An Idea Becomes An industry
(Text and pictures from a Burroughs advertising publication in 1951)
IDEA FOR A NEW ERA
In the year 1882, a young bookkeeper decided to become a mechanic. His decision was born of years of nerve-shattering drudgery, of long, dreary hours of adding columns of figures, and checking and rechecking to locate possible errors. His health broken by the strain, he resigned his job in an Auburn, New York, bank, and moved west to start a new and significant career.
In the small machine shop of Joseph Boyer in Saint Louis, William Seward Burroughs, age 25, dedicated his life to the development of an idea - the idea that a machine could be devised to add figures mechanically without possibility of error. That idea was the inspiration that led to the development of the first practical adding machine - the beginning of a new era in Business.
In the year 1882, a young bookkeeper decided to become a mechanic. His decision was born of years of nerve-shattering drudgery, of long, dreary hours of adding columns of figures, and checking and rechecking to locate possible errors. His health broken by the strain, he resigned his job in an Auburn, New York, bank, and moved west to start a new and significant career.
In the small machine shop of Joseph Boyer in Saint Louis, William Seward Burroughs, age 25, dedicated his life to the development of an idea - the idea that a machine could be devised to add figures mechanically without possibility of error. That idea was the inspiration that led to the development of the first practical adding machine - the beginning of a new era in Business.
AN INDUSTRY GROWS
Disheartening setbacks, financial struggles and popular unbelief marked the early work of William Seward Burroughs, but by 1885 he had applied for a patent on his invention, and in 1886 the American Arithmometer Company was organized in Saint Louis.
By the time Burroughs' death, twelve years later, production of adding machines was well under way, and in 1904 the company was moved bodily to Detroit to become the Burroughs Adding Machine Company
Since that time, Burroughs has expanded and developed the basic principle of the adding machine into a complete line of bookkeeping, accounting, calculating and statistical machines; has produced scientifically designed clerical and executive chairs and a wide selection of office supplies.
Thus Burroughs has fulfilled the needs of more than a million businesses; it has provided steady, highly paid work for thousands of employees, and it has never missed a dividend to its loyal stockholders.
MACHINES FOR EVERY OFFICE NEED
Since the day of William Seward Burroughs, accounting and clerical routines have grown more and more complicated, and the need has continuously increased for greater efficiency in keeping records and compiling up-to-date information. Mechanized accounting has become indispensable to the rapid tempo of modern business - an essential service to efficient management.
Burroughs machines today are called upon to perform every kind of accounting and figuring task, to provide accurate data for current analysis, to save time, money, and effort in the complex procedures of modern business operations
In banks, offices, stores, hospitals, factories, hotels and a host of other business places, Burroughs office production tools are proving the wisdom of Mr. Burroughs' idea - the idea that better accounting jobs can be done more easily by mechanical means than by hand; in other words, that with the aid of precision office machines, men and women can accomplish more with less effort and in less time.
The realization of that idea is the reason for the existence of the Burroughs Corporation.
A WORLD BUSINESS
Now, after more than half a century of pioneering in the development of better mechanical figuring equipment of all kinds, Burroughs serves the world.
The number of its employees has increased from a few hundred to more than 14,000. The ranks of its stockholders have risen from less than 60 to more than 26.000.
Its home office is located in Detroit; its six factories are in Detroit and Plymouth, Michigan; Windsor, Canada; and Nottingham, England.
The United States and Canada are served by 518 sales and service centers, all owned and operated by the Company.
Remainder of the world market is reached by Burroughs' fourteen foreign subsidiary corporations operating through 215 branches and dealers.
THE COMPANY TODAY
- Alert to changes in business accounting requirements, design engineers are constantly creating new machines to meet new needs.
- Skilled production men and women use the most progressive manufacturing methods in modern plants designed and tooled for the jobs assigned them.
- Products are sold by thousands of field representatives throughout the world who understand figuring problems and help prescribe methods to solve them.
- Improved systems for the mechanized handling of business figuring problems are developed by methods experts and sales counsellors.
- Keeping the machines in perfect operating condition is the job od the serviceman whose intimate contact with customer operations also assists in the constant improvement of products.
