVES
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
8
Key Ideas
The Escalator
The Escalator, or ‘moving stairs’ is an infrastructural technological development which is actually a trademark, a brand that became so common that its name became a ‘trademark genericide’, just li...
Escalators: New Tech For Infrastructure
The new technology of escalators transformed not just how the walking person is transported in a building, but the way architecture itself is designed, and created fluid transitions without the limits of the sky or ground.
The Moving Stairs
Nathan Ames, an inventor, applied for the patent in 1859 for the first kind of moving stairs, with a belt attached with three wheels, and powered by kinetic energy. This was never built.
As the 19th century came to an end, there were improvements in the way people lived and worked, facilitating the development of malls, skyscrapers, and electric subway trains. The print and photography industry paved the way for better advertising of products and services.
3
Key Ideas
A replacement for fountain pens
Fountain pens, although stylish, were messy and impractical.
In 1945, Gimbels started to sell a new kind of ink pen, made by the Reynolds International Pen Company. With its quick-dry ink a...
Combining functionality with affordability
The first generation of ballpoint pens cost around 55 shillings (£82.50/$107.50 in 2020 prices). It was in the same style as fountain pens. They were made of metal and intended to be refilled with ink. But with so many companies selling it, the market became saturated, buying refills, but not more pens.
Italian-born French industrialist Michel Bich added the catalyst of disposability. He understood the concept of the mass market and created his new company, Societe Bic. His pen only cost a shilling.
The ballpoint pen transforming societies
The ballpoint pen was the equivalent of today's smartphone. Before the ballpoint pen, writing was a stationary act that had to be done on a certain kind of desk, with all the other things at hand that allowed you to write.
The ballpoint pen turned writing into something that could happen anywhere. Plastic mass production allowed the pens to become even cheaper, allowing for the transformation of societies.
5
Key Ideas
Background music is powerful
Even if you are hardly aware of it, music can be surprisingly powerful.
Researchers have found that it can affect:
- how much time we think has passed while waiting
- how co-op...
The background music industry
It is also known as music design, music consultancy, or as part of a broader package of experiential design or sensory marketing.
The work involves creating distinct, compatible musical identities for brands.
Muzak and background music
Muzak, a brand of background music, set the template for background music. It played in retail stores and other commercial premises and sold itself on the basis that it could increase productivity in workplaces.
Muzak's template for background music persisted for decades. The music was a balm to ease awkward silences and to encourage and brighten the mood.