Demetrius Comino

Early career Demetrius (always known as 'Dimitri') Comino (Greek: Δημήτριος Κομηνός) was born in Sydney, the eldest son of a Greek oyster merchant who had migrated from the island of Kythira in 1884. He demonstrated his creativity aged 12 when he invented a toy submarine,

The printing business grew quickly, but Comino never felt happy in printing and wanted further business challenges. trolleys; chutes; a duplicate book; interlocking frames to hold print in place inside the chase; and a compositor's chart. As a printer, he was also concerned about the lack of versatility of the wooden shelving often for storing paper and other consumables. He began to work on steel shelving which could readily be assembled, dismantled and then reassembled. By 1939 he had developed an angled section made of steel with slots cut down one side and a long groove cut down the other. Birmingham-based Accles & Pollock manufactured an initial batch which was delivered in late August, a week before the declaration of the Second World War on 3 September 1939, and Comino sold most of this angled section to local stores of Lillywhites, John Lewis and Selfridges. but sales were initially disappointing, partly due to post-war cash payment requirements. However, sales and production increased to 50,000 feet per week in 1949, generating a business turnover of £500,000 that year. During 1950, the Dexion strips began to be used for exhibitions, and production reached 125,000 feet per week, and a new Dexion factory was opened in Enfield. so Dexion patents were restricted to slot and hole configurations, and other UK and European companies began offering different hole patterns and metal strip thicknesses. But by 1956 Dexion's turnover exceeded £2m, and of the company's 700 employees, 200 were based outside its three UK plants – in factories in Australia, Belgium and Canada, with licensees in other countries (France, Chile, Spain, Argentina and the US).

The main scoreboard and television platform at the 1956 Winter Olympics' ski stadium at Cortina d'Ampezzo was constructed from Dexion, and Ghana's independence celebrations in 1957 involved grandstands for 10,000 people, six miles of crush barriers and 500 bunting poles – all made of Dexion. and British Pathe newsreels. Dexion made a similar gesture following the 1963 Skopje earthquake, providing Dexion building frame materials to enable 49 Royal Engineers to build 1560 dwellings, enough for two complete villages, one of which was nicknamed Dexiongrad. Comino was appointed OBE in 1963 for services to industry.

The Comino Foundation

Throughout his working life, Comino had looked to develop generic approaches to practical problem-solving.

In parallel, Comino was also involved with discussions about 'anti-industrial' attitudes, and the Comino Foundation funded a fellowship which enabled Kenneth Adams to study and identify the causes of such views, producing a report "Attitudes to Industry in Britain" in 1979. The next Comino Fellowship was awarded through the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), which established a Comino Fellowship Committee 'to change the cultural attitude to industry from one of lack of interest or dislike to one of concern and esteem'. This eventually led to a joint government/industry initiative to promote 1986 as "Industry Year", with the RSA and the Comino Foundation providing core funding of £250,000 – which persuaded the Confederation of British Industry to raise £1 million and government departments to provide £3 million.

The Comino Foundation continues, and supports Comino Centres at the University of Winchester, Sheffield Hallam University and Liverpool John Moores University.

Comino is also commemorated through an annual award by the Supply Chain & Logistics Association of Australia, which since 1980 has presented an annual "Storage and Handling of Materials Award" trophy dedicated to the Dexion founder.