- And in the research laboratories, engineers are continuously working on the business machines of the future - on electronic devices and other new scientific developments in the mechanization of accounting procedures.
PEOPLE WHO ARE BURROUGHS
An organization is no better than the men and women who make it up. Burroughs people are of an exceptionally high quality. Carefully selected according to their capacity for doing their jobs well, they are trained in the knowledge and ability necessary to design, make, sell, and service fine business machines.
Burroughs people have always been proud of their work. the quality they have designed and built into their machines and the service they have rendered their customers have made them respected everywhere.
A large percentage of Burroughs people have been with the Company for many years and hundreds of families have been in the organization for generations. One out of every ten employees is a stockholder.
The majority of Burroughs people lives in and around Detroit and Plymouth, Michigan, where they not only work in the Company's plants, but also enjoy the recreation facilities of "Burroughs Farms".
WHAT IS A BURROUGHS MACHINE?
Burroughs machines fundamentally are mechanized devices to add, subtract, multiply and divide with absolute accuracy and lightning-like speed. They are designed to reduce, as far as is economically possible, the drudgery of figuring operations and the possibility of human error.
They range from a simple, hand-driven adding apparatus to highly complex, automatic, electrically operated mechanisms designed to handle such specialized operations as public utility billing, materials and budgetary control, installment records, tax and labor accounting, and payroll figuring and preparation.
In some Burroughs machines there are more than ten thousand parts, many of which, in operation, move faster than the eye can see. For instance, in less than a second after an operator touches a key on a high-speed desk bookkeeping machine, hundreds of parts are placed in motion, many tiny gears revolve to exactly the right points, the required digits are printed on records, and the figures are accumulated to provide a total.
They range from a simple, hand-driven adding apparatus to highly complex, automatic, electrically operated mechanisms designed to handle such specialized operations as public utility billing, materials and budgetary control, installment records, tax and labor accounting, and payroll figuring and preparation.
In some Burroughs machines there are more than ten thousand parts, many of which, in operation, move faster than the eye can see. For instance, in less than a second after an operator touches a key on a high-speed desk bookkeeping machine, hundreds of parts are placed in motion, many tiny gears revolve to exactly the right points, the required digits are printed on records, and the figures are accumulated to provide a total.
EXHAUSTIVE RESEARCH BEHIND BURROUGHS PRODUCTS
Behind each Burroughs product is a wide background of sound engineering. In the Company's Research and Testing Laboratories, technicians are constantly conducting studies and experimentation to achieve engineering improvements.
The physical and chemical properties of metals, plastics, rubber, fabrics and lubricants are thoroughly investigated. To insure maximum durability, materials are subjected to extensive stress analysis, as well as complete fatigue and wear tests.
Electrical problems involved in the design for new motors are the subject of continuous research, Special studies are carried on as well in spring construction, bearings, plating, noise, exterior design and finish.
Out of engineering activities such as these comes a continuous flow of new ideas in business machine design and new materials for more efficient performance and longer life. Utilizing these developments, Burroughs design engineers are working constantly on improvements for existing machines and the creation of new and better ones.
ACCURACY IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE
Because accuracy of operation is of paramount importance, often years of study and experiment are required before Burroughs engineers are satisfied that a new machine will do the job required of it.
Trial models of every new design are subjected to the most exhaustive tests before they are accepted. Some are run mechanically day and night for the equivalent of many years' use, under conditions which multiply the severity of normal operation.
Other machines are tested thoroughly under actual business conditions. For months, or even years, they are made to do the jobs for which they were designed, as engineers and accountants study their performance.
Speed is a vital consideration. The various automatic functions which reduce the effort required of the operators and thus decrease the possibility of mistakes, are tested exhaustively. Mechanisms for handling the paper used in the machines are studied and refined.
Convenience in preparing forms and records, and over-all ease of operation are investigated and improved. Color is an important subject of experiments to minimize fatigue.
Finally, the machine is ready for volume production.
ONLY BEST MATERIALS SELECTED
Because Burroughs machines must always function with absolute accuracy, they must be constructed with painstaking care. Since they are needed by businesses throughout the world, they must be produced in large quantities. The manufacture of Burroughs machines, then, involves the proper combination of skilled craftsmanship and volume production techniques.
