Richard Seltzer's
home page Publishing home
mgmt memo
.
Volume 7, #4___________________________________________________________________
June,
1988
Protecting
The
Environment By Reducing Use Of Chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs)
Hudson
Health
Study Prompts Further Research
Eight
Managers
Promoted To Vice President
Changes
In
The U.S. Field Finance
Organization
Update
On
Company Identity Standards
Area
Code
Change Will Affect Digital’s Headquarters
Digital
Opens
Subsidiary In Philippines
Ken
Olsen
Honored By King Of Sweden And American Society Of
Swedish Engineers
Digital
Ranks
38 On Fortune 500 List
General
Doriot
Videotape Available
Digital is taking steps to reduce immediately
and, where
possible, to eliminate its use of chlorofluorocarbon products.
This is in
response to recent evidence that these materials react in the
upper atmosphere
to destroy the earth’s protective layer of ozone.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are synthetic
chemicals
consisting of chlorine, fluorine and carbon. They are sometimes
referred to by
trade names such as Freon (Dupont) or Genesolve (Allied) They
are widely used
as the cooling source in refrigerators and air conditioning
units. They are
also used in the production of foam products such as furniture
padding, thermal
insulation and disposable cups and plates. And they are
extensively used as
industrial solvents to clean products such as electronic
components.
As other companies have done, Digital began
using expensive
CFC solvents because they are non-flammable and non-toxic and
were considered
environmentally safe. With regard to their direct effects on
humans, they are
among the safest group of industrial chemicals. Unfortunately,
they present an
unexpected environmental hazard. "The problem isn’t in using
CFCs; it’s
emitting them," explains Jim Rogers, manager, Corporate Energy
and Environmental
Affairs Group. "If there were ways to use them without them
getting
released into the atmosphere and eventually into the
stratosphere, there
wouldn’t be a problem."
It is now generally acknowledged that the
world must
dramatically reduce its emissions of CFCs. Already, 24 countries
have agreed to
reduce CFC production by 50% by the year 1999 and governments
are currently
considering whether additional reductions will be required.
Although conclusive evidence has been
established only over
the last year, the CFC problem has been suspected for some time.
For several
years, Digital has been seeking and evaluating alternatives to
the use of
CFCs. The latest data increases the urgency of this effort.
Ozone (a molecule made up of three oxygen
atoms) is
important since it absorbs much of the ultra-violet energy from
the sun. Some
ozone is always being produced in the stratosphere, about 20
miles above the
earth, where oxygen is bombarded with intense radiation from the
sun. But CFCs
are reacting with ozone molecules, upsetting the natural
equilibrium and
reducing the protective ozone layer. As a result, more
ultraviolet light may
reach the earth and could eventually result in an increased
incidence of skin
cancer among humans.
"CFCs are extremely stable," explains Jim.
"Almost all other air contaminants react with other gases and
precipitate
or wash out of the atmosphere. But CFCs don't react with other
gases, and
eventually rise to the stratosphere.
"When they reach the stratosphere, they are
subjected
to intense sunlight and begin to break down and react with the
stratospheric
ozone in a chain reaction. When a CFC molecule breaks down, it
forms chlorine,
which reacts with ozone molecules. Then another reaction takes
place in which
the ozone becomes oxygen and chlorine is again produced. That
chlorine is then
free to react with another ozone molecule. One free chlorine
molecule in the
stratosphere can destroy thousands of ozone molecules — that’s
what makes CFCs
environmentally dangerous.
"Also, because CFCs are so stable, what has
been
emitted up to this point will not go away for decades. CFCs that
are in the
lower atmosphere now will slowly migrate up to the stratosphere
over the next
several years. And, once there, they will continue to react with
ozone for
another 70 years or more. Even if the world totally stopped
emitting CFCs
today, depletion of the ozone layer would still continue for
some time."
Digital is committed to reducing its use and
release of
CFCs. CFCs are now used in the manufacture of some surface mount
modules,
semiconductor products, circuit boards, storage systems, thin
film products and
miscellaneous other products. Design engineers are being asked
to select
components and sub-assemblies that are compatible with non-CFC
cleaning and
service methods. Process engineers are responsible for finding
alternatives and
substitutes for solvents and other materials containing CFCs.
Where this is not
possible, controls must be included in the process for complete
recovery/reuse
of CFCs. In addition, equipment purchased by facilities must
include features
and accessories for reducing CFC losses and emissions. Field
Service is also
being asked to reduce the use of CFCs in serving customers.
