The problems of data transmission systems in a general

manufacturing data processing installation

By D. G. Russell
The paper discusses the concept and objectives of a Management Reporting System in an
automobile manufacturing complex with three main plants separated geographically. The
suitability of data for input to the system is determined by its importance to the final reports
produced.

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Vauxhall has three plants. The main plant at Luton completion by December 1963. With these answers
manufactures cars and vans, seven miles distant is the we hope more readily to determine what types of data
Truck Plant, and at Ellesmere Port is a plant manu- merit mechanical collection by transmission systems
facturing major units for vehicles. The Data Processing and the relationship of report content to manage-
Department is centralized at Luton reporting to the ment decisions.
Comptroller; it has about 110 employees, uses two We try not to be enamoured of large computers. In
IBM 1401 systems with eight switchable 729 tape units our view it is vastly more important to complete a
and three 1405 disc units with a capacity of 60 million mechanization programme based on small/medium
digits. An IBM 1620 computer is used for engineering computers than have an incomplete programme based
calculations. A further IBM 1401 Tape/Ramac is on a large machine. It is into this climate, that our
located in the Parts and Accessories Office at Dunstable, thoughts on data collection fit.
used solely on parts processing. Our two central Our future plans, therefore, revolve around a company-
computers are presently used for a total of 600 hours per wide telecommunication installation for data transmission
month. and communication. Passing of input data from an
Until recently our effort has been directed at appli- IBM 1440 computer at Ellesmere Port via G.P.O. lines
cation processing—the capturing of data and processing to a 1401 at Luton for processing, output being in
of functional procedures such as Production Schedules, magnetic tape for output printing locally at Ellesmere
Material Control, Payables, General Ledger, Dealership Port's 1440. A review of our reporting system was made
Reporting, Vehicle Distribution, Warranty and Policy, in an attempt to classify a management reporting system
Manpower Forecasts, Budget Forecasts and Expense using transmission where necessary for exception reports.
Control Reports, etc. Within the limitations of the With the latter we have had little success, possibly, we
power and specification of the computer we have feel, because we have not put sufficient effort into
integrated as far as possible, but not as much as we creating a system of reporting, as distinct from a
would have liked. miscellany of reports.
By the end of 1963 all applications suitable for com- Our plans are based on the principle of "get your
puter processing will be implemented. This we regard feet wet"—learn by experience, but work out your
merely as the preliminary stage of our computer usage— planning in detail to a convenient stopping point.
the end of Phase 1. Many of our plans cannot be achieved on our present
We feel that the real payoff will come with any suc- smallish computer, BUT we will have defined WHAT
cesses we may achieve on Phase 2—the definition of a we are trying to do and determine by experience
S YSTEM of management reporting based on computer WHERE we are falling short. We feel that far too
processing and collection of data (where necessary) by much emphasis has been put on hardware and theoretical
transmission and other more sophisticated systems systems. At some stage the TALK must end and
than the bicycle and keypunch. ACTION begin. Here at Vauxhall we (by not acknow-
Those of you working in large companies (over ledging the impossible) reach for the ultimate theoretical
20,000 employees) will know the problems facing our system and very often get a very good practical alter-
group, groping for basic facts for such an analysis. native. We feel that too much attention is given to
Answers must be found to such questions as: What technical jargon. It is up to the manufacturers to prove
information do we put into our system? From what that their "black boxes" work. We insist that this is
existing forms is it prepared? Can we reduce costs on their responsibility. Our basic consideration is what
these forms? What analysis is required for reports? goes INTO the system and the efficiency of what comes
Are subsequent reports "background" reports or OUT.
"action" reports? At what level are reports used to The following is a summary of the system concept on
generate action? In discussing these questions we feel which we are now working. It is, however, liable to
that few facts are known. A project has been com- change, as our knowledge and experience grows, and as
menced to find these answers. We estimate it will we can determine on a more factual basis, management's
take about ten man years work in a cycle time for requirements of a system of reporting.
210
 Problems of data transmission systems
Table 1 Concept
System objectives Over a twenty-four hour period many thousands of
data transactions take place in a company. Material is
1. (i) Receipt of material in Stores received, inspected, passed or i ejected. Invoices are
(ii) Movement of material between machining opera-
tions received, payments initiated. Production is scheduled.
(iii) Fabrication of major units on the assembly line Products at Dealerships are sold. Material supplies
(iv) Movements in and out of Factory Stocks are chased when behind on delivery schedule.
(v) Movements in and out of Dealer Stocks The results of these data transactions are (as
(vi) Movements in Customer Sales.
regards time) sometimes ineffectually injected into the
2. Such material receipts and movements to be subjected processing system by keypunching and verifying. Thus
the processing system is slow to react and pinpoint areas

