The House Magaz ine of Rank Xerox Mi tche ldean

Ju ly /August '85 No. 172

Aforkl l f t in bid. 32 comes in handy as a dolly for the camera crew. B e l o w QA inspector Michael Davies is interviewed by producer Bill Young before he is f i lmed making up the station quality chart for 1025 frames.

W h e n t h e B B C a n d t h e O p e n Un i ve rs i t y l e a r n e d o f t h e Rank X e r o x d r i v e f o r t o t a l qua l i t y i m p r o v e m e n t , t h e y d e c i d e d t h i s w o u l d p r o v i d e idea l ma te r i a l f o r i n c l u s i o n in a d e g r e e c o u r s e o n m a n u f a c t u r i n g .

T h e c o u r s e , w h i c h c o u l d lead t o a n M S c , o r be s t u d i e d f o r i n t e r e s t b y p r o f e s s i o n a l s , c o v e r s e x c i t i n g n e w d e v e l o p m e n t s in i n d u s t r y , w i t h q u a l i t y f e a t u r i n g as a key i n g r e d i e n t in i m p r o v i n g m a n u f a c t u r i n g c o m p e t i t i v e n e s s .

T h e c o u r s e t e a m w e r e d i r e c t e d t o M i t c h e l d e a n p l a n t a n d m a n y w i l l h a v e seen t h e BBC f i l m un i t d u r i n g t h e i r t h r e e -d a y v is i t last J u n e w h e n t h e y r e c o r d e d v a r i o u s e l e m e n t s o f o u r q u a l i t y p r o c e s s .

T h e y f o c u s s e d o n t h e w a y w e so l ve

q u a l i t y p r o b l e m s a n d i m p r o v e o u r q u a l i t y t h r o u g h t e a m w o r k : t h e y f i l m e d t h e m a n u ­f a c t u r e o f f u s e r ro l l s a n d t h e a s s e m b l y o f s m a l l c o p i e r s in b i d . 3 2 , as w e l l as i n t e r v i e w i n g a n u m b e r o f m a n a g e r s .

In t h e f u s e r ro l l c e n t r e , t h e y c o n c e n ­t r a t e d o n t h e Q IP p r o j e c t t o i m p r o v e p r e s s u r e ro l l y i e l d w h i c h r e c e n t l y w o n a T o p T e a m ' a w a r d .

S a i d t e a m l e a d e r L a r r y S t e r r e t t , ' T h e u n i t s e e m e d v e r y i m p r e s s e d by t h e s o p h i s t i c a t e d ana l ys i s t e c h n i q u e s w e u s e d a n d t h e w a y w e w o r k e d t o g e t h e r : w h i l e t h e r e w a s a s p e c i f i c p r o j e c t t e a m , t h e o p e r a t o r s o n t h e s h o p f l o o r c o n t r i ­b u t e d v a l u a b l e i d e a s a n d s u g g e s t i o n s

. r • Continued overleaf

Quality at work

MORE TOP TEAM A WARDS The T o p Teams ' 8 5 s c h e m e has b e c o m e "an essent ia l facet of ou r qua l i t y i m p r o v e men t dr ive," said Dav id Stokes, site d i rec to r des ignate , w h e n he p res ided at t he s e c o n d award p resen ta t i on he ld o n T h u r s d a y 18 July, in the S h o w r o o m .

The s tandard w a s ex t remely h i gh , a n d m a n a g e m e n t w e r e very e n c o u r a g e d by the response , he sa id . ' W e feel tha t it is a w a y of ge t t i ng e m p l o y e e i nvo l vemen t r ight d o w n t h r o u g h the bus iness a n d it is ach iev ing the goals of the plant. W e bel ieve

Critical consumables stock team - Tony Nurden, leader OIlie Evans and Roger Imm (Gordon Grey, the fourth member, was unable to come along).

David Stokes presents a Top Team award to Neil Jones, standing in for Keith Wilding who led the 1025 paper feed problems team; the other members of the team are (from left) Tony Nelmes, John Buck, John Perry, Dave Wood and Keith Marfell.

It IS g o i n g to get better a n d better." A s s e s s m e n t s of t he p ro jec ts s u b m i t t e d

w e r e , he sa id , based o n a n u m b e r of t h i n g s — h o w the p ro jec t w a s ac t ive ly s u p p o r t e d b y t h e t e a m , w h e t h e r a s t ruc tu red a p p r o a c h w a s a d o p t e d , w h a t analy t ica l t oo l s w e r e used , w h e t h e r resul ts had been r e c o r d e d a n d fu l l y eva lua ted a n d , f ina l ly , t he level of creat iv i ty assoc ia ted w i t h the pro jec t .

O n th is o c c a s i o n the re w e r e th ree a w a r d s a n d th ree c i ta t ions ; fo r t he f irst t i m e

the re w e r e ladies a m o n g the t e a m m e m ­bers, a n d several peop le w e r e n o w receiv­ing the i r s e c o n d ind iv idua l cer t i f icate. Ol l ie Evans ( c o m m o d i t y opera t ions ) , in fact , had m o v e d u p f r o m b e i n g a c i t a t i on t e a m leader t o an a w a r d - w i n n i n g one .

The th ree T o p Teams ' rece ived f r a m e d a w a r d s fo r the i r p ro jec ts as f o l l ows :

• C r i t i ca l consumab less tock f team leader— Ol l ie Evans) — ac t i on taken to e l im ina te

Non-standard materials movement team - John Perry, Gordon Blewitt, Richard Passey, Jack Foster and leader Mel Alder (Keith Horrobin and Ron Wilks were also members of the team but couldn't get along to the presentation).

Conl/nueci frorr) p,k/e I

a n d g a v e us t r e m e n d o u s s u p p o r t in t r y i ng t h e s e ou t . "

In b i d . 3 2 t h e u n i t t o o k sho t s , b o t h c l o s e - u p a n d h i g h - u p , o f t h e p r o d u c t i o n l ines a n d f o c u s s e d o n t h e p r o c e s s c o n t r o l s w h i c h w e use t o e n s u r e d e f e c t -f ree m a c h i n e s .

"The m o s t s i g n i f i c a n t a s p e c t of t h e even t is t h e r e c o g n i t i o n by a c a d e m i c b o d i e s l ike t h e O p e n U n i v e r s i t y t h a t w e have t h e ' s t a n d a r d ' f o r o t h e r s t o s t u d y w h e n c o n s i d e r i n g t h e r i g h t a p p r o a c h t o e x c e l l e n c e in qua l i t y , " c o m m e n t e d b u s i ­n e s s & p r o d u c t q u a l i t y a s s u r a n c e m a n a g e r J o h n Hucke t t .

"It p r e s e n t s a n o t h e r o p p o r t u n i t y f o r Rank X e r o x t o d e m o n s t r a t e t o p o t e n t i a l c u s t o m e r s t ha t w e have t h e bes t q u a l i t y p r o d u c t s o n t h e marke t .

"This u n d e r l i n e s a g a i n o u r s u c c e s s last year in w i n n i n g t h e B r i t i sh Q u a l i t y A w a r d a n d m e a n s w e m u s t c o n t i n u e to exce l in q u a l i t y i m p r o v e m e n t t o s tay a h e a d o f t h e c o m p e t i t i o n . "

T h e r e c o r d i n g s w i l l be u s e d in v i d e o a n d o t h e r t e a c h i n g m e d i a : T V t r a n s ­m i s s i o n de ta i l s w i l l n o t be f i n a l i s e d un t i l later t h i s yea r a n d w e ' l l be l e t t i n g y o u k n o w in d u e c o u r s e .

Visitors from overseas Following a visit to IHQ in London and RXEG at Welwyn, Vic Muth, RBG vice-president, quality, spent two days at Mitcheldean in May seeing practical applications of Leader­ship Through Quality. He toured bld.32 and also the fuser roll centre where he is pictured (far left) w i th John Huckett, busi­ness & product quality as­surance manager, Mrs Ann Muth and Don Shryane, EMSD director of business quality & technical support.

Early in July three Fuji Xerox senior personnel visited the site in connection wi th the setting up of regular RXMP, Xerox and Fuji Xerox quality workshops to solve product and parts prob­lems on 1020 /1025 machines. Our picture shows (left) T. Kutsuzawa, F. Minesaki, and (far right) programme manager Y. Oshima with MOC managers John Huckett, Kevin Horrobin and David Stokes in the Show­room.

Sustaining

New director for Mitch eldean On 2 September, David Stokes takes over as director, Mi tcheldean Manufac tur ing Opera­tions.

He succeeds Chris Wood , w h o is leaving the company to take up a senior post w i t h the Motorola organisation.

David, w h o holds an M S c , has been w i t h Rank Xerox for 12 years, dur ing w h i c h t ime he has held a number of senior managerial posit ions in mater ials management , parts m a n u f a c t u r i n g , q u a l i t y a s s u r a n c e a n d assembly operations.

He has been a member of Mi tcheldean Operations Commit tee for t w o years and since June 1984 has been manager, materials, programmes & technical services.

p r o d u c t i o n sho r tages a n d the c o n s e q u e n t add i t i ona l cos ts invo lved w h i c h had c o n ­s iderab ly r e d u c e d the parts base, cu t i nven to r y by 21 per cen t , a n d at t he s a m e t ime i m p r o v e d the w o r k i n g re la t ionsh ip be tween c u s t o m e r and suppl ier .

• N o n - s t a n d a r d m a t e r i a l s m o v e m e n t ( team leader — Me l A lder ) — an invest iga­t ion in to p r o b l e m s based a r o u n d s u s p e c t mater ia l and the set t ing up of a c o n t r o l system to prevent defec t ive parts r each ing the l ine w h i c h has s ign i f i can t l y r e d u c e d line d is rup t ion caused by this p r o b l e m .

