"MANUFACTURING COMPETENCE" 1960S COLOR GENERAL ELECTRIC ERMA COMPUTERS PROMO PHOENIX, AZ XD66224

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“Manufacturing Competence” (1960s) is a color, promo film presented by the General Electric (G.E.) Computer Department headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. The film discusses the development, manufacture, and testing of computers. This film features copious scenes of women's role on the assembly line, automatic production methods, and shots of the ERMA 100 Series and 200 Series machines. ERMA stood for Electronic Recording Machine, Accounting. This was a computer technology that automated bank bookkeeping and check processing. It was developed at the nonprofit research institution SRI International under contract from Bank of America starting in 1950. The first production ERMA system, known as the GE-100, was installed in 1959.
Downtown Phoenix - commercial shops, Auto Lobby, mid-century modern skyscrapers, palm-tree lined roads (0:35). GE Computer Department HQ, Deer Valley Industrial Complex (1:12). GE logo on facade (1:43). Montage various work stations; interior factory (1:55). Women sitting at switchboards working on electrical connections (2:06). Office space, men at desks review product design plans (2:18). GE ERMA 100 Series machine components: Console, Flexowriter, document handler, high speed printer (2:28). Factory workers gather materials for frame of GE-225 computer (2:55). Computer rack on production line (3:09). Woman attaches modular card holder fixture (3:39). Women work on wire connections: close-up solderless wire wrapped connection (3:50). Punch paper tape machine for wire display data control, perhaps part of GE 200 Series (4:20). Close-up wire wrap gun (4:42). Other women work on direct connection of wires, tangle of thick gray wires run through large harness (4:58). Two women sit in front of console for wire testing - connectors plugged into wrack to check continuity of wires; red dots appear on console (5:27). Back panel wiring: Burgmaster Drill controlled by GE Mark II Controller drills precise holes on panel (6:21). Hole location, pattern seen on punched paper tape (6:41). Outrigger drill: two panels drilled automatically (7:04). Women work to apply printed transistorized wiring to back panels (7:11).Woman concentrates while operating trigger of insertion machine: applies individual connectors to printed wiring board; close-up wire insertion (7:32). Close-up hands move wood block in silk screen process applies solder resist, printing wiring boards (8:11). Finish printed wiring board (8:31). Diode reels fed into tester machine (8:47). Clevite semiconductors reel of approved diodes fed into cut and form device (9:15). Cut, formed diodes (9:40). Montage automatic machines used to cut, form leads used in printed boards (9:49). Transistor cutter (10:17). Close-up before, after cutter transistor against orange background (10:30). Women sit on progressive assembly line, operators insert pre-cut, formed components into board - close-up markings on board to direct operators (10:52). Computer boards pass along conveyor belt: fluxed, dried, then pass through mechanized soldering machine (11:33). Older female employee uses machine to trim excess leads and solder (12:16). Completed boards analytically tested, fed into machine that reads T1143 on facade (12:26). Male operator does functional testing by simulating operating conditions, close-up of board with attached diodes, conductors (12:45). Screen reads results of operation (12:59). Calibration lab:(13:17). C/u magnetic core rings; close-up vibrated into position (13:35). Woman threads wires through, after cores in place; c/u wiring passing through square (14:26). Automated testing of core memory jig (14:58). C/u hands stacking completed, tested memory cores (15:18). Camera pans completed memory (15:29). Woman sits under magnifying glass, threads small memory device buffer (15:40). Close-up matrix electrical wires of “command center” (16:37). Final installation steps: man and woman side-by-side installing completed parts (16:49). GE-225 Mainframe Computer tested by male operators (17:09). GE high speed printer, paper moves quickly (17:22). GE High speed document handler (17:41). Computer prepared for shipment, doors installed (17:58). Scientist at work in GE Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Laboratory developing techniques for automating production (18:24). Test of automated welding equipment (18:55). Chemicals in beaker (19:01). ERMA Ampex tape drive (19:49).
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com

[@mauricioaraujo9862]

Thanks!

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Thanks very, very much. Donations like this make it possible for us to save more rare and endangered films!

[@glencoe58]

Circuit boards like those shown in the video started being sold by electronics surplus sellers in the 1970s and were a good source of parts for those of us who were into electronics as a hobby. These used parts were quite a bit cheaper than buying new ones.

[@Tarce3000]

Me too, in the early 90s, but with some boards from clones produced in the eastern block; Oh, they were full of germanium diodes and transistors that I obviously didn't do much with it

[@1978garfield]

I used to help my older brother harvest parts from junk TVs and radios. Later on when we actually got some components new from Radio Shack I was shocked how long the leads were.

[@paulwomack5866]

@@Tarce3000 Ironically, they're now highly prized by the analogue synth crew

[@winstonsmith478]

If you're in the US, remember Meshna Surplus Electronics? They had all kinds of interesting stuff including military surplus at very low prices. For instance, as a kid I could easily afford such things as a NEW old stock compressed air driven gyroscope from some WWII USAF bomber. I wish I still had that, a high precision device. It seems that WWII stuff was finally leaving various warehouse stocks and finds 25-30 years after the war, making for a lot of very cool surplus stuff. There were also MANY different types of cards pulled from discrete transistor computer mainframes which used discrete electronic parts which could be easily pulled.

[@glencoe58]

Wow, that's a name I'd forgotten about. I bought a lot of stuff from Meshna, including military surplus, of course. I wouldn't have been able to make many of the projects I built without companies like Meshna.@@winstonsmith478

[@headpox5817]

Thanks Periscope. Without you, we'd never see such wonderful material.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Glad you enjoy and appreciate our channel. Subscribe! Become a channel member! Or take a deep dive on our submarine of filmic preservation at Patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm

[@StopDropandLOL]

My carpal tunnel started acting up just watching her manually thread those memory cores.