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to inspection for quality and quantity to ensure:
where problems are germinating.
(i) Availability of material Data transactions, therefore, require segregation into
(ii) Quality of material
(Iii) Efficiency of labour two main types, classified mainly according to output.
are organized for optimum efficiency under the period (i) Those inputs requiring immediate processing for
Production Plan. Data collected, to be transmitted for exception reports,
processing to a centralized computer into exception reports (ii) Those inputs for processing into applications
received at outstations for local control on a decentralized from which exception reports are not immediately
basis.
required.
3. Specified control reports are: To produce a fast reacting system, therefore, out-
(i) Receipts Record by Receiving Stores station equipment must have:
(ii) Quality Control of Bought-Out Parts, by Supplier (i) Card/paper-tape transmission of static and keyed
(iii) Labour Control by Production Foreman Group
(iv) Quality Control of Finished Stock variable information,
(v) Production Reports (ii) Where required, the facility to prepare add-
(vi) Material Progress chasing Report listing control tapes,
(vii) Warehouse Shipment Schedule (iii) On-line connection to a computer for storing data
(viii) Special Equipment Status Reports
(ix) Vehicle Availability Report. transactions for processing and inquiry,
(iv) Printing-out mechanism for outstation reports on
4. So to organize the flow of data, that inputs to the an exception basis and checking of input data.
control system can be used for further data-processing
applications. This conception dictates, therefore, the requirement
for transmitting data on an immediate basis direct to a
computer, in such a manner that the data input is
System inputs/outputs/and master files controlled where necessary. The processing of this data
Inputs takes place in a central computer and reports are
(i) Goods Received Notes generated to the outstation printer for action, with an
(ii) Material Inspection Report outstation inquiry feature for historical and/or master
(iii) Scrap and Inspection Dockets file information.
(iv) Inspection Reports—Material
(v) Vehicle Build Card The principal objectives of the system are set out in
(vi) Spares Shipment Tags Table 1..
(vii) Vehicle Build Card and Finishes Report
(viii) Vehicle Release.
Principles for defining input suitability for data collection
Outputs The "Total Systems" approach requires, not a job-by-
(i) Material Receiving Report job approach to a computer—but rather the deter-
(ii) Quality Control—Material mination of the relationships of all jobs to each other.
(iii) Labour Efficiency Report This entails many programming and systems problems
(iv) Quality Control—Finished Parts
(v) Production Report and most D.P. installation managers review the total
(vi) Material Progress Chasing Schedule system in two or three major blocks, as it is virtually
(vii) Warehouse Shipment Schedule impossible for the human mind to envisage a total system.
(viii) Special Equipment Status Report One, if not the major, aim of D.P. is control of the
(ix) Vehicle Availability Report. business. This means decision. Decision needs analysis
of facts. Analysis means the collation of facts in a
Master and processing discsI tapes Report. The same facts are contained in different
(i) Part No. Breakdown File reports, thus there must be a system of reporting. If
(ii) Part No. Master File data collection is to have any meaning, it must be related
(iii) Total Requirements Schedule
(iv) Labour Times and Cost to the reporting system, not merely used as a time saver.
(v) Material Cost. Surveys must be made of the data which are collected
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 Problems of data transmission systems
to ascertain their relationship to the reports which they (iv) Content of data cards—alpha, numeric, pre-
generates. punched, etc.
Of the various data collection methods and processing (v) Proposed input for future D.P. applications.
techniques, we have basically four different types of Matching this analysis against our existing report
report. It is with the last—Exception Reporting— that set-up shows the major areas where Data Collection is
data collection is mainly concerned. Thus, the pro- of possible assistance. These areas are:
cessing technique determines that criteria are set and
input information is balanced against these criteria. If (i) Inventory Reports—Tools, Production Material,
the limits are above or below, a print-out of the excep- Spares
tions is created at the point of control, not necessarily (ii) Vehicle Assembling—Factory Production Orders
at the outstation which initially collected the input. (iii) Material Receipts—Chasing Schedule
(iv) Quality Control—Material, Parts in Process,