• 1 0 2 5 pape r f e e d p r o b l e m s ( team leader — Kei th W i l d i n g ) — a success fu l paper feed m o d i f i c a t i o n , f o l l o w i n g a d e ­tai led inves t iga t ion in to paper j a m rate, enab led l a u n c h da tes to be met , t h u s saving t h o u s a n d s of m a c h i n e p l a c e m e n t s w i t h the h igh revenue impac t w h i c h th is w o u l d have had o n the c o m p a n y .

Personnel d e p a r t m e n t secu red t w o of the th ree c i ta t ions w h i c h w e r e a w a r d e d fo r the f o l l ow ing pro jects .

• V i s i b i l i t y o f p e r s o n n e l d e p a r t m e n t ( team leader — D a v e Lloyd) — not , as personne l m a n a g e r Derek K n i b b s po in ted o u t a p r o b l e m of p e r s o n n e l staff b e i n g invisible(!) but a p ro jec t t o ensu re tha t emp loyees are bet ter i n f o r m e d a b o u t services avai lab le and the loca t i on of t he

Aged 4 2 , he is marr ied w i t h a son and a daughter, and lives at Twyn ing , near Tewkes­bury. His chief interests outside business are mounta ineer ing and the sports of tennis , squash and sw imming .

Comment ing on the changes, Dick Holmes, E M S D director, paid t r ibute to Chris Wood 's contr ibut ion to the European Manufac tu r ing & Supply Division, and to the ach ievements of Mi tcheldean plant.

"I a m delighted David Stokes has accepted th is appo in tment , " he said, "and have every conf idence that he and his team can sustain the remarkably high standards w h i c h have been set at the plant."

staff respons ib le . The so l u t i on w a s a d i sp lay b o a r d p laced at t he e n t r a n c e to t he depa r tmen t : the cos t — just f 5!

• S h e e t m e t a l q u a l i t y ( team leader — T o n y C u d o k ) — ac t i on taken to i m p r o v e qua l i t y a n d de l ivery c o n f o r m a n c e , involv­ing the suppl ier , w h i c h has resu l ted in a m a r k e d i m p r o v e m e n t w i t h qua l i t y per fo r ­m a n c e cu r ren t l y 1 0 0 per cent .

• C o m m u n i c a t i o n s p a c k a g e (team l e a d e r -Kei th Laken) — ensu r i ng tha t a regular o u t p u t of c o m p a n y a n d bus iness i n f o r m ­a t i o n c o n c e r n i n g p e r f o r m a n c e , f u t u r e p r o g r a m m e s , etc., re lated to M i t c h e l d e a n p lan t a n d Rank Xe rox as a w h o l e , is ava i lab le tw ice -year l y in a f o r m su i tab le for all e m p l o y e e s at spec ia l c o m m u n i c a t i o n s p resen ta t ions .

O n c e aga in , a c h e q u e of f 2 0 0 w e n t to

e a c h of t he th ree a w a r d - w i n n i n g t eams a n d spec ia l p resen ta t i on c e r e m o n i e s , to w h i c h t he c h a n t i e s c h o s e n t o benef i t u n d e r t he T o p T e a m ' 8 5 a w a r d s are invi ted, are be ing a r r a n g e d .

Th is year 's f ina l a w a r d s p resen ta t i on wi l l be he ld o n 2 5 S e p t e m b e r , we l l in a d v a n c e of t he Qua l i t y C o n v e n t i o n o n 2 4 O c t o b e r — a p r e s t i g i o u s even t t o w h i c h Dr J . M. J u r a n of t he J u r a n Inst i tu te , USA, t he Rt H o n . J o h n Butcher , M P , a n d o ther e m i n e n t peop le have been inv i ted.

The re w i l l be a qua l i t y e x h i b i t i o n , p lan t t ou rs , a n d a qua l i t y f o r u m at w h i c h t he 1 9 8 5 M i t c h e l d e a n T o p T e a m A w a r d a n d V e n d o r Qua l i t y A w a r d s wi l l be p resen ted , a n d over 3 0 0 peop le f r o m indust ry , g o v e r n m e n t bod ies , the a c a d e m i c w o r l d a n d the press are e x p e c t e d to a t t end in a d d i t i o n to sen io r Xe rox a n d Rank Xe rox pe rsonne l .

Communicat ions package team - Ferruccio Marangon, Caroline Baynham, leader Keith Laken, and Jane Price.

Visibility of personnel department team - and demonstrating their visibility (left) are leader Dave Lloyd, Sister Collins, Jane Price and John Spratley. R igh t : Sheet metal quality team - Mike Bellamy, Bob Parsons, leader Tony Cudok, Brian Sellick and Chris Reed.

.r'rize periormers

Top students Rank Xerox Mitcheldean won the Rank Organi­sation Cup for the 1 9 8 3 / 8 4 session at the West Gloucestershire College of Further Education; this is awarded annually to the f irm whose apprentices gain the best collective results, and Janie Phelps is pictured (left) receiving it on behalf of RXMP apprentices from acting principal Daniel Downing last June. Another award in the department of engineering technology - the South Wales Institute Shield - went to Ian Smith (right) for gaining the best collective course examination results. A TEC certificate (electrical engineering A3) also went to Mat thew Sykes. (This was the final award ceremony to be held by 'Cinderford Tech.', wh ich is destined to be the new Tertiary College.)

CCM vendors win awards T w o of ou r supp l ie rs w e r e recent ly p re ­sen ted w i t h the Xerox M u l t i n a t i o n a l A w a r d of Excel lence fo r 1 9 8 4 .

To qual i fy for th is awa rd , the supp l ie rs had to have an excep t iona l p e r f o r m a n c e record in all areas of bus iness i n c l u d i n g qual i ty, del ivery and cost .

This IS the f irst t ime that awa rds have been issued o n a w o r l d - w i d e basis a n d there w e r e 2 5 rec ip ients a l toge ther ou t of a total supp l ie r base in excess of 2 , 0 0 0 .

The t w o c o m p a n i e s to rece ive the award were :

O t f o r d (EPS) L td — w h o are o u r m a j o r suppl iers of po lys ty rene m o u l d i n g s . By w o r k i n g c lose ly w i t h t he RX p a c k a g i n g c o m m o d i t y t e a m a n d by m o d i f y i n g the i r usual p r o d u c t i o n m e t h o d s , O t f o rd enab led us to ach ieve the 1 0 2 5 p a c k a g i n g cos t target.

Simi lar exerc ises are n o w tak ing p lace o n f u t u r e M i t c h e l d e a n p r o d u c t i o n mach ines .

The award w a s p resen ted to H u g h Smi th , Ot ford 's m a n a g i n g d i rec tor , by Mar i l yn Kunzer, the n o n - p r o d u c t i o n C C M manager f r o m Xerox C o r p o r a t i o n .

R e c s a m (STC) L td — Located at W r e x h a m , the c o m p a n y have s u p p l i e d capac i t o r s t o Rank Xerox fo r m a n y years a n d to Xe rox since b e c o m i n g a C C M vendor .

Bernie H o g a n , C C M manager , e lectr ica l c o m m o d i t i e s fo r t he W e b s t e r G r o u p , p resented the a w a r d to Ivy Rober ts , the assembly superv isor , in t he p resence of a n u m b e r of her co l l eagues p lus t he sen io r m a n a g e m e n t f r o m the va r i ous d i sc ip l i nes w i t h i n Recsam.

Theirs w a s the on ly e lect r ica l c o m p a n y in the UK to receive the a w a r d , a n d the Recsam staff w e r e v is ib ly very p leased to have been selected.

Other UK supp l ie rs w h o w e r e n o m i n ­ated for the Xerox a w a r d , bu t w e r e unsuccess fu l , w i l l be p resen ted w i t h a scrol l of c o m m e n d a t i o n at t he Oual i ty C o n v e n t i o n to be he ld at M i t c h e l d e a n in October .

A proud moment for Otford - at the presentation are (from left) Gerald Black (Otford), Gary Fishburne (RXMP), Chris Levi (Otford), Jeff Sadler (RX WGC), Mari lyn Kunzer (Xerox), Vic Jones (RXMP), Hugh Smith (Otford), Peter Street (RXMP), James Wallis and Robert Tomlinson (Otford).

Another safety 'first'

A N Y N E W S FOR V I S I O N ?

If you have, t hen please — mai l it to me c /o Corporate Affairs, Bid 51 /2 . or leave it at any Gate House for co l l ec t i on by me, or post it to me at Tree Tops, Plump Hi l l , M i t c h e l d e a n , or r ing me — ext 5 6 6 or Dean 5 4 2 4 1 5. Myrtle Fowler, Editor

Last May we heard that Mitcheldean's application for a RoSPA Occupational Safety Award for 1985 had been successful - w e had w o n a gold. It was presented to Graham Bunt, chairman of our Safety Committee, at a special ceremony at the Guildhall in the City of London on 3 July Our picture shows him receiving it f rom the Rt Hon. Tom King, MP, Secretary of State for Employment. (Our Welwyn Garden City plant won a gold award as wel l , demonstrating the commitment throughout the company to a reduction in accidents at work.) Mitcheldean also gained another major safety award in May - the British Safety Council's National Safety Award - for the seventh successive year!

Eyes on Safety Total number of

accidents for period: May/June '84 May/June '85

The total for the current safety year to the end of June is 13, compared with the figure of 18 for the same period a year ago.

'!̂ oss '9' road race

Corporal sets new course record

Kate Phillips went along to give the runners their starting orders.

T h o u g h the coo l , nor ther ly airstreann wasn ' t app rec ia ted by wa tche rs , c o n d i t i o n s w e r e f ine fo r t he runners in th is year 's Ross '9 ' road race held o n Sunday , 1 9 May .

