Dry Plate photography was invented by Dr. Richard L. Maddox in 1871.
Charles Bennett invented a method of hardening the emulsion in 1873. It became more resistant to friction. He also discovered that by heating emulsion for a long time or a longer than usual time the speed of the emulsion was increased greatly.
George Eastman developed a plate coating machine in 1879.
George Eastman began to study photography in 1877 using wet plate methods. He subscribed to the British Journal of Photography and in the first issue he received read that Charles Bennett had made dry plates faster in exposure to light. George Eastman used to make his own emulsions and pour it from a teakettle onto glass plates, using a glass rod to move it around. Then he invented a machine to do it.
Dry plate photographers advertised greatly in photographic journals in the mid 1870s. Everyone used to make their own dry plates.
pbs.org the Wixard of Photography
Joseph Wilson Swan is said to have invented the dry plate in 1871 also. (The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopaedia)
In 1878 dry plates were produced greatly because of experiments by J Burgess and Richard Kennett that made stable emulsion and greater sensitivity. By 1880 sensitivity was so great that only a fraction of a second was required to expose a plate.
edinphoto.org.uk, Early Photographic Processes, Dry Plates
I guess I am to become an amateur dry plate manufacturer. They are so slow now that I could run and get into the picture before the cap is to be replaced over the lens. I have a home darkroom, a cottage industry, making dry plates. Starting with the very simplest materials and tools, I have made dry plate negatives. My work is documented, noted, printed into books, and shared on the internet. I too am excited to do this work as were the gentlemen of old. Photographic materials are readily available today as they were in 1880.
Try prolonged heating of emulsion during the ripening stage to increase sensitivity like Charles Bennett did in 1878.