Cleaners and other
servicing materials containing CFCs must be eliminated from use
and product
inventory as soon as possible. Thereafter, only non-CFC
cleaners and other
servicing materials will be used.
Digital's software products play up and down
our whole range
of VAX hardware. This compatibility is a value no other company
in the
industry can offer. That means our software is much more
valuable to customers
than our competitors’ products. Our cluster- ing and networking
give our
software even greater value. We want to make sure that our
software licensing
policies enable customers to take full advantage of these
capabilities.
The software budget of our customers is
increasing as a
percentage of total budget. While hardware price/performance has
been improving
at a 20-50% rate due to advances in technology, software costs,
which depend
on the productivity of people, have not been able to improve at
that pace. So
customers realize that even if their total computing expenses
don’t increase,
over time they will be spending relatively more for software. In
addition, the
software environment has grown increasingly complex — with
servers, communications,
networks and clusters. Customers need better tools to help them
monitor and
manage their software usage and costs.
At the time software licensing began, a
customer had one
copy of each software product on each machine, and we provided
one software
license per processor per product. But as networking and
clustering
capabilities became available and grew, users at many different
processors
could have access to the same software, and it became
increasingly difficult
and cumbersome to keep track of licenses and usage.
Along with the introduction of Version 5.0 of
the VMS
operating system, Digital announced simplification of its
software licensing
policies. These licensing changes were the result of
recommendations of an
internal task force made up of Sales, Marketing, Services and
Engineering
people, responding to the needs and suggestions of customers.
Customers want to be able to move licenses
about and
reconfigure their systems as their needs change. They don't want
their software
to be restricted to the originally licensed system or go through
the Digital
approval process to redesignate a license. And for clusters,
they’d like a
method to simply license fewer systems than the whole cluster
when clusterwide
availability is not needed. And they would like an option that
charges for software
based on usage versus the higher cost licensing options based on
availability
of the product on large VAX and VAXcIuster systems. In addition,
they would
like to be able to have quick and easy access to software and
documentation,
rather than having to go through the usual extensive ordering
and delivery
cycle.
In reevaluating our software licensing
policies, our goals
were to ensure; o fair prices for customers and for Digital, o
support for our
advancing technologies, o clarity, so the policies could be
easily understood
by our sales force and customers, and o preservation of
customers’ software
investments.
Our policies have to be appropriate for our
various kinds of
software and easy to administer. They must also be usable by
independent
software vendors, whose success is important for Digital’s
success.
A new License Management Facility (LMF),
included in VMS
Version 5.0, provides a greatly simplified way of keeping track
of software use
in order that managers can determine changing software needs for
a facility.
Current and historical licensing data of software can be
displayed, and
accessibility of software can be controlled on individual nodes
of a VAXcIuster
system.
The LMF (which is an
integral part
of VMS Version 5.0, not an option) is an enabling technology
that will give Digital
the flexibility to pursue new licensing alternatives and t
software distribution and
documentation methods.
For instance, a ClusterWide license option
allows the user
to purchase a single license for any VAXcIuster system with
price savings for
larger VAXcIuster systems ranging as high as 60 to 70%. The
price reduction
results from treating the capacity of a cluster as though it
were a single
system. Digital charges less proportionally for capacity on
large standalone
systems than small systems. The pricing benefits of the
standalone
"pricing curve" is now granted to cluster customers. Users may
further benefit from lower cluster prices due to the
introduction of LAVC
VAXcIuster Phase II functionality as part of VMS Version 5.0.
They may now
expand cluster sizes and include both low-end and high
performing VAX systems
in the same cluster. The new ClusterWide license enables a user
to obtain a
single "system" license for an entire VAXcIuster system.
Currently
licensed users may migrate their traditional licenses to
ClusterWide licenses
as well as economically upgrade their new licenses as the
VAXcIuster system
grows.
Another new software licensing option is for
limited
software use of selected software products. This User/Activity
license option
provides a cost-effective alternative for software that is used
on a limited
scale. It is most cost-effective on VAXcIuster systems and large
VAX computers.