The first step in the building of a Burroughs machines is the purchase of the finest materials. Samples are regularly taken, both before and after fabrication, and are put though exacting tests. Some, for example, are examined with the photomicrograph, an instrument that enables the engineers actually to see and photograph their minute structure. Others are tested for hardness, or durability. Still others are subjected to thorough chemical analysis.
All the ingredients making up a Burroughs machine must continually meet the rigid specifications developed by its engineers through years of research.
GOOD TOOLS KEY TO PRECISION MANUFACTURE
Since some parts for Burroughs machines must be made in quantities exceeding ten million a year, it is necessary, not only to use the best materials, but also to employ the latest machine tools, jigs, dies and fixtures.
Much of the precision equipment used in manufacturing Burroughs products is fashioned in its own tool shops. Designers and craftsman often devote hundreds of hours to the making of even a simple die, and more complex tools may require months of painstaking labor.
In addition, process engineers keep abreast of the newest developments made by others, and install them promptly whenever they will improve production, reduce employee fatigue or provide better health and safety conditions.
Control of precision is maintained by a wide variety of gauges and other instruments, some of which measure to within five millionths of an inch. Master parts are tested in air conditioned rooms, and are used constantly to maintain the accuracy of testing equipment employed during manufacture.
TRAINED CRAFTSMAN, A BURROUGHS FUNDAMENTAL
In all of its history, Burroughs has seen to it that its employees receive thorough training for their work.
New employees are instructed in the aims and purposes of the Company as well as on the jobs they are assigned to do. Safety training and other educational activities are conducted constantly in the plant.
Supervisors and foreman receive special instruction for their responsibilities. Close contact is maintained with all supervisory personnel to make sure that everyone is acquainted with the policies and practices of the organization.
In the factory apprentice school, which has been in operation since 1906, young men are trained to be tool and die makers and draftsman. They will eventually by the ones to design and make the highly precise equipment necessary to build Burroughs machines.
This combination of materials, equipment, and trained people, when brought together and properly directed, is responsible for Burroughs quality.
PARTS BY THE MILLION
After quality raw materials, precision tools and skilled craftsmen have been brought together, manufacturing begins.
First, steel plates, rods and wire are turned into thousands of different parts. Giant punch presses cut and stamp steel under as much as 600 tons pressure. Automatic screw machines turn out some parts in as little as three-fourths of a second. Springs, the muscles of the machine, are coiled at the rate of two or three thousand and hour.
Some parts can be finished in a single operation by highly automatic machines; others must go through as many as seventy-five separate processes before they conform to Burroughs high standards of precision. Gears must be trimmed, shaved and ground until they are formed to exactly the right size and shape, often with an accuracy of less than a thousandth of an inch.
In all, more than a million parts are fabricated each day in Burroughs plants.
ASSEMBLING THE MACHINE
Assembly of parts into a Burroughs machine is a precision operation. Alignment must be perfect; spring tension must be accurate; every segment of the machine must fit together exactly, in order that all parts will perform their functions smoothly at high speeds.
From the production departments where the parts are made, a modern conveyor system moves continuously through the plant to the various assembly lines. Sections, or"sub-assemblies," are erected first, comprising hundreds of gears, springs, pins, screws, and other pieces. All sub-assemblies are thoroughly tested upon completion, and flow into the main assembly lines at the points at which they are to be added to the machines.
Finally, when the completed machines come off the various assembly lines, they are put through rigorous functional tests, Trained operators subject the machines to many times the strain they must undergo in ordinary office procedures. Only after they have passed all of the tests can they be approved for shipment.
ASSEMBLING THE MACHINE
Assembly of parts into a Burroughs machine is a precision operation. Alignment must be perfect; spring tension must be accurate; every segment of the machine must fit together exactly, in order that all parts will perform their functions smoothly at high speeds.
From the production departments where the parts are made, a modern conveyor system moves continuously through the plant to the various assembly lines. Sections, or"sub-assemblies," are erected first, comprising hundreds of gears, springs, pins, screws, and other pieces. All sub-assemblies are thoroughly tested upon completion, and flow into the main assembly lines at the points at which they are to be added to the machines.