As in 1 9 8 4 , Rank Xerox M i t c h e l d e a n w a s s p o n s o r i n g the n i ne -m i l e race or­gan ised by Ross A th le t i c C l u b , a n d w e had SIX in the r u n n i n g — Bil ly M c L e o d , Roger S i m m o n d s , Terry Randal l a n d A lan Lieber­m a n n — all of w h o m c o m p e t e d last year, p lus Steve Powel l a n d Fred Meek . It w a s nice to see t w o e x - M i t c h e l d e a n e r s t o o — Tony Haynes a n d R ichard Lee, n o w based at Ay lesbury .

Kate Phi l l ips c a m e a l o n g to g ive the f ie ld of over 2 0 0 thei r s tar t ing o rde rs at 1 1 a m . They s p e d off o n the s t ra igh t bu t very s o o n had t o c o n t e n d w i t h the d i f f i cu l t rise of Greytree Hil l , the f irst of several s teep c l i m b s in th is s o m e w h a t d e m a n d i n g race.

As the f ron t runners m a d e thei r f i rst ascen t of B road Street w a t c h e r s w e r e su rp r i sed to see a t r io of cycl is ts d o i n g the cou rse . W e r e they mob i l e f i rs t -a iders or had they w a n d e r e d in to the w r o n g race?

W e learned later tha t they w e r e t r i a th -letes f r o m M o n m o u t h ge t t ing in a bit of p rac t i ce , o n e of t h e m be ing Dave Rees w h o w o n the Venray ha l f -ma ra thon as

gues t r unne r fo r M i t c h e l d e a n in 1 9 8 3 . Dave has recent ly been ach iev ing c o n ­

s ide rab le success in the t r i a th lon — a s w i m m i n g , cyc l i ng and r u n n i n g event — w i t h s o m e s p o n s o r s h i p f r o m RXMP; he is c o m p e t i n g in t h e Br i t ish G rand Prix a n d has his s igh ts o n the w o r l d c h a m p i o n s h i p at Nice later th is year.

H e s t a y e d a t t h e f r o n t

F r o m the t o w n cen t re t he Ross runne rs m a d e the i r w a y to W a l f o r d , t h e n back to t he east s ide of t he t o w n be fo re t he f inal c l i m b u p B road S t r e e t t o t h e Marke t House .

It w a s c o r p o r a l Ray Keeney, an A r m y PT ins t ruc to r , w h o , h a v i n g led t h e f ie ld all t he way , f i n i shed f i rst in 4 5 m ins . 2 sees, bea t i ng last year 's t i m e by 1 m m . 2 2 sees, a n d set t ing a n e w c o u r s e reco rd .

Na t iona l c r o s s - c o u n t r y c h a m p i o n fo r t he t h i r d t i m e th is year, a n d w i n n e r of t he S n o w d o n hill race, Ray had on l y a f e w days ear l ier w o n a 1 0 k m . race in Germany .

Jus t 1 9 s e c o n d s b e h i n d h i m c a m e Terry C o o k e ( W o l v e r h a m p t o n & B i ls ton) w h i l e H u g h D i x o n (Gloucester ) w a s th i rd . Les Davis , t he C i n d e r f o r d ve te ran m a r a t h o n c h a m p i o n , w h o c a m e in f o u r t h , o n c e aga in co l l ec ted the f i rst ve te ran 's pr ize as we l l .

Before the race, Aylesbury athletes Richard Lee and Tony Haynes (left) meet up w i th RXMP runners Terry Randall, Steve Powell, Roger Simmonds and Alan Liebermann. R igh t : Warming up is another Mitcheldean contestant, Fred Meek.

Corporal Ray Keeney receives the winner's trophy from the Mayoress of Ross.

RANKXEUO^^ • 1 1

Billy McLeod is our first man home.

wh i l e his daugh te r Joanne , f r o m Gloucester A th le t i c C lub , w a s f i rst lady h o m e . As last year, t he G louces ter c l u b w o n the t e a m a w a r d , w i t h W y e Val ley c o m i n g s e c o n d .

Bi l ly M c L e o d w a s the f i rst RX m a n h o m e , c lose ly f o l l o w e d by Steve, a n d bo th w o n a m e d a l fo r be ing a m o n g the f i r s t 1 0 0 to f in i sh . Roger S i m m o n d s c a m e in 1 0 1 st, j us t m i s s i n g a m e d a l , a n d c lose o n his heels w e r e Terry Randa l l , A lan L i e b e r m a n n a n d T o n y Haynes, all a r r i v ing w i t h i n s e c o n d s of each other .

The M a y o r of Ross be ing i nd i sposed , t h e M a y o r e s s , M r s Barbara Clarke, p re­s e n t e d t h e n u m e r o u s prizes at t he Ross Spo r t s Cent re , assisted by the D e p u t y Mayo r , M r D r e w e Lacey.

N o w M a y o r of Ross, M r Lacey to ld us: ' T h e Ross ' 9 ' is m u c h app rec ia ted by the p e o p l e o f t h e t o w n and w e h o p e it w i l l g o f r o m s t r e n g t h to s t reng th .

' T h e Ross Regat ta is n o w o n e of t he m a j o r l ead ing regat tas in t he c o u n t r y a n d w e h o p e the road race wi l l ach ieve the s a m e s t a n d i n g in its par t icu lar ca tegory . "

The p r o c e e d s of t he event a m o u n t e d to £ 6 0 . Of th is , £ 3 0 w e n t t o St M i chae l ' s H o s p i c e , He re fo rd , w h i l e £ 1 5 w e n t t o t he St J o h n A m b u l a n c e Br igade a n d £ 1 5 to t h e loca l ATC w h o ass is ted w i t h t he marsha l l i ng .

,SA annual dinner

Pictured after receiving their 25-year service awards from Rank Xerox chairman Hamish Orr-Ewing are (from left) Barrie Morgan, Maurice Leake, Trevor Jones, Derek Wicks, Norman Jones, Gerald Cooke and John Court.

With a view to the past! S o m e 2 0 0 peop le — a b o u t half t he to ta l m e m b e r s h i p — t u r n e d u p fo r t he L o n g Serv ice Assoc ia t ion 's 3 2 n d annua l d inner , he ld at t he Chase Hote l , R o s s - o n - W y e , o n Friday, 1 0 May.

This s u p p o r t f r o m m e m b e r s w a s "very reassur ing for a h a r d - w o r k i n g c o m m i t t e e , " said A lan Phelps, p res id ing for the f irst t i m e as c h a i r m a n .

The a t t endance of Ham ish O r r - E w i n g , c h a i r m a n of Rank Xerox , t o p resen t t he 25-year serv ice awards w a s great ly ap ­prec iated.

So t o o w a s the l o n g - s t a n d i n g s u p p o r t to the assoc ia t ion g iven by si te d i rec to r Chr is W o o d and the personne l depa r tmen t . "This has enab led us t o c o n t i n u e to look after your interests a n d mee t you r w ishes , " A lan to ld m e m b e r s .

It had been a very g o o d year for the LSA, he said, w i t h t he s u m m e r o u t i n g , t he annua l soc ia l a n d n o w th is d i nne r all we l l suppo r t ed , a n d they h o p e d fo r an equa l l y successfu l year to c o m e .

Before m a k i n g the p resen ta t i ons , as he has d o n e o n a n u m b e r of p rev i ous o c ­c a s i o n s , M r O r r - E w i n g c o n g r a t u l a t e d everyone, w h e t h e r w o r k i n g or re t i red , o n Iheir c o n t r i b u t i o n to the m a g n i f i c e n t Br i t ish Qual i ty A w a r d w h i c h M i t c h e l d e a n had w o n under Chr is W o o d ' s leadersh ip .

'Th is IS a no tab le a c h i e v e m e n t no t jus t internal ly but t h r o u g h o u t Br i t ish m a n u ­fac tu r ing a n d o n e w h i c h is u n e q u a l l e d in this c o m p a n y ' s history," he sa id.

A n o t h e r remarkab le a c h i e v e m e n t had been the c rea t i on of the M E W S . Sma l l t h o u g h It m i g h t be in r e c o m p e n s e fo r t he p r o b l e m s resu l t ing f r o m the c o n s i d e r a b l e reduc t i on of the w o r k f o r c e , it had been a more than usual success .

The substant ia l a m o u n t of m o n e y the c o m p a n y had pu t in to it w o u l d have m e a n t n o t h i n g had it no t been fo r t he e f for t m a d e by m a n y of t h o s e p resenL ' a n d he par­t icu lar ly Congra tu la ted Derek Kn ibbs o n w h a t he had d o n e to make the M E W S a success. "It has been a w o n d e r f u l ef fort ."

Lastly, c o n c e r n i n g the mat te r of p e n ­s ions , he sa id ; " W e all h a d s o m e v e n / real d o u b t s be fo re t he Gove rnmen t ' s last B u d ­get ; w e w e r e a f ra id t h e C h a n c e l l o r w o u l d take s o m e measu res to d i m m i s h the bene ­f i ts w e bel ieve pens ione rs w e r e en t i t led to , hav ing m a d e a c o n t r i b u t i o n to the c o m -p a n y s prof i ts .

'AA/e are t r y ing to car ry o n the t rad i t i on of p r o v i d i n g the best poss ib le secur i t y in r e t i r e m e n t f o r p e o p l e t h a t c o u l d be ach ieved . Th is has he lped to al leviate s o m e of t h e p r o b l e m s f a c e d by p e o p l e w h o have left ear l ier t h a n they w o u l d have l iked.