Digital also has announced the availability
of VMS Version
5.0 operating system software on a compact disk and plans for
future
distribution of VMS documentation on compact disk. Similar to
audio compact
disks used for music at home, these laser-read disks, which work
with Digital's
RD50 CD Reader, are less than 5 inches in diameter and can
contain up to 600
Mbytes of data. With that capacity, a single disk can store the
entire VMS
operating system software and the equivalent of 22,000 pages of
software
documentation, with storage space to spare. Not only is this an
efficient and
economical means of software distribution, but also optical
disks are
unaffected by magnetic fields, require no air conditioning and
can’t be
automatically erased.
Eventually, it will be possible to distribute
many separate
software products on a single CD. The customer would then
purchase a license
for those items on the disk that he or she wants to use and we
would provide
the software keys necessary to access those items. The LMF
software uses those
codes to unlock the software the customer has the right to use.
This technology
allows us to offer software demonstration licenses, so customers
can read
documentation and sample software on a trial basis.
Instead of trying to control the physical
code itself, we
now allow code distribute to clustered and networked systems
without the copy
protection barriers that often complicate systems management.
Software control
is now easily managed by keys that may be assigned to those
systems requiring
access to the software. The products will be available at the
customer site,
but we will be paid for their usage. This new approach is made
possible by the
License Management Facility.
Financial information is an important company
resource. To
capitalize on this resource we have to ensure that it is based
on consistent
definitions across all functions and geographies. When
financial information
from different parts of the company is combined, we want to know
it’s providing
an accurate picture of the overall business, and can be used
reliably in
comparing one program, product or operation with another. This
information then
becomes an efficient tool helping managers to recognize and
respond quickly to
changes in their business.
Digital’s Financial Architecture is a
long-range strategy
for ensuring that we have timely, consistent and accurate
financial
information worldwide. It includes standardizing
our definitions of accounts, integrating our
programs with
other information architectures (such as the Materials
Architecture and the
Order Transaction Processing Architecture), using common
hardware and
applications, and using Digital’s internal network to move
information. One of
the goals is to define all of the information that is going to
be required by
people in Finance and by operating managers, and to move
information to those
who need it when they need it, in the form they need it. Data
will be entered
only once, and then utilized as many times as necessary without
being
re-entered.
Before the Architecture program started, all
financial and
related management information went to Corporate Accounting for
processing
prior to being disseminated to operating managers. This is how.
the system
evolved during the early years of rapid growth. When we became a
multi-national
and multi-dimensional company, change was essential in the way
we handled
worldwide financial data and information.
Under the Architecture, we started by clearly
defining the
information Corporate required for its own purposes, and found
that it only
needed summary data for fiscal reporting and high-level
management reporting.
We significantly increased the flexibility and responsiveness
of all financial
information systems by subsequently reducing the amount of data
flowing to
Corporate. This led to significant improvements in the speed
with which we can
process fiscal data.
In the past, 96 different sites submitted
fiscal and
management information directly to the Corporate Reporting Group
in Acton,
Massachusetts. Today that information goes to 8 geographic
Financial Centers
(six domestic and two international), which consolidate the
fiscal information
before sending it to Acton. At the same time, the Financial
Centers send the
detailed management information straight to the operating units,
where it can
be reviewed, analyzed, and used quickly for decision-making and
control of the
business.
The subsidiaries no longer have to send data
directly to
Acton for consolidation. Now, for example, the data for all the
subsidiaries
and manufacturing sites in Europe is consolidated monthly by
the Europe
Consolidation Center in Geneva, Switzerland. From there, fiscal
data for
Corporate needs is transmitted to Acton, while operating data is
sent to Stow,
Massachusetts. The GIA Consolidation Center in Acton also
performs this
function for its worldwide subsidiaries.
As a result of these changes, we’ve
accelerated both the
closing process and the analysis of operations. Today it takes
less than one
hour of computer time to consolidate the company’s financial
information for
external reporting purposes. We announce our quarterly results
one week
earlier than we did in the past. Last year we went to press with
our Annual
Report a month earlier than at any time ever in the history of
the company.
Thanks to such advances, Digital has earned a reputation on Wall
Street for
providing complete and accurate information, and we’re known as
a financially
disciplined company.
Over the last three years we’ve made
presentations on our
long-range plan for the Financial Architecture to customers and
potential
customers from more than three hundred companies. Today many of
these
companies are facing the same challenges we’ve already met. They
look at our
internal financial strategy for solutions and possible
implementation in their
businesses. Consequently, our internal success with the
Financial Architecture
is now supporting the sales effort.
