Jay Randolph Monroe
The following is excerpted from “An Interview with the Father of the Calculating Machine”, Copyright, 1919, by Monroe Calculating Machine Co. and Copyright 1926, by Monroe Calculating Machine Co., Inc.
Mr. Jay R. Monroe, President and Founder of the Monroe Calculating Machine Company, recognized the growing demands for simpler, faster figuring with proven accuracy. He, with Mr. Baldwin, developed the design and mechanism of the first Monroe High Speed Adding-Calculator.
The close and intimate association of Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Monroe, formed in the early days of the development of the Monroe Adding-Calculator, continued until the death of Mr. Baldwin. In recounting instances of their early association and the phenomenal progress of the Company, Mr. Monroe paid tribute to the high character and inventive genius of Mr. Baldwin.
“At the time we met,” said Mr. Monroe, “I was employed by the Western Electric Company where the nature of my work necessitated an exhaustive study of accounting methods. I had long recognized an unfilled need in business for a figuring machine that would handle simply, directly, and with a minimum of mental and physical effort, all of the four fundamental operations, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division.
In Mr. Baldwin’s model, the practicability of the basic principles was apparent. I was so impressed with the possibilities of Mr. Baldwin’s basic idea that I made an arrangement with him whereby we would work together in the further development of the machine, incorporating various changes I had in mind. I was, also, granted an option on Mr. Baldwin’s patents.
Ours was a pioneering task. There was little precedent to guide us. In due time, patents were applied for and granted, and a new adding-calculator, based upon an idea that had had its inception in 1870, by combining a great many new and valuable features, was introduced to the business world.
In this machine we had striven for durability, speed as well as simplicity of operation, visible proof of accuracy, a flexible keyboard, and a two-way mechanism that would entirely eliminate the use of arbitrary rules or complementary figures in handling the four fundamental operations. In other words, we had succeeded in building a machine that went straight from problem to result, safeguarding accuracy at every step of the operation and making easy the use of the machine by one unaccustomed to machine operation.
We formed an organization consisting of a small corps of efficient and earnest workers and started the manufacture and sale of Monroe Adding-Calculators. As the idea of such a machine was entirely new to business executives, we found that a considerable amount of educational work was necessary. But we laid our foundation carefully and well. Every installation meant a new Monroe friend.
The demand for Monroe machines grew so rapidly that our early expectations were far exceeded. We quickly realized the necessity of extending our production facilities as the demand for our product gave assurance of the permanency of our enterprise.
We purchased a factory in Orange, New Jersey. Orange offered the ideal location for the manufacture of a precision instrument, as it had been known for years as a center for quality in manufacture.
The ability of our machine to fill the needs of business in handling enormous volumes of figure-work popularized our name and service very rapidly. Our field became as universal as the field of figures.
We stretched forth into Canada, into South America, and into England and the continents of Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa, until, today; there is not a point of importance in the World’s affairs where the Monroe is not represented.
Factory expansion and increased production kept pace with the rapid growth in sales. From the very beginning we had stressed ‘Quality’ in our manufacture. We were determined to build a machine that would not only be ‘fool proof’ from an operating standpoint but would stand up and render service over a period of years under the hardest usage.
A Research and Engineering Department was established early in our history to further the mechanical development of our machine. In this department as in all other departments of our manufacturing organization ‘Thoroughness’ was the watchword.
How well we succeeded in building a ‘Quality’ product is attested by the great number of machines built during the early days of our history which are still giving their owners exemplary service. We have never faltered in our strict adherence to that ideal, for every Monroe model put on the market since then has been a long step forward both in mechanical design and operation until today there is not a machine on the market that is better built.
Some of the country's foremost mechanical engineers, as well as other leading business executives, have visited our plant and have expressed amazement over the exacting requirements that enter into each detail of Monroe manufacture.
After all, the most convincing argument in support of our claims to a Quality Product, is found in the constant growth of our sales, in which each year has exceeded the previous one by a generous but healthy margin and in the increasing number of users who are standardizing on Monroe machines for all their figure work.
In 1917, and again in 1920, new buildings were erected and the most modern machinery installed, which expansion program permitted us to take advantage of the world-wide demand for our machine. However, within five years our manufacturing facilities were found to be wholly inadequate. Accordingly in 1925, we acquired considerable new property, installed new machinery and mapped out an expansion plan which will enable us to keep our sales and production curves on an even basis for years to come.
This growth from a humble beginning to world-wide proportions has been due to an honest, liberal policy toward our customers, a quality product, faithful and efficient service, and strict adherence to an ideal.
Just as these factors have been part of and responsible for our advancement, so I am pleased to believe that they are present today in the efforts of every employee in our organization, whether in our plant or in the selling field, both at home and among our friends who represent us Overseas. |
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