msjohnso
Newbie

Posts: 2
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« on: January 03, 2017, 08:53:45 pm » |
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Here's a story from NCR's Wichita, Kansas plant, which was the home of 8100, 8200, 9020, and 9100 computer system manufacturing in the 70's through 90's.
Every system was shipped with a QA 'squawk card' - a postcard where the installing tech, or the customer, could note any quality problems seen in installation or early operation. On one occasion in the late 1970's, a card was returned with the complaint "Two dead rats found in power supply."
The manufacturing QA manager of the time, Walt Shively, made a copy of the card and quickly penned a reply to the customer:
"Must be shipping damage - they were alive when they left here."
Two important facts: 1. The customer had a reasonably good sense of humor. 2. Walt had lots of friends at Corporate QA.
Without both of those things, he might very well have been out the door...
The Wichita facility, through mergers, acquisitions, and such, is now a NetApp engineering facility - but the last I knew, a brass-plate copy of the QA card with Walt's reply was still in the trophy case.
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