Masonry Magazine April 1984 Page. 7
MASONRY RESEARCH
What the Industry Is Doing to Increase Its Market Share
By DORIS LACKEY
It was just four years ago that the first meeting of the Advisory Council to the Masonry Research Foundation met and developed for our industry their recommendations for a masonry research agenda. It is a real tribute to the Mason Contractors Association of America and the Bricklayer's Union that they recognized the importance of research to the construction side of the industry, and joined with the product manufacturers to see that needed research was undertaken. You are all aware, I'm sure, that BIA, NCMA and PCA have undertaken research on their specific products over a period of years. But the establishment of MRF represented a real breakthrough for our industry, because it meant that for the first time research in masonry was being approached on an industry-wide basis.
Currently, MRF has an income of approximately $65,000 a year, which is contributed by the masonry industry organizations participating in MRF. When the Foundation was established in 1980, the participants pledged to support the Foundation to this degree for a five-year period. After the invoices are sent out for 1985, that five-year period will be up. Then we will face a new decision-where do we go from here?
I am going to report to you on MRF specific projects, but before doing so, I would like to talk a little about research in general, and perhaps take a look at what other industries are doing.
The National Science Foundation annually surveys research and development in industry. The last report, for which we have data, is 1980. In the category called "fabricated structural metal products," it appears that approximately $190 million was spent on research. In the category called "structural clay products," which includes brick, structural clay tile, ceramic wall and floor tile, refractories and structural clay units, it is reported that the annual investment in research was $4.9 million. That comes out to about 2.5 percent of the amount of money spent for fabricated structural metal products research.
The R&D problem we have becomes clearly apparent when we compare the investment that the masonry industry makes in masonry industry research today with the amount invested by other major building industries like the wood industry, the metal products industry, or the glass and plastics industry. We find ourselves sadly lacking, and it is fair to conclude that the loss of market share for masonry which has been continuous over the last decade can partially be attributed to the fact that we are not putting the kind of resources into research or marketing that other industries are willing to commit.
We're told that in a survey of major companies now being conducted by the Harvard Business School, which looks at how companies allocate their resources, in nearly every instance, thus far, at least one percent of gross sales has gone into research and development and more than one percent into marketing and promotion.
Recently the Advisory Board to the Built Environment, which is the construction research board of the National Academy of Sciences and on which BAC president Jack Joyce sits, heard a presentation from a Japanese construction company. The report from that company, which is one of the biggest in the world, is that a full one percent of their gross receipts goes into R&D.
About the Author
Doris Lackey is assistant secretary to the Masonry Research Foundation as well as assistant to the president for industry relations for the International Union of Bricklayers & Allied Craftsmen in Washington, D.C. Her comments have been adapted from her presentation at the 34th MCAA International Masonry Conference in New Orleans, La., January 31, 1984.
Results of Marketing Study
The Masonry Industry Committee, which is comprised of the same organizations as the Masonry Research Foundation, undertook a marketing study several years ago. In one of the first study reports the researchers estimated that the masonry industry in the United States has annual total receipts of about $10 billion. One percent of that is $100 million. The Masonry Research Foundation is contributing $65,000 a year towards the $100 million we need to approximate 1% of the industry receipts for research.
That's not to say that we are not making progress in the masonry industry. The creative and unprecedented programs created by the Mason Contractors Association and the International Union in restructuring the International Masonry Institute to concentrate on market development, research, training, and labor-management relations is a strong step toward enhancing our competitive ability, and although we have a long way to go, at least we're on our way.
The unprecedented step of the product manufacturers and the construction segment of our industry in getting together as they have in the Masonry Research Foundation and the Masonry Industry Committee is another step toward stabilizing and, perhaps, recapturing masonry's share of the building market.
I'm going to describe the way a project is conceived and begun as an example of the method by which most of our research projects are determined and implemented. Last spring, at the annual meeting of the Advisory Council to the Masonry Research Foundation, a group of 26 outstanding architects, engineers, practitioners and government liaison representatives met and developed a priority research list of four projects which they recommended to the Board.