By Mike Hart
In mid-1988, to great fanfare, IBM unveiled the AS/400 product line, which was to replace their System/36 and System/38 mini-computer series. Several months prior to the announcement, we had invested in a fixed price license to Software PM, a System/36 based manufacturing system that we could private label and sell without paying any royalties.
The arrival of the AS/400 put us in a real pickle because the System/36 platform was obsolete. Not only did this threaten the viability of our software package, it also made our investment in a System/36 computer – around $60,000 – worthless.
Continue reading "How I Got Started in the Manufacturing Software Business – Part 2 of 4" »
By Mike Hart
This year marks the 20th anniversary of my company, DBA Software, and so I find myself in a reflective mood. 20 years is a long time in the manufacturing software business and I’ve seen many competitors come and go. But how did I get in this business in the first place?
To answer that question, I need to take you back to 1986, which was the year our family business, Hart Manufacturing, was sold. The company was started by my grandfather, Harold Hart, in 1927. We made watering and feeding systems for the poultry industry and expanded greatly in the late 1970’s, only to crash and burn when new poultry house construction collapsed as Paul Volker broke the back of inflation with 20+% interest rates.
Continue reading "How I Got Started in the Manufacturing Software Business – Part 1 of 4" »
