41. We aquire one of the first "mini computers" ever used in the Netherlands

One of the first questions I asked Mrs. de Jonge, when I took the reign at Martinshof mid 1981 was : "How did we do last month?" She and her assistant Mieke Hauptmeyer worked for two days to come up with the answer. Meanwhile all other book keeping, including Invoicing, could not be done.
It highlighted to me how time consuming and costly accounting was for most businesses in those days.
Early that year my father had commissioned some Consultants to investigate the feasibility of using a computer at Martinshof. But their advise (considering only a large mainframe computer) was negative.
We did have a monster machine incorporated in a large desk weighing a ton, with which Mieke made once a week the Invoices but that was all as far as modern technology was concerned.

Then, one day in the latter part of 1981, I walked into Klein Beernink, our office supply shop (then) located on the Markt in Deventer. A cute little machine (maybe as large as a small TV) with a glass screen, two large vertical slots on its right side and a keyboard at the front immediately took my attention. It was one of the very first 7 mini computers manufactured by Toshiba ever to reach our Dutch shores.
It ran a comprehensive accounting program all in perfect Dutch language and I was fascinated by it. After a brief demonstration I told them I would be back in the afternoon with my bookkeeper. This we did, and Mrs. de Jonge too was immediately most exited about it. "But", she said, "Van Dien must approve of it. After all, ultimately they are responsible for all our accounting."
So I spoke to Van Dien in Lochem. They hummed and hahed, made all sorts of objections, obviously afraid that something might go wrong. But I pushed until they finally reluctantly gave in. Ignorance of not knowing what can go wrong can, at least sometimes, be a great bliss!

I think it was sometime in November 1981 that we got our own machine, leased for the ridiculously low cost of just 40 guilders per month! After a couple of lessons and demos by the Toshiba staff from Gouda we were up and running. Mrs. de Jonge and I (and sometimes Mieke too) worked hard and continuously (I often right through the weekend) to firstly get all our customer details into the program, then input all outstanding invoices and their details in full. After 6 weeks, on the 1st of January 1982 we started to process and print new Invoices life on the computer.

We had learned a lot in a very short time and I had made up a check sheet of what had to be done to close the books at the end of each month. The Toshiba people in Gouda were most interested in this and asked my permission to use it for their other customers too. We were clearly at the front of the pack in Holland. In return Toshiba wrote for us a small program which we could use to keep control of our stock of diamonds.
It took Mrs. de Jonge another 3 months or so to put in all accounting data of our company so that by about May I believe we could print out an exact financial situation report at the end of each month. It was absolutely marvelous!!

Instead of needing 2 bookkeepers full time, we could now handle the same work with just one person on half days. Mrs. de Jonge was working half days then and Mieke spent most of her time doing other work.

42. Stock control at Martinshof

Although there was never any Import Duty on gold and jewelry coming into the Netherlands, getting new stock from Germany across the border was hampered by red tape and would take at least 3-5 weeks before it was released.
Soon after my father started to import wedding rings from Niessing in Vreden just across the border, he managed to negotiate a much quicker way with the Dutch Customs Department.
Every Friday afternoon our order for the following week would be phoned through to Niessing. Then the following Thursday afternoon someone from Martinshof would drive the 50km to Vreden, receive at the factory the trays with rings plus all required documentation.The trays were placed in a metal box (of 30x30x30cm, 1 cubic ft) and driven back to the border. First the German border official would process and stamp the documents, then the Dutch officials had their turn. They inspected the merchandise, then closed and sealed the box with a small lead seal. It was then driven to Martinshof.

The following morning someone would take the (still sealed) box to the Dutch Government's essay laboratory in Arnhem, where the rings were essayed and stamped with the Martinshof master seal. This usually took an hour or two, after which the now unsealed box was collected and driven back to Martinshof. (Sometime during the 1970s the Arnhem office was closed and rings had to be essayed in the Central laboratories in Utrecht.) The whole procedure was done and dusted within a mere 24 hours.

This procedure was of course marvelous! It enabled Martinshof to maintain a relatively tight stock, with a wide range of models at hand but not requiring too many items of each individual model. It enabled Martinshof also to respond to orders of rare models (not held in stock) rather quickly.
With the wide range of models Martinshof kept the ordering at the end of each week became almost something of an art form, of which Trudy Bergmans was the absolute master. She was on the phone all week accepting orders and had therefore a good feel for what went out. At the end of the week she almost intuitively placed the order for the following week, and I don't think we ever experienced any stock shortage this way.

When I was in charge during 1981-83 I always felt rather vulnerable with this situation however, I had to rely too much on the expertise of one single person. As long as Trudy was there everything went fine, but when she was on holiday or became ill (she was in hospital for 6 weeks at one stage) we had a problem. I usually called Marion Turney into the office on such Fridays. With her daily contact with customers on the road she too had a fair idea what was current, but still I was uneasy.

Then, with our mini computer in working order everything changed. At any time we could instantly print out lists of sold models and quantities for any period. This gave us reliable factual data on which we could base our orders. I established a colour code, stuck on all ring trays which indicated the number of rings we should hold in stock for each model. So now finally we had a reliable back up ordering system which anyone could operate. Trudy continued to do her ordering of course, she was good at it. But we had a reliable safeguard in place to fall back on whenever required. I felt at ease about the situation at last.

PS
Now in 2010 this may all sound "old hat" of course, but at the time in 1982 we were right at the forefront of these developments. A number of Managers from various companies rang me up about it and visited us to look at our set up. It made me feel rather good I must admit. I had never had any business experience before and found myself after 6 months in the job advising others, who had been in business for years, on a range of aspects!