" L o n g m a y it be t ha t t hey leave ou r s c h e m e to fu l f i l t h e m i s s i o n w e i n t e n d e d it to . "

The p ic ture of heal th p resented by ret i red m e m b e r s a t t e n d i n g the d i n n e r p r o m p t e d LSA p res iden t V ic B u h l m a n n to sugges t t he i n t r o d u c t i o n of an a w a r d fo r 2 5 years of r e t i r emen t w i t h i n Rank Xerox ! He s u g ­ges ted It m i g h t take the f o r m of a n igh t o n t h e t o w n , or a j ogge r ' s out f i t , o r even o n e year 's f ree a c c o m m o d a t i o n in the M E W S to star t u p the i r o w n O c t o g e n a r i a n Enter­pr ises Ltd!

In p r o p o s i n g the toast t o t he gues ts he ex tended a w e l c o m e to representa t ives f r o m Rank Tay lor H o b s o n a n d Rank Xerox W e l w y n , a n d to Pat O 'Hare w h o " c a m e d o w n to M i t c h e l d e a n f r o m L o n d o n all t hose years a g o and w a s invo lved in ge t t i ng the bats o u t of t he o ld b r e w e r y b u i l d i n g s ! "

A welcome guest was Pat O'Hare who received his own 25-year service award at the 1960 LSA dinner (reported in the first issue of VISION 25 years ago). He asks to be remembered to those he missed seeing on this occasion. Pictured wi th him are Marion Cornwall, J a c k W o o d s a n d Pete Waugh.

In his response, site d i rector Chr is W o o d m e n t i o n e d several successes o t h e r t h a n t h e M E W S w h i c h M i t c h e l d e a n h a d ach ieved in 1 9 8 4 / 8 5 . " W e w e r e t h e ve ry f i rst RBG p lant in Europe, a n d a lso t h e o n l y p lan t in Rank Xerox, to be a w a r d e d t h e Br i t ish Safety Counc i l ' s S w o r d of H o n o u r for safety.

" W e w e r e a lso the on ly p lan t w i t h i n Xe rox to i m p r o v e our qua l i ty success i ve l y over t he past f ive years — an e f fo r t w h i c h c u l m i n a t e d in the Bri t ish Oua l i t y A w a r d a n d t h e s u b s e q u e n t RBG R e c o g n i t i o n A w a r d for Excel lence."

W e had a lso been en t rus ted w i t h t h e p r o d u c t i o n of the c o m p a n y ' s latest d e s k t o p cop ie rs , t he 1 0 2 5 / 1 0 2 5 R E m o d e l s . ' T h e y are g o i n g to be an o u t s t a n d i n g s u c c e s s a n d the marke t i ng c o m p a n i e s are ve ry en thus ias t ic abou t it."

M o s t of t hose present had been 2 0 , 3 0 or 4 0 years w i t h us, he p o i n t e d ou t ; Pat O 'Hare h a d s tar ted w i t h t he c o m p a n y in 1 9 3 4 ! D u r i n g those early days, that exc i t i ng pe r i od of g r o w t t i , n u m e r o u s f r i e n d s h i p s w e r e f o r m e d .

" W h i l e p r e p a r i n g b id . 18 in the M E W S fo r o c c u p a t i o n by Lira Leisure, an LSA m e m b e r b r o u g h t to ou r a t ten t ion tha t a ce r ta in w i n d o w had been d e f a c e d in c o m ­m e m o r a t i n g s u c h f r i endsh ips , " he said, a n d to everyone 's surp r i se , p r o d u c e d the very w i n d o w , w h i c h he h a n d e d to the p res iden t fo r sa fe -keep ing .

A year of achievement

2 5 - Y E A R A W A R D S

Those receiving 25-year service awards this year were: Tony Burcher (parts manufartur-ing), Gerald Cooke (supply centre), John Court (materials logistics), Dave Evans (spares pack­ing), Norman Jones (bld.32 assembly), Trevor Jones (refurbishing), Maurice Leake (parts manufacturing), Barrie Morgan (parts manu-faauring), Raymond Rawlings (spares pack­ing), Bruce Toomer (goods receiving in­spection), Roy Turley (bld.32 assembly), Des Weyman (refurbishing operations support), Derek Wicks (parts mfg/product ion control).

A m o n g the n a m e s e n g r a v e d o n it w e r e t hose of Ralph Tay lor , 'S t re tch ' Haggar , Geoff Howe l l , 'Carpy ' (Larry Sterret t ) , J o h n a n d Clive Bra in , Basi l B r o w n , J o h n Harr is (Erf), J o h n G e o r g e , J e r e m y H e n w o o d , Char l ie B r o w n , D a n n y Ha ines (the cu r ren t LSA secretary) , a n d A l a n Phelps (was th is the LSA's c l i a i r m a n or a o n e - t i m e ap ­prent ice of t he s a m e name!*).

Bld.1 8 used to h o u s e the m a c h i n e s h o p and Ralph, w h o has jus t ret i red after 3 1 years' serv ice a n d w h o w a s in cha rge of the c u t t e r - g r i n d i n g sec t i on d u r i n g the 'fift ies, t o l d us t ha t a d i a m o n d - e d g e d too l w a s used to s h a r p e n the cu t te r g r i n d i n g whee l s — just t he t h i n g fo r w i n d o w eng rav ing .

M o s t of t he n a m e s w e r e of app ren t i ces w h o c a m e in to t he sec t i on d u r i n g their ' tour of t he w o r k s ' so add i t i ons w e r e m a d e f r o m t i m e to t i m e a n d o b v i o u s l y m o r e t h a n o n e cu lp r i t w a s invo lved, as the var ia t ions in the s tanda rd of w r i t i n g p rove

Ralph tel ls us tha t there had been an earl ier w i n d o w s imi lar ly eng raved , bu t it w a s b roken , w h i c h is just as we l l in v i ew of the observa t ions m a d e o n it!

It all sparked off s o m e lively conve r ­sa t ion . Fred W i c k s t e a d , t oo , c o n t r i b u t e d his m e m o r i e s of t imes g o n e by, a n d the even ing w a s spen t happ i l y e x c h a n g i n g news and r e n e w i n g o ld f r i endsh ips .

Chai rman Alan Phelps thanked the c o m ­mittee for their 'exceptional efforts' dur ing the past year w h e n the LSA held its annual general meet ing on 4 June.

Reviewing achievements, he said that they had set up a new system of record ing member details, had created an event calendar to assist w i th p lann ing, and had al located responsibi l i t ies w i th in the c o m ­mittee for t ransport , enter ta inments, c o m ­municat ion, etc.

A commi t tee member had been made responsible for keeping in touch w i th sick members , and it was p lanned to step up this activity.

The 1 9 8 5 object ive was to strive for even better c o m m u n i c a t i o n s w i t h the membersh ip and to seek improvements and greater cost-effect iveness as regards the out ing and social events.

One useful move in this latter d i rec t ion had been to produce, in-house on a workstat ion, all acknowledgements, forms.

and even the menus for the recent annua l dinner.

Secretary Danny Haines said that very favourable reports had been received f rom members and guests conce rn ing that event and also the summer ou t ing to Wes ton -supe r -Mare in Augus t 1 9 8 4 , and the social event at the end of December .

The summer ou t ing this year was to W a r w i c k and St ra t ford-on-Avon on 10 July, wh i l e the social was p lanned for 9 November in the c lubhouse.

Treasurer Alan Cryer, present ing the accounts for the year end ing 31 December 1 9 8 4 , was pleased to report that overall prof i t was f 1 ,072 compa red w i t h a loss of £ 2 5 7 dur ing the prev ious year. Income was approximate ly the same as in 1 9 8 3 but the ou tgo ings were less, pr imar i ly due to lower ret i rement f und expendi ture.

The costs for the social and annua l d inner had bo th been pegged at approx i ­

mately the same level for the last two years, w h i c h was felt to be a considerable achievement.

N e w c o m m i t t e e m e m b e r s

Dur ing the year commi t tee members J o h n Brain, J o h n Harris and Bill Nivison had resigned and Pete W a u g h had been co -op ted on to the commi t tee wh i le Bill C inderey had comp le ted his two-year spell . This resulted in three vacant c o m ­mit tee slots, w h i c h were fil led by Col in Butler, Dick Skyrme, and Bill Cinderey w h o was re-elected.

In a d d i t i o n , J o h n B r o w n , G r a h a m Beavan and Tony Harris were co-op ted on to the commi t tee .

V I C Buh lmann was re-elected as presi­dent , and w i th Fred Wicks tead as life v ice-president and honorary member , it was d e c i d e d tha t no f u r t he r n o m i n a t i o n s shou ld be sought .

M a r i o n Cornwal l was thanked for her suppor t in the past year and the hope was e x p r e s s e d tha t th i s w o u l d c o n t i n u e th rough 1 9 8 5 / 8 6 .

7

Computerised communications

It's flexibility on the 'phone

Vi lma Ruck hand les an i ncom ing cal l at t he main console in recept ion before hand ing over to Doreen Davis. (A supp lemen ta ry console in the te lex room is b rough t into operat ion w h e n t raf f ic demands. )

Last sp r ing a s t range, c h i r r u p i n g s o u n d w a s heard t h r o u g h o u t the site. Our n e w PABX dig i ta l e x c h a n g e t e l e p h o n e sys tem had b e c o m e opera t iona l .

The in ternal serv ice c o m m e n c e d o n 4 M a r c h : t hen a f o r t n i g h t later t he ex terna l faci l i ty was s w u n g o n to t he s ing le p u s h ­bu t ton handset , c o m b i n i n g b o t h serv ices in one.

There w e r e s o m e very g o o d reasons for rep lac ing our ex is t ing sys tem. For o n e th ing . It w a s ten years o l d , its t e c h n o l o g y was even o lder , a n d t h i n g s have m o v e d ahead qu i te a bit in tha t t ime .

Then the needs of o u r bus iness are d i f ferent today: w e have fewer peop le o n site, fewer bu i l d ings to serve.

