UNINTENDED PURPOSES

In his January column in Modern Machine Shop magazine, Mark Albert wrote an article about what he called “unintended purposes”. These are instances where a product is used beneficially for things that were never intended. One example he gave was Post-It notes that developed from a failed adhesive formulation. You can read the column here: http://www.mmsonline.com/columns/unintended-purposes

I saw a good example Saturday.

Pouches, often made on horizontal form-fill-seal machines, have been growing in popularity for some years now. They replace bottles and other packages in a number of applications. Competition for the consumer eyeball has driven development of many innovative styles and applications.

I am always looking for new applications of current technologies and today I saw one. Pretty obvious when you think about it but I never had. Apparently nobody else ever had either or I would have seen this before.

Our church had a lunch after services. Flowers always brighten any atmosphere and we usually have them at these lunches. It was a little different today. Instead of the typical glass, plastic or ceramic vases, the flowers were in standup pouches.

Not just reused pouches. These were purpose made to be uses as flower vases. Not exactly Baccarat crystal but nice looking all the same.

Every time I think I have seen it all, someone else comes along with a new use for old technology. I always love it when I see something new like this.