Material properties infl uence performance, quality and cost - [alookback]

Until the 18th Century emergence of the Industrial Revolution, locally produced metallic and non-metallic raw materials infl uenced s o c i e t a l a n d economic advances. Communities and regions a cqui re d r e p u t a t i o n s f o r the quality of their p r o d u c t s b a s e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y on the qualities of the r a w ma t e r i a l s . T h e I n d u s t r i a l Revolution fostered the transformation from small, guild-governed enterprises to increasingly larger manufacturing enterprises. The Industrial Revolution was also influential in advancing and disseminating scientific and technical knowledge crucial to commercial growth. As manufacturing enterprises grew, they increasingly needed raw materials with known and assured properties.