A d d to tha t t he fac t tha t b i d . 2 3 , w h i c h housed the e x c h a n g e s of t he in terna l a n d external ne twork , w a s s c h e d u l e d to be vaca ted and it is o b v i o u s the t ime w a s r ipe for change .

Last s u m m e r an inves t iga t ion w a s b e g u n in to w h a t w a s r equ i r ed . M i k e Bendal l w h o w a s t h e n in c h a r g e of t he pro jec t ' knocked o n d o o r s ' a n d asked users wha t they w a n t e d in add i t i on to the essentials.

W i t h the de - regu la t i on of Br i t ish Tele­c o m has c o m e greater c o m p e t i t i o n a n d w i t h It a w h o l e n e w g e n e r a t i o n of i nc reas ­ingly soph is t i ca ted dev ices. C u s t o m e r s are spoi led for cho i ce .

The sys tem eventua l l y c h o s e n — a PABX (Private A u t o m a t i c B ranch Exchange) cal led Te lemat ic D X s u p p l i e d by T e l e p h o n e Rentals — gave us an o p p o r t u n i t y t o reduce the cos t of the serv ice w h i l e imp rov ing our bus iness produc t iv i t y .

TDX IS a d ig i ta l s w i t c h sys tem, w h i c h means tha t ins tead of us ing a n a l o g u e

8

t e c h n o l o g y ( s o u n d w a v e s t r a n s m i t t e d as va ry ing f r equenc ies ) , o u r v o i c e s are t r ans ­m i t t ed as a ser ies of zeroes a n d ones , like c o m p u t e r l anguage .

The e x c h a n g e e q u i p m e n t is, in f a c t a s p e c i a l l y - d e s i g n e d m i n i - c o m p u t e r w i t h m i c r o - e l e c t r o n i c c i rcu i ts ins tead of m o v i n g e l e c t r o - m e c h a n i c a l dev ices w h i c h requ i re m o r e m a i n t e n a n c e .

So, ins tead of a r oom- fu l l of i r onware , there is n o w a p rocessor cab ine t c o n t a i n i n g s tacks of p r i n ted c i r cu i t boa rds : a t e rm ina l w h i c h IS used fo r ask ing the sys tem a b o u t fac i l i t ies o n ex tens ions a n d a l te r ing t h e m w h e n requ i r ed , a n d a lso fo r d i a g n o s i n g fau l ts : a n d a pi l lar of ex tens ions — a sor t of si lent, e lec t ron i c T o w e r of Babe l !

W h i l e o u t g o i n g cal ls can be m a d e di rect , all i n c o m i n g pub l i c cal ls are h a n d l e d by t h e ope ra to r , so w e stil l have a 'ha l lo g i r l ' w i t h a smi le in her vo i ce to assist cal lers.

But t h e fami l i a r s w i t c h b o a r d w i t h its w i r e s a n d p l u g s has d i s a p p e a r e d ; i ns tead , t he re is a s i m p l e c o n s o l e w i t h p u s h - b u t t o n c o n t r o l a n d a d isp lay sc reen w h i c h s h o w s w h a t IS h a p p e n i n g d u r i n g the h a n d l i n g of a cal l — w h i c h l ine it is o n , w h e t h e r the requ i red ex tens ion is e n g a g e d , etc.

Fed by on l y t w o w i res , t he c o n s o l e c o n n e c t s over 5 0 0 handse ts t h r o u g h o u t the si te ( i n c l u d i n g the M E W S ) to t he pub l i c n e t w o r k via 4 0 e x c h a n g e l ines: in a d d i t i o n , t en pr iva te c i r cu i t s are a u t o m a t i c a l l y inter­f aced w i t h Intelnet.

B e c a u s e the sys tem is c o n t r o l l e d by

TR engineer George Gawler does a diagnostic check on the processor. On the right is the Tower of Babe l ' - the line test frame where all incoming and extension cables terminate.

I f

so f twa re it c a n of fer a great ly e x p a n d e d range of fea tures . The basic faci l i ty w a s avai lab le f r o m day 1, but the features we re g radua l l y i n t r o d u c e d , a n d the t ra in ing g iven to users w a s app rec ia ted .

"The sys tem has been ta i lo red to the needs of t he ind iv idua l ; s o m e need no access at al l , o the rs need to talk t o the w o r l d , s o m e t i m e s after n o r m a l w o r k i n g hou rs , " sa id Dave L loyd, w h o w a s ap ­p o i n t e d PABX i m p l e m e n t a t i o n m a n a g e r w h e n M i k e t rans fe r red to the qua l i t y o f f ice.

"It IS d e s i g n e d to save us t i m e a n d t r oub le ; at the same t ime it enab les us to g ive p r o m p t a n d ef f ic ient serv ice to ou t s i de c a l l e r s , s o e n h a n c i n g M i t c h e l d e a n ' s image . "

For examp le , peop le dea l ing w i t h t he s a m e w o r k have been pu t in to g r o u p s ; w h e n a cal l c o m e s in for their a t t en t i on , t he o p e r a t o r keys in a spec ia l c o d e a n d the e x c h a n g e au tomat i ca l l y hun ts fo r a f ree ex tens ion in the g r o u p .

LIGHTING U P T I M E

Having found it difficult to identify wh ich of several extensions was ringing, one user improved on the technology by attaching a LED to the handset so that it lit up when ringing!

Peop le can p ick up the call o n an u n a t t e n d e d r i ng ing ex tens ion in an inter­c o n n e c t e d g r o u p s i m p l y by key ing in a c o d e n u m b e r o n the i r o w n ' phone , w h i l e m e m b e r s o f a c o m m u n i c a t i o n g r o u p c a n cal l each o the r by a 2 -d ig i t code .

The abi l i ty t o t ransfer cal ls t o a n o t h e r ex tens ion w i t h o u t invo lv ing the ope ra to r is a g rea t advan tage . A n o t h e r usefu l fac i l i ty is b e i n g ab le to refer t o s o m e o n e pr ivate ly o n a n o t h e r ex tens ion us i ng the s a m e h a n d s e t w i t h o u t d i s c o n n e c t i n g the f irst cal l , or even to d e v e l o p th is in to a th ree -pa r t y conve r ­sa t ion .

"I par t i cu la r l y like the c o n f e r e n c i n g fac i l i t ies," a buyer in c o m m o d i t y ope ra t i ons t o l d us. "I m a y have a supp l i e r o n the ' p h o n e a n d I c a n b r i n g an eng inee r in to t he d i s c u s s i o n so w e can sett le a mat te r o n the spo t . Personal ly , I t h ink t he n e w sys tem is f i rs t -c lass! "

Ou i te a large pe rcen tage of in terna l cal ls are unsuccess fu l , so ' c a m p i n g - o n ' (an

Right : PABX implemen­ta t ion manager Dave Lloyd enters a telephone facility change in the processor's library of in­structions; wi th him is Roy Brooks of Roytel Services who wrote the technical specification for the equipment required.

Clubs apt desc r ip t i on of how , if t he ex tens ion y o u w a n t IS e n g a g e d , y o u c a n be ca l led back au tomat i ca l l y w h e n it is f ree) is a b o o n to busy peop le .

Then there 's t he 'save a n d repeat ' faci l i ty w h e r e b y the e x c h a n g e wi l l s to re in its m e m o r y a n u m b e r y o u w a n t t o repeat later a n d wi l l au toma t i ca l l y t ry it aga in fo r y o u o n d e m a n d .

A n d if you ' re g o i n g to be in ano the r area for a wh i l e , y o u c a n ins t ruc t the sys tem to ' f o l l ow me ' by f o r w a r d i n g ca l ls to the re levant ex tens ion . T h e secre t lies s imp l y in

keying in the r ight code . It ail adds u p to a " t r e m e n d o u s i m p r o v e ­

m e n t in ou r c o m m u n i c a t i o n s , " sa id Dave. In s u c h a f a s t - m o v i n g f ie ld as te le­

c o m m u n i c a t i o n s . It IS essent ia l t o be ab le to keep u p w i t h d e v e l o p m e n t s , a n d s ince the PABX IS con t ro l l ed by so f tware , th is c a n easi ly be u p g r a d e d .

Be ing a d ig i ta l sys tem, it c a n a lso car ry data as we l l as vo i ce a n d , a l t h o u g h the E M S D ne two rk hand les m o s t data t raf f ic , th is capab i l i t y m i g h t p rove use fu l s o m e t ime in the fu tu re .

Messages fly on MATS

Maureen Ingram helps to sort out a query wi th MATS users Andy Ward and Jane Meek (operating the ter­minal) of the supply centre and (far right) Colin Elsmore of commodity operations.

It IS n o w a year s ince o u r te lexes s ta r ted f ly ing o n M A T S — not m a g i c ca rpe ts bu t an abb rev ia t i on of M i t c h e l d e a n A u t o m a t i c Telex Sys tem.

It mus t be a d m i t t e d that there w e r e a f e w g rem l i ns in the w o r k s to start w i t h , but eventua l l y t hey w e r e all w i n k l e d ou t a n d , s i n c e w e ' r e f e a t u r i n g c o m p u t e r - b a s e d c o m m u n i c a t i o n s , M A T S deserves a m e n ­t ion too.

The o r ig ina l c o n c e p t w a s d e v e l o p e d by Dave M a r c e r of M IS , t he bas ic idea be ing that telex users c o u l d send thei r te lexes by d i rect ly t yp ing t h e m in to the i r ex is t ing E M S D n e t w o r k t e rm ina l s a n d a cen t ra l c o m p u t e r w i t h su i tab le so f tware w o u l d f o r w a r d their messages in to the externa l telex ne tworks .

