Olin
FUTURE OFFICE FAST EMERGING
Everv business soends a major portion of its assets on analyzing and delivering information. At Pisgah Forest the computer is being harnessed to improve the
speed^ccufacrand eHicmn^ "our information processing. The big benefits are improved decision making and better management of company resources.
These three stories show Olin’s commitment to lead the way into the office of the future.
How To Get Answers To Your Questions About Computers
How difficult is it to use a com
puter? Can a computer help you in
your job?
You can answer these and a lot
more questions by taking a 14 hour
course in our computer training
center, right here at Pisgah Forest.
“Our expectations are that
people at all levels of
administration will become
familiar and comfortable
with the personal computer.”
To discuss the training program
and arrange a demonstration contact
Susan Reece, Training Coordinator
for Interactive Technology Programs
at 2256. If you qualify Susan will assign
you a time for seven,two hour sessions.
You will train on an IBM personal
computer equipped with color moni
tor, printer and plotter. Basically you
Gay Poor (left) and Florence Pridgen get
friendly with a personal computer,
teach yourself using tape recorded in
structions and an easy to understand
manual.
The starter course teaches LOTUS
1-2-3, a program that can be used for
financial analysis, forecasting and
budgets. The program is excellent for
learning the basics of daily data col
lection and manipulation. It requires
no knowledge of computer languages
“Our expectations are that people
at all levels of administration will
become familiar and comfortable with
the personal computer,” Susan Reece
explained. “Then they will come to
the center to learn or develop pro
grams that will help them or their
department. If they develop enough
uses, they may then justify a request
for their own computer in their office.
This approach has been used at
Stamford and they have 34 personal
computers.”
Susan says that early interest is
high and urges anyone interested to
contact her for a demonstration. O
Olin Automates Word Handling
Six administrative departments at
Pisgah Forest are now linked together
by a computer which specializes in
handling words more efficiently. Simi
lar installations at other companies
reduce the time spent typing by 40 to
60 percent.
Word processing work stations
have been installed in Financial Con
trol, Procurement, General Account
ing, Human Resources, Marketing and
Group Staff offices. They are all con
nected to a special word processing
computer and share the same pro
gramming. The system can accommo
date up to 32 work stations and can
communicate with similar computers
at corporate headquarters in Stam
ford, Connecticut. Plans are under
consideration to connect the system
directly with Olin’s supplier of office
supplies and order direct — computer
to computer.
When it comes to putting words on
paper the system is expected to do it
with less time, effort and cost. Speci
fically:
• Secretaries can make corrections
on documents and letters without
Customer Orders To Go Pops
Each order Ecusta receives for
paper starts a communications chain
reaction and an avalanche of paper.
The information chain includes custo
mer service, production control, order
entry, manufacturing, shipping, traf
fic, billing, credit, marketing and the
customer.
These departments and the custo
mer pass back and forth a mass of in
formation on the terms of the sale,
prices, product specifications, freight
rates, the status of the order, and
shipping and billing data. All this is
“We expect to be proud of
the results.”
necessary to enable Ecusta to provide
a product which will completely
satisfy the needs of our customers.
In 1980 a study of this complex pro
cess was begun. Managers from
customer service, order entry and
data processing under the direction
of John Link formed a task force to
improve order entry procedures. The
goal — take advantage of the power
of the computer to reduce paperwork,
supply timely and accurate informa ¬
completely re-typing them. Material
is electronically added, deleted
and rearranged and then automati
cally typed out
• Documents can be electronically
transmitted from department to
department
• The computer automatically
checks for spelling and math errors
• Lists and data can be stored and
shared by all departments
• The computer will sort out data or
search for names on lists
• The computer will automatically
print duplicate letters and address
envelopes
• Financial data can be turned into
charts and graphs for better pre
sentations.
Jo Ann Whitmire, Secretary in Human
Resources, studies ways to make her depart
ment more productive using the new office
automation system.
In all we are going to be able to
communicate better because of great
er speed, more accuracy and in
creased word handling capability for
all administrative personnel. O
tion, reduce the chance for errors and
protect data security. “The end
result,” noted John Link, “is that
Ecusta will be better able to respond
to our customers’ needs and that we
further establish our reputation as the
best in the industry.”
This four year project is called
POPS — Paper Order Processing Sys
tem. POPS will be implemented by
early to mid 1985. Customers will be
able to get faster answers to their
questions. The computer will store all
essential information, keep it up to
date and instantly make it available
to authorized personnel. Binders with
specifications and prices will disap
pear. Documents will be distributed
throughout the mill only as needed —
not as much as three months in ad
vance. Documents sent to customers
will be easier to read and understand.
“The computer made POPS possi
ble,” John Link concluded, “but it has
taken thousands of manhours to
thoroughly analyze our old system,
decide what we wanted to improve,
determine how to improve it and then
make sure it all will work. We expect
to be proud of the results.” O
The POPS task force gathers around a computer terminal. They are Judy Nicholson,
Lou Maney, Carolyn Brown, Joyce Galloway, John Link and Delmar Hardman.