Innovation:
Individual hard plastic (e.g. polycarbonate) or metal slabs with two parallel holes into which a matching size of mono filament line is inserted. The devices are sold in a stack with a spool of line inserted through one hole of the stack. The device is pulled off the stack. The loose end of the line is wrapped around the item to be retained, re inserted into the second/vacant hole of the device and the other end is pulled tight. Unused line is cut off with no waste. One combination of thickness and holes size that allows the line to lock with a straight metal slab is:

Line diameter = 0.068 inch
Hole diameter = 0.078 inch
Through a slab that = 0.095 inch thick

In General:
If Mono filament wire Diameter = X
Hole size = X + 0.005 in
Width = 3.5 X
Thickness = X
Distance between holes = 0.5 X
Height = 2 X

There could have additional pairs of holes for attaching multiple items along the same slab.

Some possible uses other than the obvious ones where zip ties are currently used are:
Shoe laces, Clothing ties, pallet tie downs, boat to dock tie ups.