The p ro jec t hav ing rece ived f i nanc ia l app rova l , a t e a m w a s set u p u n d e r t he c h a i r m a n s h i p of D a n n y Ha ines , t h e n o f f i ce a u t o m a t i o n manager , t o c o n t r o l its d e v e l o p m e n t a n d i m p l e m e n t a t i o n , t he m e m b e r s i n c l u d i n g Neil Forrest, Roy Brooks (Roytel Serv ices) , Ted Ho lmes , Barry Leach, Ian Forster a n d Dave Powel l .

A PDP 1 1 c o m p u t e r ( fo rmer ly used in b l d .32 ) w a s a d a p t e d by o u r M I S p e o p l e a n d an externa l so f tware a g e n c y w a s enl is ted to deve lop the so f tware to s to re a n d f o r w a r d telex messages in to bo th t he external pub l i c te lex ne two rk a n d the Rank X e r o x / X e r o x telex ne twork (Hermes) .

The i m p l e m e n t a t i o n w a s c o m p l i c a t e d by the fact, t h a t qu i te by c o i n c i d e n c e , it w a s necessary to c h a n g e the f o r m a t of the telex c h a n n e l s to s ing le c h a n n e l vo i ce

f r e q u e n c y to fal l in l ine w i t h c h a n g e s in t he G louces te r exchange .

Th is m e a n t t h a t at s ta r t -up , v i r tua l ly all t he ' l inks' in t he c h a i n assoc ia ted w i t h te lexes w e r e c h a n g e d at t he s a m e t ime.

Roy B rooks a n d his ass is tant M a u r e e n I n g r a m dev ised a n d e a r n e d o u t the user t r a i n i n g ac ross the site. S o m e 5 0 a c c o u n t h o l d e r s w e r e g i ven an ini t ia l user t r a i n i n g a n d d e s k - t o p i ns t ruc t i ons a n d i m m e d i a t e l y s tar ted s e n d i n g the i r o w n messages , w i t h t he a id of a spec ia l ly p r o d u c e d telex d i r ec to r y c o v e r i n g M i t c h e l d e a n ' s supp l i e r s a n d o ther bus iness con tac ts .

O n e i m p o r t a n t fea tu re of t h e sys tem is that , w h e r e s t a n d a r d text is used — fo r e x a m p l e , lists of part n u m b e r s — these c a n be re ta ined in t he c o m p u t e r m e m o r y a n d so c a n be ca l led u p o n s c r e e n a n d ed i ted as r equ i r ed ins tead of hav ing to be t a p p e d o u t a n e w e a c h t ime.

For m a n y s o u n d reasons , it is essent ia l t o keep a h a r d c o p y of all i n c o m i n g a n d o u t g o i n g te lexes for 2 8 days. Th is is h a n d l e d in t he cen t ra l te lex area, w h i c h a lso receives i n c o m i n g te lexes no t spec i f i ­cal ly add ressed to a c c o u n t ho lders .

"Every m o r n i n g , a r o u n d 7 . 4 5 , w h e n i n c o m i n g t raf f ic is at its lowest , w e s w e e p ou t yesterday 's te lexes f r o m the c o m p u t e r m e m o r y (shak ing the MATSr"). T h a t s t he on l y t i m e y o u can ' t ac tua l ly t r ansm i t any th ing , " Roy Brooks to ld us.

There are on l y a b o u t a dozen of these sys tems cu r ren t l y o p e r a t i n g in th is c o u n t n / , a n d o u r s is a m o n g the b igges t a n d m o s t c o m p l e x .

Teeing off The Gol f ing Society got off to a good start in May w i th a day at Cirencester, where the Spr ing Bowl was played for over two rounds by teams of two.

The w inners were J o h n Howls and Dave James w i t h 8 1 pts: Brian Snook and Charl ie Walker were runners-up w i th the same number of points, but they were unfortunately relegated to second place ow ing to a better back nine being played by Howls and James.

The individual honours were as fo l lows: morning round — 1st, Dave Tyler (37 pts), 2 n d , Ken Ellway (33 pts): afternoon round — 1st, Dave James (37 pts), 2nd , Don M e e k / Brian Snook (36 pts each)

A n enjoyable day was had by all w i th the t radi t ional j ibes being in terchanged around the course (all in the best possible taste).

Your reporter had the pleasure of being par tnered w i th one D o n Meek and after a most eventful day, explor ing parts of the course that most people probably d id not see (like hal fway up a tree at the back of the 1 0th), I conc luded that th ings don' t change too m u c h .

On the Co tswo ld Hills ou t ing in June w e were not so for tunate w i th the weather and on arrival the course was cons idered to be unplayable. Undeterred, the hard core of 2 7 players proceeded to M i n c h i n h a m p t o n GC where play was possible and the club's hospital i ty at such short not ice was m u c h appreciated

Winne rs of the day were J o h n Howls in the morn ing and Mark Barnard in the af ternoon.

Because of the cancel lat ion of the day at Cotswold Hills, the Scratch Cup and the Powell Cup compet i t ions were pos tponed until 1 4 August at the same venue.

Happy go l f ing! R o n Ca ld i cu t t

Machine take-over The July meet ing of the Computer Club had been p lanned as a workshop on printers and storage devices, but it developed into a demons t ra t i on of the capabi l i t ies of the latest Amst rad machine.

There were two Spect rums w i th mic ro -dr ives, t w o Brother printers — thermal and plain paper dot matrix wh i ch can do graph ics as wel l as text — and also the new Amst rad CPC 6 6 4 w i t h bui l t - in f loppy disc dr ive unit and full co lour moni tor .

The Ams t rad , w h i c h runs C P / M — an industry standard operat ing system, is a imed at the ser ious enthusiast, but it likes playing games too.

' W e were very impressed by it," said one member . "It has very smooth graphics and the sound is pretty impressive too."

The next meet ing wil l be on 9 September w h e n the c lub holds its (brief) A G M and there'l l be a second oppor tun i t y to play w i th the new Amst rad w h i c h has 'promised ' to make a return visit.

i o celebrate

A silver jubilee It IS dif f icult to believe that Myr t le Fowler is celebrat ing 2 5 years as our one and only editor of VISION.

To mark this achievement and to thank her for her c o m m i t m e n t to the Mi tche ldean plant and Its employees. Chris W o o d , site director, hosted a luncheon on 1 6 May for Myr t le and her husband, Roy, at w h i c h members of the management team and other col leagues were present to add their congratu lat ions

It was a very happy, yet nostalgic occasion. Memor ies came f lood ing back to those of the 'Old Brigade', and the relative newcomers were greatly amused by some of the anec­dotes wi th w h i c h they were regaled.

In thank ing Myrt le for her cont r ibu t ion to the Mi tcheldean site, Chris W o o d h ighl ighted some of the major events w h i c h had taken place dur ing the last 2 5 years.

To do this. It was necessary to hark back to pre-Rank Xerox days — to 1 9 5 8 w h e n Mi tcheldean became the headquarters of the Cine & Photographic Division of the Rank Organisat ion.

In 1 9 5 9 Roy, w h o was sales p romo t i on manager wi th the company , and his co l ­leagues t rans fer red f r o m L o n d o n to the cleaner a tmosphere and greener su r round­ings of the Forest of Dean

Fred Wickstead, then chief executive at Mi tcheldean, w ished to improve c o m m u n i ­cations between Mi tcheldean and associated bcat ions , a two -mon th l y house magazine was suggested, and Roy knewjust the person to edit It — his wife, w h o had recently left her job as assistant editor of a travel magazine in London.

In May 1 9 6 0 , thef i rs t issue appeared, but Myrt le was not there to see h o w it was received. She was, unfortunately, in hospital , having burnt her hands (no, not on the typewriter!) when l ight ing a garden bonfire.

"There must be less painfu l ways of avo id­ing one's publ ic!" says Myrt le.

Expansion years

There were some 1,200 employees at Mitcheldean when she c o m m e n c e d report ing early m 1 9 6 0 The very first 91 4 mach ines were then being built, to be fo l lowed a few years later by the 81 3 copier ( forerunner of the 6 6 0 ) , and the a n n o u n c e m e n t of a f 1.1 mil l ion expansion scheme at the plant w h i c h heralded a major breakthrough.

In 1 9 6 5 we became Rank Xerox M i tche l ­dean Plant, and by 1 9 6 6 w e had 2 , 0 0 0 employees The years f r om then th rough to 1 9 7 5 saw the in t roduc t ion of many new models — the 7 2 0 , 2 4 0 0 , 6 6 0 , 3 6 0 0 (to w h i c h model w e still owe a debt of gra t i tude for Its part in the success story of M i t che l ­dean), 4 0 0 0 , 4 5 0 0 and the 9 0 0 0 family.

Other major mi lestones dur ing that t ime were the w i n n i n g by Rank Xerox of the Queen's Award to Industry in 1 9 6 6 , 1 9 7 1 , 1 9 7 2 and 1 9 7 5 (we w o n it again in 1 9 8 0 too): and the expansion of the site f r o m 3 4 to 67 acres by 1 9 7 0 .

By 1 9 7 4 the number of employees had reached 4 , 5 0 0 — unheard of previously in local manufactur ing industn/.

Myrtle looks back at some earlier issues

The f igures peaked at 4 , 8 0 0 in 1 9 7 9 , and this was w h e n the current manpower re­duc t ion p r o g r a m m e c o m m e n c e d . There was, however, one br ight l ight on the hor izon: small copier p roduc t ion c o m m e n c e d w i th the assembly of the 2 3 0 0 at the Lydney satellite plant.

N o w in 1 9 8 5 , w e are a lmost back to the same number of employees as w h e n Myrt le started ed i t ing VISION — 1,200 at the end of this year — and we are probably occupy ing the same a m o u n t of space, t h o u g h obvious ly located in di f ferent bui ld ings f rom those of t he 1 9 6 0 s , w h e n b i d . 2 3 w a s The N e w Bui ld ing!