Finally, when the completed machines come off the various assembly lines, they are put through rigorous functional tests, Trained operators subject the machines to many times the strain they must undergo in ordinary office procedures. Only after they have passed all of the tests can they be approved for shipment.
SELLING TO A WORLD MARKET
To distribute Burroughs products in a world market, a highly trained Company sales organization is operated from the home office in Detroit, Michigan.
Young men with sales ability and practical accounting knowledge are given thorough training and practical experience before they become senior sales representatives. Intensive courses in machines and their uses, conducted in the home office, and field work under the supervision of competent instructors, prepare the salesman to analyze customers' needs and suggest the best mechanical systems and tools for meeting those needs.
Division managers an specialists from the home office staff work with field representatives to maintain high standards of sales policy, and to keep every member of the field force up to date on new developments in methods and machines. Sales executives and personnel from subsidiaries, branches, and dealers all over the world visit Detroit regularly for first hand information and instruction.
The Burroughs worldwide sales force is keyed to provide modern business with the best tools for kinds of figuring and accounting work.
CLEARING HOUSE FOR NEW ACCOUNTING IDEAS
Every Burroughs machine is born of a business need. Just as William Seward Burroughs invented a machine to eliminate the drudgery of mental addition, so through the years Burroughs has developed mechanized answers to a host of other figuring and accounting problems.
Sales counsellors in Burroughs world-wide organization, constantly studying business needs and installing machines and methods, gather a vast fund of mechanized accounting information
After skillful analysis in the Home Office Methods Research Department, this information is available to the Company's engineering division as a guide in the development of new machines such as those pictured below.
It also becomes a source from which the best ideas in mechanized accounting are distributed to the comprehensive libraries in all Burroughs branch offices, to provide the latest accounting information for Burroughs representatives, accountants and businessmen throughout the world.
Thus, through close teamwork on the part of its customers, sales counsellors and methods experts, Burroughs is constantly working to create better procedures, systems and machines for all business accounting operations.
SERVICE FOR ALL CUSTOMERS
Burroughs builds the longest possible life into all of its machines However, as a further service to its customers. the Company also provides professional care required to maintain, and if emergencies occur, repair the machines after they are placed in operation.
The men who watch over Burroughs machines, like the men who make and sell them, are thoroughly trained for their jobs. Basic study and work in the field give them a knowledge of fundamentals. Then they are brought to Company headquarters in Detroit for advanced courses under experienced instructors. Thereafter, regular training in new developments continues throughout their careers.
Most maintenance of repair work can be done right in the customer's office. When needed, there is a fully equipped Burroughs service station nearby with an adequate supply of the 70,000 different parts for the machines, and Burroughs extensive line of ribbons, roll paper and other office supplies.
Burroughs' aim is to keep all of its machines, no matter when they were purchased or where they may be located, in first class operating condition.
TRAINED OPERATORS
Like any other production tool, the efficiency of a business machine depends upon the ability and skill of the man or woman who uses it.
As a part of Burroughs service, when a new Burroughs machine is installed in a customer's office, training is given free of charge to the employee who will operate it.
To develop a reservoir of highly trained operators for customers' needs, regular instruction under skilled teachers is offered in strategically located Burroughs operator schools. Assistance is given also to vocational and secondary schools and instruction manuals are available for both teacher and student.
Through a placement service maintained in all its schools for graduates who have passed rigid examinations, Burroughs meets customers' needs for competent operators and, at the same time, provides employment opportunities for thousands of men and women every year.
AND IN THE FUTURE . . .
William Seward Burroughs' idea was born of a forward-thinking analysis of the business he knew best. His genius pushed back the frontiers of business accounting and made way for the modern business machine.
Today, more than ever before, Burroughs is thinking ahead. In its own laboratories, engineers are applying intensive research to the business figuring requirements of tomorrow, exploring new areas of precision manufacture, new materials, new methods and new fields of scientific knowledge.
Under Burroughs' sponsorship, major educational institutions are conducting additional basic research in electronics and related sciences for possible application to the business machines of the future.
It is Burroughs' aim to maintain its tradition of leadership in the development of better and better accounting machines to meet the needs of tomorrow's business.
