Allied Signal contacted Lon in 1991 to help them acclimate sales persons in their agricutural division to lap top computers. Training involved contact management software (Act), tele-communications (email), general computer usage, and simple spread sheets. The program lasted 3 days.
Category: Projects
Early in the days of two floppy personal computer, taught Lotus 1-2-3, Symphony, and dBase and created course materials hard to find at the time.
More recently participated in their Web Master´s certification program teaching courses including HTML, Javascript and Web Design.
The problem
The AT&T 6300 was AT&Ts clone version of the Intel 8088 chip present in the first IBM personal computer. At that time “clones” were rare and unreliable.
The solution
To demonstrate the 6300´s compatibility Lon was contracted to create an automated example using Lotus 1-2-3 DOS version 1A. Lotus 1-2-3 was considered a benchmark for personal computer compatibility. Lon used the macro language feature in Lotus to automate the demonstration. AT&T used this Lotus macro in convincing the personal computer world that their 6300 would run all the same software that the IBM personal computer did.
Secrecy
Lon was under a top secret agreement during the project and was not able to reveal the existence of the AT&T personal computers to anyone. He recalls the floppy disks from Microsoft having various customized versions of MSDOS for AT&T to use in their eventual product branding.
The race against time
The project involved a race against replacing failing Phillips accounting machine. Although the Philips accounting machine was maintained by a local firm, it would fail regularly resulting in downtime until service technicians arrived to revive its failling motors, gears and sprockets.
The system
System allowed Devonsheer to continue current procedures and paper work for delivery of their baking products to multiple locations with multiple jobbers while it also eliminated a manual accounting effort of consolidating the multiple store billing requirements into one statement for chain food retailers like Shoprite.
The space heater component
A key element to the system was training and motivating the system operator. The person who operated the Philips machine for years was designated to operate the new system to be located at her desk. The desk was part of an open office clerical area in a factory type of building. The Philips system was large and was located in an 8 foot by 8 foot room. The person resisted learning the new system despite it being easier to use and more functional for the company. Lon discovered the reason for the resistance being that the office area was generally drafty and occasionally chilly. The room with the Philips machine was warm because the machine generated a lot of heat. Lon presented the issue to management and recommended a space heater for the new location. Management was resistant at first because it involved hiring an electrical contractor for adequate wiring and the possible issue of all other staff wanting the same space heating. Once the space heater was promised, the operator had a change of attitude and learned the new system quickly.
The race against time
Lon was called in because of a failing Wang mini-computer. The company owner had been in a race to transition to personal computers. When it became apparent that results from other software developers proved insufficient, Lon was recommended. Revamping the project goals, integrating in-house resources with the project and adding an aggressive work schedule that included near round the clock work hours the software conversion was completed in time. The Wang computer failed within days after the replacement software was completed.
The software
Multi-user system taking orders from over 10,000 items, produce factory picking documents, and track receivables. Contains complete accounting functions. Because of integration with in-house staff, the company was able to maintain regular software upgrades without dependence on outside resources. The project reduced the cost of the critical system operations adding to the profit margin in a very competitive business.
Full order entry and inventory tracking for high ticket ($500 – $10,000) garmets sold direct to customers at high volume weekend shows held in multiple locations.
“Inventoried” multiple rental rates for homogenous products delivered and picked up from sevaral construction sites for same customer. Controls information for developing the quotation, managing the shipping yard, and billing. Location and quantities of any stock item tracked in real time. Multi – user and multi-site via telecommunications.
Daily data downloads from the Wizard of Avis are processed to provide up-to-date profit and loss analysis by rental station. Handles long term rentals, maintenance, insurance claims, and traffic court fine tracking. Exports receivable and payable information for internal accounting software. Project involved a race to replace a failing IBM mini computer.