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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. L. No. 1298 



its product and find new products to sell. Tlie 

 most advantageous solution of problems of this 

 character can not 'be left to people ■who are 

 busied with the routine problems of sales and 

 production. They can best be handled by a 

 stafE, even if a very small one, set aside for this 

 purpose. I want to suggest that any depart- 

 ment having such functions may be called a 

 research department, and that industrial re- 

 search may be defined for any given establish- 

 ment as all that class of work which enlarges 

 the technical horizon of the establishment be- 

 yoq4 what is necessary for the routine produc- 

 tion and test of its product. Tou will note 

 that this will make a sharp distinction between 

 a research laboratory and a testing laboratory. 

 I should not want to see a chemical laboratory, 

 however large and elaborate its equipment or 

 however highly trained its stafl^ might be, 

 called a research laboratory if its sole function 

 happened to be routine analysis and check on 

 the product. On the other hand, I should like 

 to see any little room with even a very meager 

 equipment and staff, perhaps only a single in- 

 dividual, called a research laboratory provided 

 the functions of that individual and equipment 

 were solely the improvement of processes, in- 

 vestigation of properties of materials new to 

 the industry, development of new products, etc. 

 And I should want to have it called a research 

 department even if the research be chiefly car- 

 ried on in libraries or other places for the pvir- 

 pose of bringing information, elsewhere well 

 known, to an establishment to which that in- 

 formation happens to be new. This concep- 

 tion of research widely recognized might be 

 the occasion for many small industries to start 

 research departments, which these industries 

 now regard as possible only for large capital. 

 In this sense many small industries already 

 have individuals with research functions who 

 have other duties as well and do not clearly 

 recognize their research functions. Under 

 these circumstances both the research and the 

 other work suffer, and as the business develops 

 research does not find the best relation to the 

 work as a whole. 



Research, development and technical control 

 merge into each other at many points, and in 



all but very large establishments can probably 

 best be carried on by a group working under 

 one head. Why attempt lines of demarcation? 



In order that research may find its fixed and 

 recognized place in industry it is desirable 

 that it be carefully planned and controlled, 

 and that its results be carefully watched. So 

 far as I know, these two conditions of the suc- 

 cessful coordination of research with industry 

 have not been discussed. Control in the sense 

 of control of the research in the laboratory 

 after it has been decided on has had discus- 

 sion, and I do not refer to it but to the determi- 

 nation of the subjects which shall be investi- 

 gated in the research department and the 

 decision as to when the research is completed, 

 or, in case it is one that does not lead to satis- 

 factory results, when it shall be abandoned. 

 Por some five or six years this class of decis- 

 ions in connection with our research depart- 

 ment has been made by a committee of which 

 the president of the company, the head of the 

 research department, and representatives of 

 the sales, engineering and production depart- 

 ments are members. This committee, called 

 the research committee, meets once in two 

 weeks, passes on all new subjects for the re- 

 search department to handle, listens to reports 

 on the progress of the work in hand and passes 

 on recommendations in regard to the conclu- 

 sion or discontinuance of work. In this way 

 the work of the research department is well 

 coordinated with the needs of the business as 

 ■a. whole. As a further factor in coordination 

 the head of the research department is one of 

 the board of directors and sits on the executive 

 committee. The research committee has noth- 

 ing to do with the internal administration of 

 the department, which is left entirely to its 

 own staff. 



Records of the results of a research depart- 

 ment can best be kept by the accounting 

 department. It is just as important to know 

 the cost of research as of any other depart- 

 ment, and, as in other cases, the usefulness 

 of the record depends to a very large extent 

 on its subdivision. It is worth while to know 

 what investigations contribute to business 

 success and what ones do not. 



