{"id":2756,"date":"2022-07-27T07:17:37","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T14:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/eagle\/blog\/?p=2756"},"modified":"2022-07-30T11:33:19","modified_gmt":"2022-07-30T18:33:19","slug":"how-edisons-invention-factory-pioneered-team-collaboration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/how-edisons-invention-factory-pioneered-team-collaboration\/","title":{"rendered":"How Thomas Edison&#8217;s Invention Factory Pioneered Team Collaboration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Thomas Edison\u2019s invention factory brought great minds together, creating a collaborative model still widely used today.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s not too hard to guess that a prolific inventor like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Thomas-Edison\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thomas Edison<\/a> couldn\u2019t have worked alone. Instead, he developed the idea of an invention factory \u2014 a team of collaborators working together in something like an early R&amp;D lab. This way of working was relatively new at the time, and it sought to change the world with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/digital-collaboration-benefits\/\">collaborative problem-solving<\/a>. It ended up transforming the way business is done (even to this day).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thomas Edison had 1,093 patents that covered truly historic inventions like the phonograph and the incandescent light bulb, but one of his most significant contributions may well have been his invention factory. When Edison passed away in 1931, nearly every major corporation was using this model, which continues to this day.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"a-stateoftheart-collaborative-environment\"><strong>A state-of-the-art, collaborative environment<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter wp-image-2758 is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/eagle\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/edison2.png\" alt=\"vintage-labratory\" class=\"wp-image-2758\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Edison\u2019s lab in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.menlopark.org\/\">Menlo Park<\/a> cost the equivalent of $50,000 and was two stories high, with a machine shop on the first floor and a scientific and chemical laboratory on the second. The lab had the best equipment available at the time, and Edison always worked to have a steady flow of cash that would keep the lab operating at the forefront of innovation. While he initially led his staff very closely, the lab eventually grew so large that Edison transitioned to something more like a mentor \u2014 he provided initial guidance and suggestions to teams who would then independently work their way to a solution, relying on each other to propel the process.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">R&amp;D labs create new jobs, innovative products, and even entirely new industries, thanks to a collaborative work model that recognizes the unique brilliance in each person (and the awesome potential of playing to one another\u2019s strengths in a group setting). In his West Orange lab, Edison employed young men fresh out of colleges and technical schools, whom he referred to as \u201cmuckers.\u201d He worked hard, and he expected the same of his employees, often asking them to test their ideas late into the night.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"high-expectations-and-outstanding-results\"><strong>High expectations and outstanding results<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter wp-image-2759\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/eagle\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/edison3.png\" alt=\"though-idea-innovation\" class=\"wp-image-2759\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Thomas <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Edison ran a tight, demanding ship, but it paid off for his employees. Many commented that, despite the long hours and sometimes harsh criticism, they benefited from being in proximity to the great inventor and their brilliant coworkers. And, really, that\u2019s the beauty of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/successful-design-collaboration-guide\/\">collaboration<\/a>: it allows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/computer-aided-design-cad-trends-innovations\/\">innovators<\/a> the opportunity to surround themselves with driven, talented people and come up with something truly special.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, R&amp;D labs have many different looks, and they may even include remote workers. Edison\u2019s basic idea, however, is still fundamentally used today \u2014 gather smart, motivated people together in the same space (either physical or digital) and work through problems together to produce a product that is ultimately more than the sum of its parts.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Collaboration requires careful coordination and the ability to track multiple versions of ideas, templates, prototypes, and models. By using tools like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/free-trial?mktvar002=4333583001|ORG|&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=other&amp;utm_campaign=4333583dmblogf360&amp;utm_id=4333583001\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Autodesk Fusion 360<\/a>, today\u2019s innovators can effectively collaborate on projects of any scale, keeping a record of a variety of iterations. While Thomas Edison\u2019s methods were less technical, today\u2019s engineers and makers can connect schematic diagrams, work with component placement, route <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/interactive-routing-with-fusion-360-electronics\/\">PCBs<\/a>, and access a comprehensive library, all of which allows for more advanced development and a quicker time to market. Fusion 360 also offers a comprehensive <a href=\"https:\/\/forums.autodesk.com\/t5\/fusion-360\/ct-p\/1234\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">online support community<\/a> \u2014 think of us as a digital version of the workspace Edison created all those years ago. <\/span>Download a free trial today to join our robust community of innovators:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/free-trial?mktvar002=4333583001|ORG|&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=other&amp;utm_campaign=4333583dmblogf360&amp;utm_id=4333583001 \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"766\" height=\"128\" src=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Download-free-trial.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31486\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Download-free-trial.jpg 766w, https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Download-free-trial-300x50.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 766px) 100vw, 766px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thomas Edison\u2019s invention factory brought great minds together, creating a collaborative model still widely used today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3911,"featured_media":33849,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[359],"tags":[207,360,206],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-2756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-electronics-engineering","tag-electronics","tag-electronics-engineer","tag-pcb","dhig-theme--light"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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I joined the EAGLE team 25 years ago to satisfy my passion for being involved with circuit board designs. I\u2019m the Technical Marketing Engineer for Fusion 360 electronics and part of the Fusion 360 community team. I have published best practices articles, Blogs, hundreds of video tutorials, and hosted several electronic design bootcamps. My passion is anything related to the outdoors, especially outdoor photography and hiking.","url":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/author\/edwin-robledo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3911"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2756"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}