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If this principle is accepted, a Company-wide survey
of data input (existing and/or proposed) requires Finished Stock
analysis against the reporting system as in Fig. 1. (v) Labour Efficiencies—Productive Labour Effi-
ciencies
(vi) Spares Warehousing—Shipment Schedule Stocks
Detail of input analysis (vii) Optional Equipment—Status of Special Equip-
The survey of input data was designed to show: ment Usage and Orders
(viii) Production Report—Assembly Line Output
(i) Total number of input types (cards) (ix) Vehicle Sales—Availability of Models by Dealer.
(ii) Geographical factory location of input types—
Factory, Block, Floor, Stanchion Area, etc. A more detailed analysis of the data involved is given
(iii) Volume of input per day by type in Table 2.

Table 2.—Details of input

(i) Inventory Reports ratings and Statistical Report on quality as
vehicles are being assembled. Inputs not yet
(a) Tools defined.
40,000 Part No. Master file: 2,500 transactions
per day: 23 Tool Cribs and 1 Tool Bond: 3 Plant (v) Labour Efficiencies
Locations, 7 miles and 150 miles from Data Productive Groups: input of manufacturing
Processing Division. Outputs to show Ordering orders as passed Inspection. Output of Machining
Control: Financial Control: Inventory Control:
inquiry feature required. Schedule progress and Labour efficiencies. 42
Production Control centres as input.
(b) Production Material
16,000 Bought-out or Fabricated Parts from Raw (vi) Spares Warehousing
Material to Finished Assemblies: Outputs of Spares shipped after manufacture in machining
receipts against requirements: Parts peculiar to areas to Parts Warehouse. Actual against
Models. requirements. Chasing Schedule during last
production week.
(c) Spares
43,000 Master File, 22,000 line items per day. (vii) Optional Equipment
Outputs of Advice Notes, Invoices, Warehouse Analysis of 250 Special Options derived from
Picker Tags, Spares Forecasts, Receipts, Inventory Assembly line Broadcast. Outputs of usage
Balances as enquiry. against forecast.
(ii) Vehicle Assembly
(viii) Production Report
1,000 Models per day. Provision of proposed
build details from Sales and matching with 1,000 Vehicles per day on three assembly lines.
Orders from Dealer. Outputs of Build Sheets. Output of Production by Model against target.
Production Order, Factory Stock. By-Product of invoicing summary and Receivables
Ledger.
(iii) Material Receipts
23 Stores: 2,500 Receipts per day: Receiving Log (ix) Vehicle Sales
by Stores output of Chasing Schedule. Average Dealership Stocks 10-18,000. Advice
of Sales and manipulation of Stock at Factory
(iv) Quality Control and Dealerships. 22,000 transactions per month.
Inspection Dockets from Stores, Machining, Outputs of Availability and Dealer Stocks, on
Assembly and Dealers. Output of Supplier demand.
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 Problems of data transmission systems
DATA
TRANSACTIONS PROCESSING REPORTS CONTROL
1. Paper Tape 1. Manual 1. Application 1. Decision
2. Pre-punched 2. Elect/Mech. 2. Historical 2. Feedback
Card
3. Acctg. M/Cand 3. Unit Record 3. Forecast
Keypunch
4. Keypunch and 4. Computer 4. Exception
verify
5. IBM 1001 Data
Transmission

