First installation
The first customer delivery of an IBM System/7 was
made on September 16, 1971, to American Motors Corporation
(AMC) at Kenosha, Wisc. The delivery was made two months
ahead of schedule from the IBM General Systems Division
plant in Boca Raton, Fla.
Workers in Boca Raton move the first System/7
on its way to AMC in Kinosha.
The System/7, which was to be reinstalled at AMC’s
Toledo Jeep Plant the following month, was to become
the keystone of the company’s Manufacturing Division
exhaust emission control program. A second IBM System/7
was to be installed in Kinosha later in 1971. Both computers
would be linked to sensing instruments that tested the
performance of the emission control system of vehicles
picked at random as they came off the production line.
The auto manufacturer planned to test 12 Jeeps a day
in Toledo, and 37 cars on two shifts at Kenosha. In
addition to using the System/7 to measure vehicle emissions,
American Motors was considering using the small computer
for other applications.
AMC’s director of information systems said at
the time: “The System/7 has great flexibility
and we think it will be the key to meeting our quality
control targets. System/7 is going to do a lot of things
for us that we weren’t able to do before. With
its flexibility and many uses, I think it’s just
the right tool for more sophisticated plant automation.”
Before receiving the System/7 in September, AMC’s
data processing staff in Kenosha tested its programming
on another System/7 at IBM’s Field Systems Center
in Chicago.
Jim Richmann of the Milwaukee IBM Manufacturing branch
office --the IBM Data Processing Division’s marketing
representative on the account -- said the System/7 “was
installed without a hitch,” and was operating
less than 24 hours after delivery. “The customer
is more pleased by the minute,” said Richmann.
“As far as American Motors is concerned, System/7
is leading the way in the sensor-based computer area.”
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