Kodak has to decide whether to make a major investment in the production facility is built around a new technology for the production of gelatin essential to many films and paper products. At present, the gelatin solution is a secret art, unchanged in 150 years, and is highly dependent on sensory skills of experienced craftsmen. New process in the pilot stage now, it's a chemical reaction that reduces the processing time by one step from 6 months up to 48 hours, and that is much more "scientific." However, the old plant is fully paid, the new process is only one potential for improvement, and the demand for gelatin fall. "Hide
by Dorothy Leonard-Barton, Brian J. Delacey Source: Harvard Business School 21 pages. Publication Date: September 23, 1986. Prod. #: 687020-PDF-ENG
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