We use Digital’s distributed processing
approach and rely
heavily on the company’s internal worldwide network. Our six
domestic
Financial Management Centers (FMCs) provide data and decision
support tools to
managers in their geographies and local area. Each center
provides a wide
variety of accounting and reporting services to its
cross-functional client
base. For example, the Northern New England FMC in Merrimack,
New Hampshire,
and the Eastern Massachusetts FMC in Maynard both support
manufacturing plants,
engineering, marketing, sales, service and administrative
business units.
These Centers provide managers with high
quality, consistent
financial information for use in their analysis of business
performance. It is
combined with other information to help them determine, for
example, if they
are selling the same product mix for which they’ve budgeted.
Thus, it helps us
measure progress and make necessary corrections.
A new project under way will give managers
on-line access to
their expense information through a network of financial data
warehouses. It
will give them the ability to view their information by cost
center, function,
business organization, and geography. The information will be
stored at
appropriate financial data warehouses, and eventually all
managers with
appropriate security will be able to utilize this service. Over
time, we will
expand the financial information available to include balance
sheet, profit and
loss, and other pertinent elements and statistics.
These are a few of the benefits we’re
realizing already from
the Financial Architecture programs, and we’re looking forward
to similar
benefits continuing for several years in many other areas.
Providing better
financial information throughout the company will continue to be
one of our
most urgent objectives.
Months after Digital reported the results of
its pioneering
health study in Semiconductor Fabrication at Hudson,
Massachusetts, the
questions raised have led to a major industry -wide health study
as well as
several related studies within Digital.
The original study, prompted by employee
questions and
conducted for Digital by the University of Massachusetts’
School of Public
Health, found that pregnant wafer-manufacturing employees were
about two times
more likely to have a miscarriage than pregnant employees who
did not work in
wafer manufacturing. Although this was the first study of its
kind and the
sample of pregnant wafer manufacturing workers was small, the
results were
statistically significant. Further research, with larger
numbers of wafer
manufacturing workers than those available at Digital, is needed
to evaluate
these results; and, if confirmed, to find an explanation for the
increased
incidence of miscarriage.
Digital shared these results with other
companies in the
semiconductor industry and encouraged them to conduct similar
studies. As a
result, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) is now
launching a $4.3
million industry-wide study which will involve tens of thousands
of workers.
Overseen by an independent advisory panel of health experts,
this study will be
conducted by a major university. The university will be selected
this summer,
with the research to begin in the fall. Digital will support the
SI A study.
Also, IBM is beginning its own separate study of reproductive
health at its
semiconductor facilities, using Johns Hopkins University as its
contractor. IBM
is cooperating with the SIA to ensure that the results of the
different studies
are compatible.
Meanwhile, the researchers from the
University of
Massachusetts’ School of Public Health, who conducted the
Digital study, have
prepared an article detailing their results. The article has
passed through
scientific peer review and will be published this summer in The
Journal of
Occupational Medicine.
"Until results of industry-wide studies are
reported,
Digital strongly encourages that pregnant women do not work in
the wafer
fabrication areas in Digital semiconductor manufacturing for
the duration of
their pregnancy," says Dick Porter, M.D., Corporate Medical
Director.
"Digital finds alternate work for them while they are pregnant,
after
which they may return, if they wish. Women of childbearing age
also have the
opportunity to leave the area and work elsewhere in the company,
with no effect
on their employment status and career opportunities within the
company."
Following up on questions raised by this
study, Digital has
started three additional research efforts to better understand
workplace
factors that could affect employee health. These studies, which
will be
conducted at facilities in Hudson, Andover and Shrewsbury,
Massachusetts, as
well as Cupertino, California, relate to peak exposures to
chemicals,
on-the-job physical stress and general health surveillance.
These facilities
have wafer fabrication or similar operations.
"The first of these studies, conducted for
Digital by
the University of Massachusetts Medical School, is basic
research that has
never been done before," explains Jim Stewart, manager,
Corporate
Industrial Hygiene, Safety and Toxicology. "Researchers are now
study
ing the workplace, considering all of the
chemicals in use
and the likelihood that an employee might ever be exposed to
them. Their next
step will be to check thoroughly the existing literature
regarding the
toxicology, previous history of exposure in other industries
and the
analytical chemistry of the substances in question, to determine
how and at
what levels they can be measured. Once they have selected the
targeted
substances, they will return to make workplace measurements.
"Today, industrial hygienists take samples of
the air
in the 'breathing zone’ of employees while they work, to
determine the
exposures that employees actually experience in the workplace.
