The Birth and Quiet Death of Definitions

Early in my career, I was the Quality Assurance Manager at the Sparrows Point, Maryland ceiling grid plant. Grid is the metal framework that supports ceiling tiles, and it’s a product where precision matters. The slightest variation in length—thousandths of an inch—can keep the tiles from fitting correctly, especially in long ceiling runs like you’d find in airports or large office buildings.

Most of the time, ceiling grid is meant to disappear into the background. Our corporate team was working on a product they believed would change that—a grid that would intentionally stand out. The idea was to improve the aesthetics of the ceiling using a three-dimensional face.

The product was called “Definitions.” It was a plastic cap, molded into various profiles, designed to snap onto the face of the ceiling grid to give it a bold, new look. Marketing was confident they could sell millions of feet of it. Our plant was chosen to be the first to bring it to life.

There was a technical challenge. Ceiling grid is made of metal and produced in a continuous process—roll formed, pressed, and finished all in one line. The plastic cap couldn’t be added as part of that process. It would have to be applied in a separate, manual operation.

We cleared out a section of the plant and set it up as the Definitions production area. Because the white plastic cap was highly susceptible to dirt and grime—and our main lines used lubricants—we enclosed the area with plastic curtains to keep it isolated and clean. Finished grid would be brought over, the caps snapped on, with the final product packaged and stored in a dedicated warehouse area.

Our first attempts to attach the plastic caps were unsuccessful. It wouldn’t locate properly and stay on the grid. Eventually, we designed simple fixtures to help guide and secure the cap during the process. Once we figured that out, we developed standard operating procedures and set up a two-person team: one to place the caps in position on the grid, and the other to apply the pressure, using a special piece of equipment.

Even with the process in place, everything had to be almost perfect. The cap had to be placed with pinpoint accuracy, and its width had to match the grid within .002” (less than the width of a human hair) or it would pop off.

Progress was painfully slow. Contamination, inconsistency, tight tolerances, and poor productivity constantly worked against us. Producing Definitions took many times longer than making standard grid.

We produced 250,000 linear feet of the product. By the time we wrapped up the first run, every operator on the line made it clear—they didn’t want to do it again. It was just too tedious, too frustrating, and too slow.

The product sat in our warehouse for years. If anyone ever bought a box, I don’t remember it. Feedback from installers was brutal: the caps were too delicate, required gloves to handle, and slowed them down so much that using it actually lost them money.

While Definitions itself was a failure, it sparked a line of thinking that led to real innovation. The idea of a dimensional grid look lived on—and eventually, we developed new products that achieved a similar aesthetic directly on the main manufacturing lines. Those products were far easier to make, faster to install, and went on to become successful alternatives to standard grid. They’re still sold today.