Industrial Research 



205 



The British Leather Manufacturers' Research Association. 



The British Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades' Research Associ- 

 ation. 



The Research Association of British Rubber Manufacturers. 



The British .Association of British Flour Millers. 



The British Association of Research for the Cocoa, Choco- 

 late, Sugar, Confectionery, and Jam Trades. 



The British Food Manufacturers' Research Association. 



The Printing and Allied Trades Research Association. 



The British Colliery Owners' Research Association. 



The British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association. 



The British Coal Utilization Research Association. 



The British Pottery Research Association. 



A few trade associations have conducted research 

 without benefit of Government subsid}' and have made 

 important contributions to the advancement of their 

 industries. Among such organizations are: 



The International Tin Research and Development Council. 

 The Gas Research Board (sponsored by the Institution of 



Gas Engineers and the British Gas Federation). 

 The Shellac Research Bureau. 

 Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers, Ltd. 

 Institute of Brewing. 



The Government research laboratories have many 

 notable accomplishments to their credit. While they 

 have lagged somewhat behind in industrial research, the 

 application of their results to industry will probably be 

 further extended. 



The National Physical Laboratory performs both 

 research and development work. It plays an important 

 part in cooperation with the Department of Scientific 

 and Industrial Research, which supports a considerable 

 volume of the research activities. Its aerodynamics 

 laboratory, supported almost entirch^ by the Air 

 Ministry, is the most important center of aviation 

 research in the British Empire and is engaged in much 

 war work. The laboratory is understood to be doing 

 considerable research for other departments of 

 defense. Its gross expenditures in 1937-38 were 

 £252,209, and receipts £141,302. 



The work of the Fuel Research Board corresponds 

 closely in many respects to that of the Coal Division of 

 the United States Bm-eau of Mines, its main object being 

 the application of science for better utilization of British 

 coal resources. Its gross expenditures in 1937-38 were 

 £103,240 and receipts, £8,458. The Chemical Research 

 Laboratory has numerous achievements to its credit, a 

 recent interesting one being the application of certain 

 forms of synthetic resins to purification of water. 



The trade association plan of cooperative research has 

 not been free from certain disadvantages and criticisms. 



The principal difficulty has been the equitable distribution of 

 the results. The larger companies equipped with laboratories 

 apply the results of fundamental investigations and gain a com- 

 mercial advantage. It has been a problem to devise a plan by 

 which the smaller concerns can participate in the results of 

 cooperative research for which they have paid their proportionate 



share. One solution has been to encourage the small concern to 

 u.se the laboratory as a school for foremen in the study of new 

 processes.^ 



Sir Frank Healh, former secretary of the Department 

 of Scientific and Industrial Research, has pointed out 

 other difficulties in the system. Firms have failed to 

 use discoveries. A discovery made by one research 

 body may be useful to another industry, yet be neg- 

 lected. New devices have been "still-born," either 

 because plant and staff necessary to translate them to 

 commercial practice were lacking or because funds were 

 unavailable. 



Instances of the iiuibility of certain industries in need 

 of research but unable to raise the minimum of £5,000 

 per year necessary to receive Government support have 

 been numerous. The plastics industry has secured 

 what service it can from the Chemical Research Labora- 

 tory at Teddington. For the same reason research on 

 hard fibers has been combined with that on linen, and 

 that on silk with research on cotton. The rayon in- 

 dustry formerly had its own laboratory, but transferred 

 its work to the cotton laboratory. 



The necessity for meeting the £5,000 annual quota 

 has compelled some of the association laboratories to 

 devote most of their time to routine testing and 

 trouble shooting in order to keep the industries sold 

 on the value of the work, and some research car- 

 ried out in these laboratories has been done almost 

 surreptitiousl}'. 



It is obvious from a review of the work undertaken, that the 

 Department (of Scientific and Industrial Research) furnishes 

 research personnel and facilities for the work of industries and 

 associations having an insufficient volume to justify separate 

 organizations of tlieir own.' 



When the British Government, after the war, began the 

 creation and maintenance of state-subsidized research labora- 

 tories for certain industries, it cannot truthfully be said that 

 industry in general in England was research conscious.* 



This situation has undergone great change, especially in 

 recent years, according to numerous authorities. In 

 1937 it was said that "industry in England is 'research 

 minded' and apparently feels that the future prosperity 

 of their own companies and the nation depends upon 

 the results of research." ^ In the same yenv it was re- 

 ported that the keynote of organized research in 

 England was — 



Speed-up and extension of industrial research in the national 

 program . . . particularly the scientific refinement of existing 



2 Holland. Maurice. Research in Europe. A comparative study of the national 

 and industrial organization. Presented before the Division of Engineering and 

 Industrial Research of the National Research Council, November U, 1924. 



' Harris, R. C. European laboratory tour impressions. What we found behind 

 the scenes in European research, 1937. 



* Alexander, E. R. Research consciousness among leading indt}str:al nations. 

 Broadcast over Station WABC August 12 1937. 



' Sec footnote 3. 



