42 



National Resources Planning Board 



^eatcr national self-sufficiency, at the expense, how- 

 ever, of the prothicers of natural fibers and natural 

 rubber and at the risk of further disturbance to world 

 trade. 



Industrial research has added new factors to the 

 competitive system in industry. To the struggle 

 between companies in the same industry for the 

 advantage that comes from lower costs of production 

 and better quality of products has been added the 

 rivalry for new knowledge. As one director of a 

 research laboratory has expressed it: 



The keenest competition today is between revolutionary ideas. 

 What the manufacturer of today fears is not so nivich the com- 

 petitor who may shade production or selling costs a little, as the 

 manufacturer who may virtually i)ut him out of business by 

 getting out something radically new that the customer prefers.** 



Industries never before considered as possible rivals, 

 have become competitors because of discoveries made 

 in research laboratories. The petroleum industry, 



"Jewett, F. B. Address before the American Bar Association, July 1938. Re- 

 port) of the American Bar Atsocialion, BS, 192 (1928). 



already a serious competitor of the coal industry, is 

 rapidly becoming a producer of chemicals. The air- 

 plane, a product of intensive and highly complicated 

 research, competes with the railroad train; the rubber 

 industry, with the textile industry; and the chemical 

 industry, with the cotton-growing industry. 



Research has made more research imperative. In- 

 dustrial strength can be achieved only through knowl- 

 edge of what is taking place in the laboratory. In the 

 face of constant change, industries maintain their 

 stability only by being prepared for the next advance. 

 For companies unable to support expensive research 

 laboratories, the iiroblcm of keeping abreast of new 

 developments is difiicult ; yet through trade associations, 

 commercial laboratories, and universities the small 

 concern has been able to strengthen its position tlirough 

 research. This necessity for seeking new methods and 

 new products has brought new life to many companies. 

 Inefficient methods have fallen before the impact of 

 applied science; growth has replaced atrophy. 



DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIZED RESEARCH WITHIN INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES 



For vtost of the material which follows, the author is greatly 

 indebted to the executives and directors of research in the respective 

 companies whose laboratories are described. In viany instances 

 the wording follows closely that of the accounts which were sent to him. 



The reader mil perhaps be aware that, in these pages many 

 important laboratories are not discussed. The short lime available 

 for the preparation of this report made such omissions inevitable. 



Chemicals 



American Cyanamid Company 



When the American Cyanamid Company acquired 

 the American patent rights to the cyanamid process, 

 there was a relatively small pilot plant in operation in 

 Germany, an operating unit of commercial size in 

 Italy, and a number of scattered plants under construc- 

 tion in Europe. To construct its first cyanamid 

 unit at Niagara Falls, Canada, the company brought 

 from abroad engineers, operating experts, and special 

 items of equipment. An organization made up wholly 

 of Americans was assembled, however, and in 1909 a 

 research department was established to develop methods 

 and means of converting the crude product into a 

 fertilizer material which could be used in the American 

 fertilizer mixtures. This research was carried on with 

 the scattered facilities in the plant and in institutional 

 laboratories. 



In 1912 a formal research laboratory was established, 

 and 3 years later a building was erected at Warners, 

 N. J., to house its activities. At this time about six men 

 spent their full time in the laboratory. With the out- 

 break of the First World War, the company, knowing 



By means of a questionnaire executives in every known research 

 laboratory in the country were asked for historical material concern- 

 ing the laboratories in their respective companies. An additional 

 appeal was made to the directors of research in more than 76 

 laboratories known to be especially active in their industries. In 

 some instances no reply was received; in others the account either 

 was not historical in character or was too brief to be useful. 



it would be called upon for many products derived from 

 cyanamid, organized a special stafl" to develop and pro- 

 duce them. Not until early in 1919 could this emer- 

 gency service be abandoned and the personnel reorgan- 

 ized into a new research unit principally occupied with 

 investigations of cyanamid derivatives. 



During the 10 years from 1919 to 1929, the Cyana- 

 mid Company acquired three other enterprises: the 

 Selden interests at Pittsburgh and Bridgoville, Pa., 

 with a modern laboratory at Pittsburgh; the Calco 

 Company at Bound Brook, N. J., with a highly de- 

 veloped laboratory; and the Lederle Laboratories, with 

 an excellent central laboratorj' at Pearl River, N. Y., 

 as well as some other widely scattered research facilities. 



The laboratories at Warners and at Linden, having 

 proved entirely inadequate, were abandoned; and a new 

 research center was established at Stamford, Conn., 

 which later absorbed the Pittsburgh and Bridgeville 

 units. At present the company operates three major 

 units: one at Stamford for research, both fundamental 

 and applied, in pharmaceuticals and mining chemicals; 

 one at Bound Brook for the study of coal-tar products; 

 and one at Pearl River for the study of biologicals, 

 serums, vaccines and for specialized pharmaceutical 



