Inventory

It was basically a method of inventory called cycle. Cycle counting. The goal was, you count 5% of your total inventory every day. It's a different 5% each day. So, as time goes by, like after three to four months, you have a very accurate view of your inventory.

I did inventory with like three other people, and very quickly, Gene said, well, Marshall, we're going to make you the department head. And I said, I thought you were the department head. He goes, no, I'm the supervisor. Because he would just love to sit at his desk and look out the window. But he was a very bright guy, and he would take all the information, and he had these big ledger books, like you see in the old West movies. After a few weeks, I was like, Gene, we're a computer company, why are we using ledgers? He said, because I know how to use ledgers. Here, I'll tell you what. You come in at 8, instead of 9, and you work from 8 till noon, teaching yourself how to computerize our inventory. And then you do your counting. I'll talk to you in a few months. That was the single thing made my life, made my career.

To computerize the inventory I used Dbase II on a Kaypro 10. The way it worked out is Andy Kay wanted the inventory reports every morning so the whole inventory department was oriented around producing those reports for him so that's what I did for over a year.
(Interview with Marshall Mosley)