This sampling,
typically through hoses, is a normal part of the work
environment in
semiconductor manufacturing. Thousands of samples a year are
taken. But the
measurements are of average exposure levels. They do not give
indications of
transitory peaks, of exposure levels that may occur for just a
minute or less.
This basic research — measuring peak exposure levels — is an
important first
step in being able to better understand the workplace
environment to make it as
safe as possible for employees."
Another study is assessing ergonomic stresses
on the job at
these same sites. "Researchers from the University of Michigan
will
develop a ’tool’ (a questionnaire or check list) to allow
Digital to assess
on-the-job physical stress in these manufacturing environments,"
says Jim.
"They will be considering such factors as prolonged standing and
sitting,
twisting and lifting and repetitive motion. They will talk to
employees and follow
them around on the job, watching what they do and how they do
it. Based on
these observations, they will develop the questionnaire. Then
they will verify
its accuracy with other jobs."
Digital is also going to begin long-term,
detailed health
surveillance of all employees who work in manufacturing areas at
the same four
sites (Hudson, Shrewsbury, Andover and Cupertino). This will
involve collecting
information on the work that individuals have done and the
materials to which
they might have been exposed. It may also involve medical
examinations and
questionnaires. Collecting this kind of data for a large
population over a long
period of time will make it possible to detect detrimental
effects as early as
possible. All information will be kept confidential and will be
reported back
to the individuals.
In recognition of the significance of their
contributions to
Digital, eight senior managers have been promoted to vice
president: Dick
Esten, Dick Farrahar, Dick Fishbum, Lou Gaviglia, Frank McCabe,
Ron Payne, Greg
Plakias and Dick Walsh.
Dick Esten has been manager of
European Manufacturing
for the last year. He joined Digital in 1969 and has served in
a variety of
management positions in Manufacturing, including San German
plant manager,
Puerto Rico general manager, Albuquerque plant manager,
Terminals Manufacturing
manager, Low-End Manufacturing manager and Manufacturing
Resource manager.
Dick Farrahar manages Personnel for
the
Manufacturing, Engineering and Product Marketing organizations.
He came to
Digital in 1970 and has served as a senior group Personnel
manager and a member
of the Personnel Management Committee since 1982.
Dick Fishburn has been Finance manager
for Sales,
Services, Marketing and International since he came to Digital
in 1985. He was
previously senior vice president of Administration at ANR
Freight and held a
variety of financial management positions at Ford Motor Company.
Lou Gaviglia has served as group
manager for Computer
Systems Manufacturing since 1983. He joined Digital in 1967 and
has held a
succession of management positions in Manufacturing, including
plant manager,
Salem, N.H., and manager, Commercial Group Manufacturing.
Frank McCabe has been manager of
Corporate Quality
since 1984. He joined Digital in 1980 as European Volume
Manufacturing manager.
He later served as manager of the Systems Technology Group in
Computer Systems
Manufacturing.
Ron Payne has been manager of
Corporate Purchasing
since 1983. He joined Digital in 1977 at the Springfield, Mass.,
plant, where
he held a succession of posts such as purchasing manager,
materials manager and
plant manager.
Greg Plakias has served as manager of
Storage
Manufacturing since 1981. He joined Digital in 1977 as manager
of Materials and
Planning for Storage Manufacturing, and later served as manager
of Human
Resources in Corporate Manufacturing.
Dick Walsh manages Personnel for the
Sales, Services,
Marketing and International organizations. He came to Digital
in 1974 and has
served as a senior group Personnel manager and a member of the
Personnel
Management Committee since 1982.
To meet the changing needs of Digital’s
business, U.S. Field
Finance has reorganized, creating a number of new functions. "As
we
prepare for FY89, we face economic uncertainty, an industry in
transition;
increased competition and a diverse, changing market that
requires managing to
several different business models simultaneously," explains Tom
Colatosti,
manager, U.S. Field Finance. "The need to understand the
business, control
cost and improve productivity is greater than ever. To meet
these challenges,
we need to be able to collect, summarize and analyze information
that not only
gives us an in-depth understanding of where we have been but
helps us
anticipate the future and respond to changes and trends."
A new U.S. Business Analysis group, managed
by John Traynor,
will be responsible for ensuring integration of financial
planning and
analysis, at the U.S. level, across all our business dimensions.
Measurement and Reporting, a new function
reporting to Andy
D’Agostino, U.S. Controller, will focus on defining data and
information needs.
