Pete,
I know what you mean. Some invoice for 3.76 worth of bolts from a hardware
store in Alma, WI would cross my desk. By the time it got to me, it had 16
additional pieces of paper attached to it (excluding the voucher) and it
would have been signed by at least 7 people, and I had no idea who they
were, with the exception of the Superintendent and the GM.
We had ledgers that had to weigh 30 pounds. I made a remark about placing
computer terminals in all the superintendent offices, and tying them to our
office. That was heresy. Of course nobody had the foresight at that time
to start understand what a good computer system could accomplish for
productivity. Those accounting clerks could have become EDP types. I
figure I was about two or three years early at 547.
I had an Accounting Professor at UNLV, who had worked for GN. He said the
GN was about 10 years ahead of the Burlington in computer use.
BRAD
Original Message -----
From: <PSHedgpeth@a...>
To: <BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 2:07 PM
Subject: Re: [BRHSlist] Burlington respect
> Brad and list
>
> You should have seen the Freight Claims Dept. on the Rock Island...don't
> think that it was any worse than the Q or any other RR...talk about
> antiquated. Nothing was ever thrown away...When it came into the office
it
> got put on a file no matter what it was...if they couldn't find an
> appropriate file they created one.
>
> Most fun I ever had in my business career was trying to drag the Claims
> department into the 20th (then 1964) century. You would be amazed at how
> much you can throw away when you reallly put your mind to it. I'm not
> talking about good historical stuff..I'm talking about really "dead"
files.
>
> RI was the first RR to get the Freight Claims dept computerized in
> 1968...nobody was ahead of us....the Q was way behind.
>
> Brad did you know the Freight Claims Boys at the Q. Les Seehausen was
the
> head man when I to the RI Claims dept in 64. Lloyd Hoskins came in from
the
> C&S to put the thing together for the merger. He was a pretty progressive
> old guy...probably younger then than I am now...We had similar hair styles
> though.
>
> I know what you mean about everybody having to sign off on everything.....
>
> Pete
>
>
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