VISION IS a good p romot iona l agent for M i tche ldean and is acknowledged for its qual i ty and readabil i ty not only w i th in the Xerox w o r l d but also among outs ide bodies too.

It IS a wonder fu l record, and a t r ibute to Myrt le 's ded icat ion, that VISION has c o n ­t i n u e d un in te r rup ted for 2 5 years, even t h o u g h dur ing that t ime t w o 'special edi t ions ' were p roduced — a daughter, Debbie, w h o is fo l lowing in mother 's footsteps and is edi t ing the CEGB sports & social newsletter, and a son, Marcus , current ly s tudy ing for his 'A' levels.

VISION IS virtually another member of the family.

Expressing sincere apprec iat ion of the invitat ion to celebrate VISION'S silver jubi lee w i th those present. Myr t le recal led how, 2 5 years ago, a f reelance at M i t che ldean was an 'oddity ' — very dif ferent f r o m today w h e n w e have so many work ing a m o n g us. "I've even been approached about tak ing a uni t in the MEWS, " she told us.

A member of the British Associat ion of Industr ial Editors, she is bel ieved to be the only f reelance to have edited the same house journal for 2 5 years.

She thanked management for their sup­por t and for spar ing t ime in their busy schedules to answer her quest ions and give her gu idance. "Today wil l be impr in ted on my m e m o r y in large, extra bo ld capitals," she assured them.

R U T H M O R G A N

That pioneering product-the 914 The Xerox 9 1 4 cop ie r w a s l a u n c h e d in E u r o p e in t he sp r ing of 1 9 6 0 — j u s t a b o u t the t ime that VISION m a d e its f i rst a p p e a r a n c e , so bo th share the s a m e si lver jub i lee.

App rop r i a te l y , the House of C o m m o n s w a s the scene of the f i rst c u s t o m e r insta l la t ion of th is p ioneer p r o d u c t .

A l t h o u g h o ther cop ie rs ex is ted, t h e 9 1 4 w a s the f irst fu l ly au toma t i c p la in pape r cop ie r — unl ike its p redecessor , t h e X e r o x 1 3 8 5 , w h i c h requ i red an ope ra to r t o pu t it t h r o u g h all the stages of the p rocess .

Ava i lab le on ly o n renta l , it p r o d u c e d seven cop ies a m i n u t e at o n e (o ld) p e n n y per copy , a n d it w a s ca l l ed t h e 9 1 4 because it c o u l d r e p r o d u c e d o c u m e n t s u p to 9 in. by 1 4 in. in size.

It was , a n d stil l is, t he on l y m a c h i n e w h i c h w i l l c o p y o n to 1 0 in. by 1 5 in. ca rds tock .

The s tory of h o w 9 1 4 p r o d u c t i o n s tar ted u p at M i t c h e l d e a n has been t o l d be fo re — by Fred W i c k s t e a d a n d o the rs in

' o u r 2 1 St A n n i v e r s a r y p u b l i c a t i o n a n d f r o m t i m e to t ime in V IS ION.

But to m a r k t he o c c a s i o n , here are a f e w m o r e reco l l ec t i ons w e have ga the red f r o m p resen t m e m b e r s of staff w h o w e r e o n the spo t at tha t c ruc ia l po in t in c o m p a n y h is tory . They t h r o w s o m e in te res t ing s ide l i gh t s o n the w a y w e o p e r a t e d in t hose ear ly days.

M a g i c m a c h i n e Although he was essentially a 'cash' man in accounts department, Alan Cryer says he felt he ought to know something about the new product, so he asked one of the people on the shop floor and got the reply: "It's magic, Mr Cr/er!"

In 1 9 5 9 , the year it w a s i n t r o d u c e d in t he USA, t he f irst UK 9 1 4 m o d e l s w e r e p r o d u c e d "by hand in M i t che ldean ' s e x p e r i m e n t a l l abo ra to ry u n d e r Ray Camp ' s d i rec t i on , " says Geoff Howe l l .

"Parts tha t b e c a m e p ress ings later o n w e r e c rea ted o u t of so l id l u m p s of meta l : on l y the d r u m a n d s o m e c o n s u m a b l e s w e r e i m p o r t e d f r o m the USA.

"I r e m e m b e r o u r p ro jec t eng inee r Paul Grego ry te l l ing m e a b o u t th is n e w e lec t ros ta t i c p r i n t i ng p rocess invo lv ing a b u c k e t s a n d belt m e c h a n i s m ' a n d b lack p o w d e r e d ink (he had a nove l w a y w i t h wo rds ! ) " .

Geoff w a s the last RX appren t i ce to have to d o t w o years ' na t iona l serv ice a n d it w a s n ' t unt i l he re tu rned f r o m his p o s t i n g in G e r m a n y in 1 9 6 1 that he ac tua l l y s a w a c o m p l e t e 91 4 for the first t ime.

10

Late in 1 9 6 0 a 'XeroX Sec t i on ' w a s set up w i t h i n t he Bell & H o w e l l case s h o p ( n o w part of the M E W S ) w h e r e Bill C inderey , ou r longest serv ing e m p l o y e e , w a s superv isor .

Tony East, n o w in his 3 4 t h year w i t h us, w a s t rans fe r red the re f r o m the m a c h i n e s h o p w h e r e he h a d been e n g a g e d in m a k i n g gears fo r t h e n e w p r o d u c t ; D o n M e e k a n d J o h n G o o d e w e r e a m o n g his fe l l ow p ioneer bu i lders .

A lan Phelps w o r k e d in t he case s h o p t o o — but tha t w a s be fo re t he X e r o X Sec t ion w a s set u p there ; he j o i n e d us in 1 9 5 7 a n d so w i t n e s s e d t h e r ise of t h e ad jacen t 'New B u i l d i n g ' as b i d . 2 3 (vacated earl ier th is year) w a s ch r i s t ened .

Later he m o v e d in to p r o d u c t i o n con t ro l w h e r e he had sole respons ib i l i t y for the init ial p r o v i s i o n i n g of parts for the or ig ina l 9 1 4 p r o g r a m m e .

"Plessey h a d f ive of the ma jo r sub ­assemb ly c o n t r a c t s a n d Bn ta l l i um the m a m f r a m e cas t i ngs w h i c h w e m a c h i n e d here; w e a lso m a d e a cons ide rab le n u m b e r of par ts i n -house . W e had a very c o m p l e x m a n u a l sys tem — it c r ied ou t for mechan i sa t i on , " said A lan .

At t he tende r age of 19 , Barry Hall f o u n d h imsel f the so le buyer of mater ia ls for the 9 1 4 , "a tota l ly n e w p r o d u c t of w h i c h no o n e here had p rev ious exper ience . Today w e have c o m m o d i t y specia l is ts , but at tha t t ime o n e pe rson b o u g h t eve ry th ing for o n e mode l .

"There has been a c o m p l e t e revo lu t i on in ou r bus iness p h i l o s o p h y s ince t h e n , " says Barry. "Take qual i ty , for examp le . In those days v e n d o r s sent us c o m m o d i t i e s and w e expected to have to pu t fau l t s r ight."

A n o t h e r lone ope ra to r w a s T o n y A l l en , w h o , as the on ly cos t c lerk in t he a c c o u n t s d e p a r t m e n t dea l ing w i t h Xerox , cos ted the initial m a c h i n e s ind iv idual ly .

Cuckoo- l i ke , t he 91 4 p r o g r a m m e g rew , f irst d i sp l ac i ng the case s h o p act iv i t ies ent i re ly, t h e n , in t he s u m m e r of 1 9 6 1 , m o v i n g in to the specia l ly bu i l t 'XeroX Bu i ld ing ' (b id .24 ) .

Before leav ing for his n e w a p p o i n t m e n t in the USA, J o h n Rober ts ta lked to us abou t the very early 'sixties. "In o rder to keep d o w n inves tment o n w h a t w a s still expec ted to be a l o w p r o g r a m m e , m a n y of the too ls w e r e of t he 'f irst p r inc ip le ' var iety, a n d v i r tua l ly e v e r y b o d y o n the assemb ly l ine w a s a t ime -se rved or qua l i f i ed eng ineer because t hey had to f ix p r o b l e m s

M e m b e r s of the as­semb ly t eam in the ear ly 's ixt ies, M ike Jones , J o h n Goode, Tony East, Don Meek and Derek Jones are p ic tu red outs ide bid. 2 4 - the Xerox Bu i ld ing . '

A Xerox 914 copier from Mitchel­dean was installed last spring in London's Science Museum - for a special exhibition marking its 25th anniversary. It was on show in the Printing and Paper Gallery, along wi th the Xerox 1385, launched in the 'fifties, and the British-designed Xerox 1045, our latest mid-volume copier. Pictured refurbishing the 914 are (from left) Terry Robinson and Rex Furley wi th apprentices Mike Barnard and Ian Brittain. We also provided its manually-operated

t hemse l ves . It w a s a d i f fe ren t sty le of e n g i n e e r i n g . "

W h e n t h o s e ear ly m a c h i n e s w e r e d e s p a t c h e d to c u s t o m e r s , a M i t c h e l d e a n ins ta l la t ion c r e w w e n t a l o n g to p u t t h e m in pos i t i on be fo re the f ie ld eng inee rs t o o k over, recal ls Derek W i c k s , w h o w a s o n e of t hose rec ru i ted for the j o b .