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System

Fig. 1.—Headings for analysis

Summary of discussion
Mr. S. Lucas (Monotype Corporation): I would like to thank with the technical jargon of how it works, instead of con-
Mr. Russell for the honesty with which he has dealt with this centrating on making the black boxes produce reports which
difficult problem. have some effective use in management control. If we
Mr. H. Ward (Consultant): Looking back, did you put in concentrated more on the system and a lot less on technical
your computer far too soon? jargon we would, I am sure, make considerably faster pro-
Mr. Russell: No. Our computers were installed to solve gress.
specific problems, such as decreasing time on our conventional Mr. J. T. Whittaker (H.M. Treasury): Data transmission
tabulating procedures and getting greater processing accuracy. over land lines is bound to result in errors of input to the
The fact that we have not attained our ultimate system does A.D.P. system. To what extent is the computer used to
not detract from the successful introduction of computers into correct these by building credibility checks into the pro-
our Company. Further, we feel that the experience on small- grams?
scale computers is necessary before advancing into large-scale Mr. Russell: Our computer programs have been written to
systems. check and edit the validity of the input data as far as is
Mr. P. Eden (S.P.D. Ltd.): What form of transmission is possible. During the first few months of our computer
used by the outposts to send data to the centre ? experience we found that many errors were getting into the
Mr. Russell: Teleprinters will be used and we have started computer system through inefficient editing. As our experi-
various development projects on 1001 equipment. We have ence has grown, however, so we have been able to determine
found, however, that many areas which appeared to be more exactly what data can be edited, printing or punching
theoretically fruitful for data collection and transmission, are out such items as necessary for review by the section supplying
in fact barren. the input.
Mr. A. H. Derbyshire (ICI London): What is the bandwidth, Mr. B. S. Wilson (Esso Petroleum, Fawley): You mentioned
cost and estimated working speed of the magnetic-tape link the IBM 1620 for technical calculations. Is this located at
between Ellesmere Port and Luton ? Luton? Is it used by Ellesmere Port and Duns table per-
Mr. Russell: The cost of the Ellesmere Port project linking sonnel and, if so, what methods are used for the transmission
that factory with a Luton central processing department will, of data?
including leased lines and all equipment, be £24,000 per year. Mr. Russell: The 1620 is located at Luton and is used
If management reporting is to be effective, such a link is vital, mainly by our Engineering Department; the research section
unless of course a more expensive method of locating an of this Department is located some five miles from the com-
additional computer at Ellesmere Port is adopted. As I have puter. Teleprinters have now been installed to transmit data.
already stated I do not feel that data processing people are We plan to develop this link in an attempt to see if we shall
qualified to pass technical judgments on black boxes and simulate real-time processing on certain physical tests.
electronic devices. If we require a G.P.O. link connecting Mr. J. A. Kline (Australia House): What period is taken up
various IBM equipments, it is up to these two categorically to daily in transmission of information over connecting lines?
state the accuracy, servicing problems and reliability. If in Does the speed of transmission of 50 bauds give a restriction
practice, limitations are not met, then action should be taken affecting the overall efficiency of the system ?
against the manufacturers. In the computer field, we have Mr. Russell: At present the teleprinter system is just being
got to accept that a reputable manufacturer makes a piece of installed. Its primary initial use will be communications,
equipment complying to a certain standard. How it does with a gradual build-up of data transmission. It is expected
this is not our concern, we should only be concerned with the that as we have a card-oriented computer our data-collection
fact that it is reliable and efficient to a stated degree. In equipment will tend to use this form of input, rather than
principle, I feel that data processing people are too enamoured paper-tape. It should be stressed that many of the data-
213
 Problems of data transmission systems
collection systems we are experimenting with require con- We are continually searching (so far without very much
siderable future development in the light of practical experi- success) for the answers to the systems problems relating to
ence and as this experience is gained, many of our fundamental reports on an exception basis. Reports produced at regular
ideas will also change. times in our experience tend to be application reports (such
Mr. C. Harris (S.C. Johnson Ltd.): Why are output reports as supporting Payroll lists and Invoice lists etc.) Present
produced "On Demand" rather than at regular times? development is concentrated on producing reports "On
Mr. Russell: I have already mentioned the problem of Demand" as a result of feed-back of information. These
reduction in paperwork. At Vauxhall we regard the printer feed-back reports should generate action, whereas regularly
as one of our basic enemies, only to be used when it is essential. produced reports tend to be historical. This, I am sure you
So far, we are just as guilty as most other computer installa- will appreciate, is a complete subject in itself and I cannot
tions of excessive use of stationery. give you as detailed an answer as I would like.

