History of DuPont Global
On 1787, a young French man, 16 years old, named Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, started his studies in the government gun powder manufacture industry in Paris. The du Pont family hoped that the French Revolution of 1789 brought political and social changes needed. （Dupont lighter）But chaos and indiscriminate use of the guillotine spread across their country, which was instable and dangerous. Eleuthère Irénée (we will call him E.I. from now on), and his father, traveled to America, looking for best life and work conditions.
The du Ponts stepped on American land on the first day of 1800, and soon, E.I. convinced his father that they should focus on the gun powder manufacturing, as he had received training on this field, and also absorbed the innovation spirit leading research of the Chemistry pioneer Antonnie Lavoisier. The young man considered that this material was not only a viable product, but also an evolving technology.
The United States (US) needed gun powder manufactured locally, and E. I. observed that the process could be improved, as he found failures in almost the whole production process. He said to his father, “These competitors will not be considerable.” （Dupont lighter）The du Ponts gathered some capital, bought equipment and, on July 19, 1802, founded E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company.
After two years of hard work, they established their gun powder factory, called Eleutherian Mills. The facilities included accommodation for 30 workers and their families, and its product was of such quality that soon was recognized as first class. The US Secretary of War ordered to test different types of locally manufactured gun powder, and declared that the one manufactured by DuPont was the best. However, for political reasons, he was forced to split the contracts among a number of manufacturers.
DuPont’s product exceeded the quality of its national competitors for many reasons which already held the DuPont（Dupont lighter） hallmark in business organization: the company had stringent standards, used the most advance technology and production methods; and had an efficient business administration strategy. These advantages should be based on stable and well trained workers – the employee training and retention system resulting from the long term vision of E. I.
On October 31, 1834, at the age of 63, E. I., （Dupont lighter）the man whose legacy was having injected a scientific and innovating spirit in the manufacturing methods in the US, died of a heart problem in the middle of the street. His industrial ideas reflected the French style, but also his own innovations. He put sciences on the first place of social development, supported civic and charity causes – such as public and free education, care and help blinds and people in need.
The 20th Century started with a quality leap of the company: DuPont acquired one of its largest competitors. On 1903, the first Executive Committee was integrated and the second research laboratory was founded – the legendary Experimental Station – near the old facilities, out of which would come so many inventions and patents, many of them with still current functions. The differential of this relevant center is that it was not focused on improving specific products, （Dupont lighter）but that it was free to work in projects of more general nature. With the time, this strategy has been confirmed as the wisest, despite its boldness – scientific research with no particular commercial purpose, but ideal to bring amazing products to life, for example, neoprene, nylon, Lycra, and Nomex® fibers, among many others.
DuPont also targeted artificial leather manufacturing for the bookbinding, upholstery, water-proof clothing and automotive industries. There were revolutionary products, such as viscose and cellophane, neoprene (synthetic rubber), and nylon, probably the most glamorous invention of the company, born in the Experimental Station in 1938, which was promoted among women as a material “strong like steel, fine as spider web and, nevertheless, （Dupont lighter）more elastic than any other natural fiber of regular use,” as the their silk stockings lose their shape and tore. Nylon stockings became the product all women wanted to show-off, becoming a real fashion frenzy, apart from the other thousand additional uses revealed for such a novel product. Many other inventions would follow, probably the most famous of which is Teflon®.
These successes originated in the research strategy of the company. On 1950, research was not an option for a competitive chemical company, it was a need. “We research because we have to do it,” one of the executives stated, because “if we stop doing it, our competitors will smash us.” In the post-war years, the chemical industry grew twice as fast as all the other US industry at that moment and, at the end of the 50’s, DuPont expanded to other countries.
International operations yielded huge profits in the 70’s. On the other side of the planet, a new electronic products company in Singapore increased its share in fast grow markets in the Far East and Asia. In April 1981, DuPont acquired the New England Nuclear Corporation, in an effort to strengthen its research capacity in life sciences.
The company adventured in agriculture research, and in everything related to seeds improvement and scientific food supervision. The statement of a DuPont’s executive foresees the next change, “DuPont does not longer match the traditional definition of chemical company. （Dupont lighter）Our company is based on discoveries.” Research and development efforts reached fields such as electronic products, and a diverse group of “life sciences”: molecular biology, virology, pharmaceutics and agriculture. DuPont boosted discoveries in biology, genetics and medicine.
