June 1963…
This rake handle yardstick can help you space your plants accurately.
To create your own, paint narrow rings around the rake handle six inches apart and mark the one-inch and two-inch spaces.
Martin Gilliard
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May 1963…
Rails brace moving cargo. Slotted rails and telescoping, spring-loaded poles, according to this recent patent, might speed cargo handling, reduce in-transit damage and lessen the need for placing items in crates.
The rails would be fastened to the roof, floor, and sides of the truck or freight car. Snapping pole ends into holes would keep the cargo from shifting.
July 1963…
This projector turns words into pictures.
The New York police are now using a quick-identification projector invented by one of their own members.
It puts together from coded slides a verbal description of a wanted man and projects his image on a screen where it can be photographed and distributed.
It works from slides offering 600 combinations of facial features, similar to a previous system, but with important differences. The system, unlike the earlier one, uses a projector, and in addition, has built into it a series of wafer-thin mirrors that can distort any of the features at a press of a button.
A chin can be lengthened, nose shortened, or eyes widened if a witness desires. The machine cuts the work of hours down to minutes.
Detective Peter Smith, who used to draw identification pictures, developed the machine on his own time and money and turned it over to the department without charge.
Process innovation can be just as important as product innovation. We are all aware of everyday product innovations such as those in the latest flat-screen televisions, computer displays, or cell phones.
Often we are not so aware of the innovations to processes that take place in order to reduce the unit production costs of such products.
Innovations of this nature often use such techniques as business process reengineering or lean-based tools to analyze a process and reduce the number of steps by removing any redundant, repetitive, or simply wasteful process steps.
It is about applying knowledge and thinking to create services with new processes.
Process innovations can be classified as radical when they deliver significant differences from existing processes.
EXAMPLES:
Traditionally glass making went through a number of steps…
- Furnace: melting of the raw material ingredients
- Casting: the glass in a mold
- Hardening: the glass in a special oven
- Grinding and polishing: the glass using various grades of abrasives
Pilkington glass in the 1960s revolutionized this process by combining all of the steps into a single process known as the “float glass process” in which raw materials were fed into a furnace at one end and then a continuous strip of molten glass would be fed into the oven for hardening.
This float process eliminated the need to grind and polish the glass and in turn gave Pilkington a major competitive advantage in the glass-making process for many years.
An innovative process often needs to precede an innovative product in order for a product to be manufactured at a price that the market will accept.
REFERENCES:
Katz R (2009) The Innovators Toolkit – 10 Practical Strategies to Help You Develop and Implement Innovation, Boston, Harvard Business School Publishing
Carlo, J, Lyytinen, K, & Rose, G (2012), ‘A Knowledge-based model of radical innovation in small software firms’, MIS Quarterly, 36, 3, pp. 865-A10
Anybody can operate a new machine that prints 1,500 show cards a day, for it works as easily as a typewriter.
No setting of type is necessary. The device is provided with a row of holes, each representing a letter or figure.Cards may be printed in two colors at a single operation.
According to the inventor, the device prints signs at a fraction of the cost of ordinary printing and turns out work of more finished quality than could be done by hand.
November 1963…
A new mortar containing plastic lets builders bond bricks together into panels that can be lifted into place in any weather. Panels were braced in steel frames 4 by 5 to 4 by 14 feet, raised to the roof of an eight-story Denver building, and welded to become penthouse walls.
The extra-strength mortar was made from cement, sand, and Sarabond liquid polymer, a Dow Chemical development.
Imagination is a key differentiator between us and other animal that we share this planet with.
Don’t waste this skill. Improve your creative abilities by using your imagination to its full advantage.
You can use imagination to take you forward in time, backwards in time, replay events or freeze time.
You can also use your imagination to visit unseen places such as faraway planets. Use your imagination to change your perspective – fly in the sky and view something from above.
Make the vision in your mind larger, smaller, thinner, wider or faster, or slower. Try changing the color or the purpose of what you are viewing.
Imagination is limitless so start daydreaming and practicing this skill immediately. However please don’t try this while driving a vehicle!
I have recently had my kitchen renovated. The kitchen is now finished and looks great.
The whole process from start to finish though took 6 weeks to complete. During that time my wife and I had to live out of a temporary kitchen that we put together in our living room.
My idea is to have a portable kitchen complete with electricity, water, and appliances that can be placed/installed on the driveway until the renovations have been completed.
September 1963…
This pool cover with air pockets might extend the swimming season far into the fall. One side of the plastic mattress would be covered with a dark film to absorb solar heat and transmit it to the water. The light-colored heat reflector on the reverse side would help cool the water in the summer.
April 1963…
Plug-in vest heats from dashboard.
Riders in open cars, boats, tractors, or on motorcycles can now keep warm on cold days, says the inventor of this plug-in vest.
It has flexible heating elements enclosed in plastic front and back panels and it plugs into a cigarette-lighter receptacle connected to a 6, 12, or 24-volt battery.
Normally worn inside the jacket, the French device is demonstrated above on a cold day in London. When not in use the plug can be tucked in a pocket.