Endicott chronology
1931-1939
1930
- The Endicott Engineering Laboratory develops an 80-column automatic gang punch and a checking tabulator.
- The International Time Recording Company purchases additional property on January 22 and May 10.
- Building 25 adds 58,000 square feet of space.
- Endicott employs 1,700 people
1931
- The Endicott Engineering Laboratory develops:
- An accounting machine arranged for alphabetic as well as numeric printing (and with quickly movable unit counters).
- A multiplying punch.
- A summary punch, the Type 3-E machine (which permits the use of an additional class selecting unit, can also be used for summary punching, and has a sectional plug board incorporated as standard equipment).
- The Type 3-M machine (which lists cards at the rate of 120 per minute).
- The Type 4-B machine (which increases counter capacity and summary punching).
- A public utility machine (which includes a special bill feeding attachment for feeding the bill into and out of printing position).
- A chain store invoicing tabulator.
- A card counting device for the sorter.
- A card reversing mechanism.
- A drive motor added to the verifier.
- A quick detachable numbering head on the gang punch.
- An alphabetic printing punch.
- A multiplying punch improved by the addition of crossfooting.
- A summary punch redesigned to effect punching of the group indication data while the accounting machine is carrying out adding operations.
- The Type 3-E printer equipped with a new relay type of automatic control.
- The International Time Recording Company purchases additional property on April 23, June 29 and July 23.
- Endicott employs 1,760 people.
1932
- The Endicott Engineering Laboratory develops removable automatic plug boards on all electric accounting machines (EAM), and a card matching device.
- January 25 -- The International Time Recording Company purchases additional property.
- July 12 -- Thomas J. Watson breaks ground for a laboratory facility.
- E. J. Oldroyd serves as the plant superintendent.
- Endicott employs 1,960 people.
1933
- May 20 -- The International Time Recording Company purchases additional property.
- August 31 -- Ground is broken for a new wing of the factory to comprise 68,000 square feet.
- Buildings 27, 29, 32 and 33 add 101,000 square feet of space.
The IBM Schoolhouse is completed on North Street across from the manufacturing plants. The Schoolhouse is equipped with six classrooms, four of which are flexibly partitioned for combining into larger rooms when necessary.
An engineering laboratory building is completed and houses the people and engineering facilities previously located at both the Endicott factory (about 180 employees) and the Varick Street laboratory (about 70 people) in New York City. Research facilities, such as electrical and chemical labs, are greatly improved, and new individual development departments are established.
- The Endicott Engineering Laboratory develops:
- The IBM 285 accounting machine with 120 listing speed, and with adding and subtracting units, standardized wiring, including automatic control relays and provisions for listing directly from the brushes.
- The IBM 297 (similar to the Type 285 but with increased capacity).
- An automatic carriage.
- A high-speed reproducer.
- An invoicing tabulator arranged to print dates from special plugging in combination with special punching in the heading cards.
- Accounting machines equipped with an offset stacker.
- W. H. Fryor serves as the works manager
- Endicott employs 3,370 people.
- The Endicott-developed IBM 601 calculating punch is introduced.
1934
- The Endicott Engineering Laboratory develops:
- An alphabetic duplicating printing punch.
- The IBM 801 proof machine.
- The IBM 285 accounting machine arranged to effect net balance printing from a single counter.
- IBM purchases the Kalurah Shrine property to be used as the IBM Homestead.
- Buildings 28 and 30 add 83,000 square feet of space.
- Thomas Watson dedicates the engineering laboratory.
- The site is occupied by 25 buildings providing 575,000 square feet of space.
- IBM maintains 1,127 power tools in the factory, valued at $1,659,000, along with 58,519 tools, dies, jigs and fixtures. The plant manufactures 115 classes of products, 46,000 different parts, and is engaged in 180,000 different manufacturing operations. Some of the products -- such as the standard alphabetic subtraction accounting machine -- contain 50,000 separate pieces consisting of 2,400 different parts and 75 miles of wire connections.
- The plant prints, packs and ships more than 5.5 million punched cards each day, requiring 15.5 tons of paper stock daily.
- Endicott ships 7,700 tons of finished business machines to customers within the United States and another 1,800 tons to installations outside the country.
- IBM employs 3,261 people in manufacturing, 302 in engineering and 16 in education. Forty-five Endicott employees have more than 20 years of IBM service.
Some 1,500 students are enrolled in education classes on site, including 214 people attending Sales School. Evening classes are provided for supervisors, cost accounting, IBM products, blueprint reading, electricity and business English.
- A. H. Hancock serves as the plant superintendent.
- The Endicott-developed IBM 405 accounting machine is introduced.
- The plant installs the first air conditioning system ever applied to machine manufacturing operations in the United States. Twenty-nine air conditioning units clean, wash, humidify, and heat or cool 13.6 million cubic feet per hour. The system uses 720,000 gallons of water per hour from IBM's artesian wells. Refrigeration in the summer is obtained by the same waste or exhaust stream as is used for heating in the winter.
1935
IBM purchases additional property on February 7 and 25, March 6 and August 24. Included is the IBM Homestead, purchased from a Masonic Lodge.
- The Endicott Engineering Laboratory develops:
- An alphabetic verifier.
- A preset punch.
- A high-speed reproducer adapted as a summary punch.
- A group sorting device.
- A Model 2 horizontal sorter for standard 80-column cards operating at 225 cards a minute.
The first school (systems service training) for women field representatives begins at Endicott.
- Endicott employs 3,670 people.
1936
- The Endicott Engineering Laboratory develops:
- An alphabetic interpreter.
- A searching sorter.
- A high-speed reproducer with searching device.
- A gang summary punch for attachment to the numeric accounting machine, and which can be used independently as a gang punch.
- Three new capacity models of the IBM 405 alphabetic accounting machine.
- Endicott employs 3,700 people.
- Construction is underway of a dining room, kitchen, bowling alleys and locker rooms for the IBM Country Club
1937
-
The Endicott Engineering Laboratory develops:
The IBM 77 collator. - A pre-indication device as a standard feature with digit selection.
- A check writing interpreter.
- Printing of asterisks for check protection.
- A card counting sorter available for operation from either AC or DC current.
- An alphabetic gang summary punch that can also be used independently as a gang punch.
- An alphabetic duplicator summary punch.
- Endicott employs 4,307 people.
- Construction is underway of a nine-hole golf course for the IBM Country Club and the east wing of the IBM Homestead.
1938
- The Endicott Engineering Laboratory develops:
- A facsimile posting machine.
- The IBM 805 test scoring machine.
- Net balance counters for the IBM 405 alphabetic accounting machines.
- An alphabetic interpreter to interpret the 11th and 12th positions.
- A motor drive verifier operating with either AC or DC.
- IBM purchases additional property on June 7 and 21, and October 27.
- The IBM Homestead is converted to a guest house for customer executives.
- Construction is underway at the IBM Country Club of additional bowling alleys, rifle and pistol ranges, golf shop, billiard room, card room, additional locker rooms, swimming pool and an expansion of the golf course.
- The Endicott-developed IBM 77 collator is introduced.
- The site employs 4,050 people.
1939
- The Endicott Engineering Laboratory develops:
- Multiple column sorting.
- Removable tab racks for printing punches.
- An endorsing unit for proof machines.
- Digit selection for the IBM 285, IBM 297 and IBM 405 machines.
- A collator with third pocket control.
- Alphabetic accounting machines with increased capacity.
- September 30 -- IBM purchases additional property.
There are 3,860 employees.
- Construction is underway of the west wing of the IBM Homestead.
- J. Johnston serves as the superintendent.
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