The function will be responsible for ensuring fiscal reporting
is effectively
translated into business and management terms and is easily and
consistently
available and accessible.
Bill Gervais will integrate a number of
activities that will
help more effectively manage Government and Commercial Program
business. Bill
will be responsible for Government Compliance; Controls and
Systems for Program
Business; and Financial Analysis and Tracking.
A new position, U.S. Finance Information
Systems, is being
created, and will be managed by Ron Calabria, who reports to Tom
Colatosti and
Pat Gillogly, U.S. DIS Manager. Ron will be responsible for all
U.S. Finance
transactional, reporting and operational systems.
A new systems and information focus is also
being created,
under the sponsorship of Mike Kalagher, manager of U.S.
Administration, and
Tom, to more effectively manage the multiple "data warehouses"
and
"information centers."
In addition U.S. Areas will create a new
position, Business
Analysis, to drive crossfunctional responsibilities similar to
those of the
U.S. Business Analysis and Program Business functions. A new
position, called
Systems Finance, will be created in each Area to be responsible
for supporting
the Area Sales and the Area Business Management functions. Area
Controllers
will continue to be responsible for accounting, controls,
reporting and
financial support to Administration.
Managers should allow extra time to take care
of the additional
paperwork and procedures that may be necessary for their
employees to obtain
passports, visas and other travel documentation. For instance,
U.S. citizens
going to France for DECWORLD 88 will have to obtain visas from a
French
consulate prior to their trip.
In particular, employees in the U.S. who are
citizens of
other countries may need extra time to obtain travel documents
to enter France
and other countries and then return to the U.S. This time can
vary from one to
three months so it is important to plan now. They should check
with the
consultate of the country they plan to visit to determine the
exact
documentation needed to enter that country. They also need to be
aware of their
home country's guidelines regarding travel documents. If they
return to their
home country, failure to notify their home country government of
their
residency status in the U.S. may delay their departure.
Some countries require that permanent foreign
residents of
the U.S. ("green card holders") obtain a U.S. Re-entry Permit
before
issuing them a visa for entry. It takes about three months to
obtain a Re-entry
Permit from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Employees who are in the U.S. on temporary
non-immigrant
visas, have changed their status within the U.S. (for instance
from student
visa) and wish to travel outside the U.S., must obtain a stamp
on their
passports from a U.S. Consulate in a foreign country prior to
their return to
the U.S.
Also, employees in the U.S. on temporary
non-immigrant visas
must have an intention of returning to their home country. When
applying for a
temporary non-immigrant stamp to be placed in their passports,
they must
convince the U.S. Consular Officer in the U.S. Consul
ate/Embassy of their
intent to return home. If the Consular Officer decides there is
no intent to
return to the home coutnry, he/she can refuse to enter the stamp
in their
passports, thereby prohibiting their return to the U.S.
Digital’s Corporate Immigration Department
recommends that
employees from other countries who are being sponsored by
Digital for permanent
residency in the U.S. ("green card process") not travel abroad
until
the "green card" is issued.
The best source of information in these
matters is the
consulate of the country in question. Digital’s Corporate
Immigration
Department, DTN 251-1286 or (617) 264-1287, can also help.
Work of the Company Identity Committee is
affecting the
company’s visual image and identity worldwide. The program,
which has been in
effect in the U.S. for the last year, had its formal kickoff in
Europe in
March, and will formally start in GIA in June. The new standards
— which cover
such matters as the proper use of the company logo, typography,
stationery,
promotional literature, signage, site newsletters, use of
trademarks and the
naming of products - have been been published in an Identity
Manual distributed
to over 4000 people. The workgroups, which include
representatives from all
parts of the company, all over the world, continue to develop
additional
standards. The first update to the Manual will be issued in Q4.
"We’re beginning to see results," notes Peter
Phillips, manager, Corporate Identity and Design Group. "We’re
seeing far
more consistency from one function to another and from one
country to another
in the way the company presents itself visually. Digital is
beginning to look
like as well as operate like ’one company.’"
The Committee recently decided that it is
inappropriate to
use just one color to represent the corporation, since such an
approach would be
restrictive, inflexible and costly. The use of color within
Digital must
satisfy a broad variety of needs and applications from
promotional literature
for customers to functional uses on products. Complex color
relationships
occur when our products and services come together, and the use
of color must
be considered in this context. However, the use of color is
limited in order to
provide an integrated yet flexible system. The Manual indicates
the color
standards for each of the identity elements. For example, the
Digital logo is
limited to blue for the stationery system; black, white or blue
for literature;
and neutral colors for products.
