When the industrial age began, the core mission of a manufacturer was to create a product that would satisfy a need in the marketplace or provide a modern convenience. At the time, the product itself may have been considered new and revolutionary. As manufacturing evolved in the 20th century, competition forced successful companies to invest in product quality and innovation.
To set itself apart from competition in 1936, A. O. Smith patented the process for glass-lining a steel-tank residential water heater. Due to its exceptional ability to resist corrosion, glass-lined water heaters quickly became the gold-standard of the industry and remains so to this day.