A m o n g t h e o r d e r s w h i c h f l o w e d in, N o r m a n J o n e s recal ls a spec ia l one -o f f — a 9 1 4 w i t h r e d u c e d vo l t age — m a d e for an ear l ie r / l r / r /?o) /a / (Derek m issed ou t o n tha t

The toast is: the 10,000th 914 machine The year - 1963. Filling the glasses is Don Elliott, then Xerox projects manager.

predecessor, the 1385, and our picture l e f t shows Mel Marfell, Malcolm Wootton and (far right) Tony Kibble (who once worked on 914 tool design) discussing the packing of the historic machines in the supply centre.

one ! ) W e also p r o d u c e d a g rea t m a n y l ow-vo l t age m a c h i n e s fo r S o u t h A m e r i c a .

It w a s relay logic ins tead of m i c r o p r o c e s s o r s in t h o s e days, a n d the re w e r e so m a n y w i res , each d o i n g just o n e j o b , tha t , as J o h n Bra in pu t it, "it l ooked like a c r o w ' s nest ins ide! "

C h a n g e s to the des ign c a m e th ick a n d fast; a m a j o r m o d i f i c a t i o n tha t J o h n par t i cu la r l y r e m e m b e r s w a s the dec i s i on to pu t t he e lec t r i cs t oge the r m the h o l l o w leg of t he m a c h i n e , conve r t i ng it in to an externa l c o n t r o l pane l .

All c h a n g e s had to be a p p r o v e d by the Rank Xerox res ident , J o h n Denn is . This w a s b e f o r e M i t c h e l d e a n b e c a m e part of Rank Xerox , a n d "I had to accep t m a c h i n e s o n the i r behal f f r o m a c o n f i g u r a t i o n a n d qua l i t y aspec t , " said J o h n . "I've still go t t he r ubbe r s t a m p I used ! " ^ . , ,

C o m p e t e n t t o c o p y It's hard to believe there was a t ime when, even though we were producing copiers on site, their use in our offices was strictly limited. Ruth Morgan showed us the operator proficiency pass' issued to her in early 1963 after she had received training on the shop floor "No one then was allowed to operate a 914 unless they held such a pass," she said.

11

Wheelers get arounc.

On their bikes! You may recogn ise s o m e cu r ren t a n d past RX e m p l o y e e s in the above p h o t o g r a p h , taken as they set ou t for an even ing 's cyc l ing t h r o u g h rural Here fo rdsh i re .

It IS unl ikely, however , that cyc l is ts o n site w i l l r ecogn i se the s u p e r b m a c h i n e r y d isp layed here, fo r w e are, in t he m a m , f ine wea ther cycl is ts (notab le excep t i ons be ing Phil C o n n , w h o w a s u n a b l e to get a l o n g fo r the pho to , and Derek Mar t in ) .

Our e n j o y m e n t lies in t he w h i r r i n g of the c ranks as w e apprec ia te t he p leasures to be ob ta ined f r o m the o p e n coun t r ys ide .

By the m i l d app l i ca t i on of a l i tt le energy , w e can en joy v iews as b rea th tak ing as the W y e Val ley seen f r o m St. Br iavels in t he Forest of D e a n , a n d as de l i gh t f u l as t he qua in t v i l lages of sou the rn Here fo rdsh i re .

The fact that th is app rec ia t i on is t e m ­pered by not i n f requen t s tops at s o m e of the m o r e p i c t u resque inns k n o w n to th is part of s o u t h - w e s t Eng land test i f ies to t he more socia l asp i ra t i ons of o u r smal l g r o u p .

The h igh l i gh t of o u r c y c l i n g year is the W h e e l e r s ' Fore ign Trip' , a n d th is last spr ing bank h o l i d a y w e o n c e aga in h e a d e d for the Nor th Br i t tany coast .

W i t h the he lp of our sa i l ing co l l eagues , G o r d o n Campbe l l a n d M a r t i n Saunde rs , and the skil l a n d o r g a n i s a t i o n of Br i t tany Ferries, w e m a d e landfa l l in St M a l o .

G o r d o n also d isp layed his exper t k n o w ­ledge of boats by success fu l l y f i n d i n g the duty- f ree s h o p at the f irst a t tempt .

Geared to go are (from the left) Dave Lloyd, Frances Roger Hughes

Back o n o u r bikes, w h i c h had been we l l l ashed u p o n the car deck w i t h espec ia l l y g reasy rope , w e h e a d e d i n land to O m a n : w e spen t t w o en joyab le days cyc l i ng a r o u n d th is anc ien t por t o n the River Ranee a n d exp lo r i ng the s u r r o u n d i n g c o u n t r y s i d e . W e l l w o r t h a vis i t f o r t h o s e t rave l l ing to Br i t tany th is s u m m e r .

Cyc l i ng in France is very s imi lar to c y c l i n g in E n g l a n d (mo to r i s t s no te : w e stil l r ide in t h e m i d d l e of t he road w h e n y o u are t ry ing to over take! ) bu t the roads are f reer f r o m t raf f ic , su r faces are r o u g h e r , a n d d i s tances s e e m to be shor ter .

The latter c o u l d have s o m e t h i n g to d o w i t h ou r inabi l i ty t o mas te r t h e k i l o m e t r e / m i le c o n v e r s i o n desp i te lessons f r o m Mar t in ' s w i f e Frances

Cyc l i ng is m u c h m o r e w ide l y a c c e p t e d

and Mart in Saunders, Derek and Fran Mart in and

in France, a n d far f r o m be ing c o n s i d e r e d 'c ranks ' , S u n d a y cyc l is ts appea r t o be the n o r m .

W e r e t u r n e d to St M a l o jus t as t he heavens o p e n e d a n d t h e ram tha t had w a s h e d o u t everyone 's bank ho l iday in Br i ta in ar r ived o n the Con t inen t .

It w a s t h e n t i m e to s p e n d the r e m a i n i n g f r a n c s (very f e w w i t h M a r s bars at 3 5 p a n d bot t les of He ineken f 1.20) a n d head back to M i t c h e l d e a n — by car!

W e are all l ook ing fonward to m a n y e v e n i n g s c y c l i n g th is s u m m e r a n d a UK 'away w e e k e n d ' in t he a u t u m n t o f o l l o w o u r success fu l v is i t t o W e l l s a n d the M e n d i p s last year.

W r i t t e n b y " W h e e l e r s ' p lag ia r i sed b y R o g e r H u g h e s .

Continued from page 1!

There w a s a 4 2 0 var iant , i n t r o d u c e d fo r bi l l ing pu rposes , a n d t h e n later t he 9 1 4 was u p g r a d e d to t he 7 2 0 w h i c h d i d 12 cop ies a m i n u t e ins tead of seven a n d w o n us a go ld meda l at the Leipzig Fair.

J o h n D idco te r e m e m b e r s be ing o n e of those assembly ope ra to rs w h o w o r k e d t h r o u g h the s u m m e r s h u t d o w n in o rde r to p r o d u c e l a u n c h m o d e l s of t he 7 2 0 . "It h a d lots of sp in-of fs : there w a s even o n e f i t ted w i th a mic ropr in te r . "

A l toge ther s o m e 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 9 1 4 s w e r e bui l t w o r l d - w i d e : the n u m b e r stil l in ope ra t i on in t he USA runs in to t h o u s a n d s , there are m a n y in Eastern Eu rope ( s o m e of w h i c h have c l o c k e d u p over 1 5 m i l l i on copies) a n d n ine are stil l opera t i ve m the UK.

Today ou r 1 0 Ser ies m a c h i n e s have a versat i l i ty and soph is t i ca t i on u n d r e a m e d of in the 'sixties, bu t the x e r o g r a p h i c pr inc ip le is still basical ly t he s a m e as tha t in our p ioneer p roduc t .

The 9 1 4 b r o u g h t us ou t of t he c a r b o n c o p y age a n d sparked off g e n e r a t i o n s of o ther innovat ive Xerox p r o d u c t s tha t c o n t i n u e to set t he pace in o f f i ce techno logy .

W e sa lu te y o u — 9 1 4 !

12

Jeffrey Hawkins (inspection QA) and his bride Angela after their wedding at St Mary's Church, Ross-on-Wye, on 15 June.

Sorry, We lwyn I

The article on 'Innovation '85 ' in our last issue stated that 'RXEG Welwyn' contr ibuted a demonstration on surface mount techniques: this should have read 'EMSD Welwyn'.

A t i m e l y ar r iva l

"A lways de l iver o n t i m e " w a s the s l o g a n p r i n t ed a b o v e t h e p i c tu re of a s m i l i n g Pete W e a v i n g ( in ternal t ranspor t ) o n the qua l i t y pos te r a n d ca lenda r p a g e f o r t h e m o n t h c o m m e n c i n g 1 J u n e . So w a s it c o i n c i d e n c e , or a p roo f of a f am i l y c o m m i t m e n t t o th is p r inc ip le , w h e n he a n d his w i f e W e n d y a n n o u n c e d the b i r th of a s o n , Dav id J o h n , o n 1 June?

R o y S t e w a r d

W e repo r t w i t h regret t he dea th o n 2 3 J u n e o f Roy S t e w a r d at t he age of 6 4 . In his 2 1 years at M i t c h e l d e a n , Roy deal t w i t h m a n y aspec ts of pe rsonne l w o r k a n d b e f o r e his r e t i r emen t in 1 9 8 1 he was , as p e r s o n n e l o f f icer (wel fare) , very i nvo lved w i t h t he c o n c e r n s of p e n ­s ioners . He w a s secre tary of t he Spor t s & Soc ia l C l u b unt i l t he n e w c l u b h o u s e p ro j ec t w a s s ta r ted a n d he b e c a m e o n e of t h e t rus tees of the c l u b . He w a s a lso v i c e - c h a i r m a n of t he LSA at o n e t ime . Roy w a s very ac t ive in c o m m u n i t y wo rk , desp i t e d isabi l i t ies , a n d he w i l l be g rea t ly m i s s e d in t he L o n g h o p e area w h e r e he l ived. Ou r s y m p a t h y goes to his w i f e M a r g a r e t and fami ly .