Due to the upcoming change in telephone area
codes in
Massachusetts, many employees will soon be ordering new business
cards. (See
related article in this issue). The Identity Committee
emphasizes that business
cards are intended for external use and that, therefore, it is
inappropriate
to include DTN phone numbers or electronic mail addresses that
include internal
node names. A public electronic mail address should only be
included if it
serves a business purpose, as attested to by a cost center
manager’s signature.
"A business card should not be cluttered. It should only have
the
information that is essential for external people to contact
the
employee," notes Peter.
To request the manual and future updates (at
no charge) or
followup education and consultation on how to implement the
Company Identity
Standards, contact; Judy Steul, DTN 251-1490, (617) 264-1490,
ALL-IN-1 Mail
@CFO, CFO1-1/M37.
On July 16, the telephone area code for many
Digital
facilities in Massachusetts will change from 617 to 508. Some
facilities, such
as Bedford, Burlington, Waltham and Boston will remain in the
617 area code,
but 190 towns with nearly 30,000 Digital employees will change
to area code
508. The current Digital Telephone Directory includes an insert
that indicates
the territory that is changing.
While the area code changes, the other seven
digits of phone
numbers and DTN phone numbers will remain the same.
The transition is expected to happen smoothly
and
automatically. For a three-month grace period, both area codes
will be in
effect; so anyone who calls either 617 or 508 will be connected
to the right
party. Then for a year (until October 1989), anyone who
mistakenly dials the
617 area code will hear a recorded message saying that the area
code has
changed to 508.
Corporate Personnel Administration has a list
of the towns
and exchanges affected and will automatically convert all home
phones and
emergency contact phones on the Employee Master File. This mass
change to the
file will take place on the weekend of July 16.
Employees ordering new business cards with
the new area code
can expect that delivery will be slow. All businesses in this
area are going
through the same change and vendors have large backlogs. But
thanks to the
buffer period provided by the phone company, there is no
urgency.
At the same time the area code changes,
Digital's main phone
number in Maynard, Massachusetts, will change from
(617)897-5111 to
(508)493-5111. For years the dial-in exchange for Digital
offices in the
Maynard area has been 493, and only the main number (used
primarily by
first-time callers who do not have the name of an individual)
was 897. This
change is intended to eliminate the confusion that difference
has caused. As in
the case of the area code, there will be a three month grace
period during
which both the old and new numbers will work, followed by a year
or more during
which a recording will alert callers of the new number.
People with questions regarding these changes
should contact
their local Telecommunications group or Digital Voice
Communications at DTN
273-3121 or (617)264-3121.
Digital continues to pursue its expansion in
the Far East
with the startup of a subsidiary in the Philippines, Digital
Equipment
Filipinas, Inc. Coupled with the recent establishment of the
Thailand
subsidiary, there are now seven direct sales offices and three
manufacturing
plants in the Far East Region.
According to Bobby Choonavala, vice
president, Far East
Region, "Digital’s presence in the Philippines, a move
undertaken after a
year of extensive market and business analysis, underscores our
confidence in
the economic recovery of the Philippines and the exciting
prospects for
servicing the computing needs of growing local and multinational
businesses."
He adds that Digital’s strengths in networking are ideal for an
island
environment such as the Philippines.
Ken Olsen, president, was awarded the John
Ericsson Medal
for outstanding achievement in technology. The medal was
presented to him by
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden on April 15 at a ceremony in New
York City. This
medal is given once every two years by the American Society of
Swedish
Engineers to an individual born in Sweden or of Swedish descent.
Ken’s mother’s
family originally came from Sweden.
Digital has moved up from number 44 to number
38 on the
Fortune Magazine listing of the largest U.S. industrial
corporations. This
ranking is based on total revenues of $9,389.4 million for
fiscal year 1987,
which ended last June. In profits, Digital was number 17, with
$1,137.4
million.
"The Man with a Vision", a videotape
highlighting
the business philosophies of the late General Georges Doriot
will be available
after June 15 for viewing by all managers and employees. As
president of the
venture capital firm American Research and Development, General
Doriot provided
the $70,000 to start Digital in 1957. He was a member of
Digital’s board of
directors from its founding, and had a strong, though indirect
influence on the
company’s management style and values.