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Use of large computers at a distance
By F. G. Chapman
By means of magnetic-tape data transmission links the Atomic Energy Establishment at Winfrith
Heath is able to use the IBM Stretch Computer at Aldermaston and the IBM 7090 at Risley
with reduced delays. Small computers are used at each end of the links to edit the data and
change tape density. Priority is given to program-testing traffic and a turn around time of
four hours is achieved over the link compared with three hours at the computer site. Details are
given of operating experience with the link for data, and the special problems which have been
faced and solved.

The Atomic Energy Establishment at Winfrith is con- Historical

cerned with the theoretical and experimental develop- Computing started at Winfrith during the summer of
ment of nuclear power reactors. The ready use of a 1959. As the Winfrith Mercury was not commissioned
large amount of time on digital computers is very until September 1960, use was made of the Mercury at
important to an establishment of this nature because of Harwell. In July 1959, a G.P.O. reperforator link was
the complexity of the processes occurring inside a installed between Winfrith and Harwell for the trans-
nuclear reactor. Indeed, it has been said that prior to mission of five-hole paper tape. This operated at five
the advent of large-scale digital computers, no really characters/second and together with the ordinary postal
adequate description of the processes inside a nuclear service, was used until the Winfrith Mercury was
reactor had been obtained. commissioned.
The requirements for computing fall into two main From March 1960 to June 1962, use was also made of
classes. On the one hand, there is the interpretation of an IBM 704 computer at Risley. Traffic for this com-
experimental data, curve fitting and statistical analysis, puter was handled in two ways. Input data for pro-
much of which can be done on the Mercury computer grams was transmitted to Risley by an IBM punched-
which the establishment itself operates. card transceiver system. This enabled 80-column cards
On the other hand, there is the theoretical prediction punched in the Hollerith code to be read at the trans-
of the behaviour of reactor systems, or of particular mitting station and reproduced at the receiving station.
parts of reactors. This may be done for comparison By this means cards would be transmitted at the rate of
with the results of experiments, but most frequently is ten cards/minute. Clearly, only a limited amount of
undertaken as part of the assessment of the feasibility traffic could be handled in this manner, and use was
of proposed reactor systems. This latter type of problem also made of a daily air service between Hum and
places great demands on digital computers and though Ringway airports for the transmission of larger decks
some of them can be done on the Mercury, generally of Hollerith cards, for binary cards which cannot be
much larger and faster computers are needed. sent over the transceiver, and for printed computer
The Atomic Energy Authority has two larger com- output.
puters suitable for the calculations which Winfrith In October 1960, an IBM 7090 was installed "at the
wishes to undertake—an IBM 7030 (Stretch) computer Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston.
at Aldermaston and an IBM 7090 computer at Risley, A punched-card transceiver system was installed between
and has decided-that it would install data transmission Winfrith and Aldermaston, together with a Mufax
facilities between Winfrith and the establishments with facsimile transceiver for the transmission of operating
the large computers. instructions and for receiving a limited amount of
214