[@fujifrontier]

lol that and my eyestrain kicked in seeing those fine wires

[@67L-88]

Near the end of the wire wrap backplanes, we had a computer-controlled wiring machine. It would cut, strip, and wrap the wire. Then lay the wire and terminate the next end with a cut, strip, and wrap. It would do it over and over till the backplane was complete. All that was left was to tie up the wire bundles. It had its issues too and needed a keen eye to keep it making good parts but it was night and day from hand made.

[@christianmoore7046]

Its truly amazing to see how much computers have evolved!

[@MicMc539]

And the Country Devolved.

[@Acer_Maximinus]

@@MicMc539 Thanks to the Christian Taliban.

[@MicMc539]

@@Acer_Maximinus No, it called The American Dream.

[@Acer_Maximinus]

@@MicMc539 The GQP is anti America. They don’t belong here.

[@oakspines7171]

It would take a system the size of a football field of these 70s advanced technology components to wire wrap and solder them together to build an iPhone4. It would then take a Hoover dam to power it and a heatsink the size of the Empire State building to cool it down.

[@rapman5363]

Those were the days, when America was a manufacturing powerhouse envied around the world.

[@jimtekkit]

It makes a country truly unstoppable when the entire population is productive, innovative and not held back by red tape regulations.

[@cetocoquinto4704]

It saddens me when companies as respectable as GE does not make consumer electronics anymore. I remember our GE fridge runs like 40 years i think before it dies.

[@marvinm.messier1120]

I'm guessing it was dumb and corrupt politicians, greedy industry leaders and greedy unions couldn't compromise - ended up squandering the whole thing and so manufacturing went to slave labour in the third world- with the products then being sold back to us from across the pond. They all ruined it jointly I'm assuming, but it's probably more complicated than that. It's too, bad no matter what it was - a lot of people have nothing to do now - or anything to feel worthy for. A lack of purpose felt nationwide - we're just damned lucky to have ANY job now.

[@dziban303]

@@jimtekkit yeah those dumb regulations about not dumping harmful chemicals into the river, or not wiping out the last refuge of an endangered species to make way for a freeway or strip mall. imbecile

[@steveb1739]

I wish some of those ladies and gentlemen could see what we have in the office. And we have a very modest setup. We must not forget the contribution that these folks made to digital computing.

[@nutzeeer]

We truly live in interesting times. Seeing how back then computers were so complicated yet so comparably slow to today. We are living in the future!

[@therealxunil2]

Computers are orders of magnitude more complex today than 60 years ago. And we are living in the present.

[@JeffDeWitt]

Complex but not sophisticated. It's amazing seeing those primitive machines being built and trying to match those components with their modern analogs. One of those hand wired memory core planes like we saw here probably held about 128 BYTES of data. Not kilo, not mega, but just bytes. And here we are, with computers having gigabytes of memory, terabytes of storage, big flat screen displays... and on those displays we can watch things like SpaceX rockets take off and land. Yes, we are living in the future.

[@MoneySavingVideos]

Although in the future we will also be seen as living in the past!

[@Acer_Maximinus]

@@therealxunil2 “…more complex…” Obvious, but the OP isn’t arguing that. They say that computers were very complicated then but incredibly slow. Which is true. And from the perspective of this film we are in the future. Which the OP was obviously having some fun with. Maybe pull that stick out of your ass.😮 😂😂😂

[@winstonsmith478]

GE mainframe computer trivia: Arnold Spielberg, father of filmmaker Steven Spielberg, and Charles Propster designed the GE-225 mainframe computer in the late 1950s while working for General Electric. The machine allowed computer scientists at Dartmouth College to develop the programming language BASIC, which would be essential the rise of personal computers in the 1970s and 80s.

[@MichiganPeatMoss]

The card-edge connector goes back a bit. Amazing how that modular approach was used for the latter half of the 20th Century.

[@ModusOperandi]

If you're wondering like I was, the GE Computer Division wasn't really in what's now called Deer Valley (where I grew up in the 90s/2000s). It was south of Thunderbird and west of I-17, where the Pima Medical institute is now. Near the former Fry's Electronics (RIP lmao)

[@leongao4295]

Can't imagine that people used this type machine helped humans on the Moon.

[@philpots48]

Loved the core memory manufacturing. I programmed on a computer in the 70s that had core memory. If there was a power failure, when we restarted the computer there was no data loss. The cost of memory then was about a dollar a byte.

[@jonathonmenth3901]

That’s probably around 5 bucks today

[@davidgold5961]

Notice the emphasis on calming and soothing color coordinated cabinets.

[@suspicionofdeceit]

Critical for worker productivity and satisfaction.

[@sharidavenport5283]

​@@judythomas2939 - Notice the ladies have their hair beautifully done, perfectly styled with not a hair out of place, and very shiny; many wearing nice jewelry, and quite flattering outfits for working in a manufacturing facility. Even one as clean and relatively comfortable such as this one seems to be? Makes me wonder how many ladies' dress shops and local department stores as well as beauty parlors spiffing up "roots" and perms, manicures, etc.; jewelry stores and jewelry departments in department stores for new earrings and necklaces; shoe stores, etc., did what used to be called "a land office business" from the employees, ramping up to the beginning of this company sponsored filming event!? Gotta wonder how many of these new outfits only showed up in churches on Sunday after this was finished, for quite a while? And what they really wore to work?😊

[@sassyfrass4295]

@@sharidavenport5283 it was called having a standard of dress when people cared about showing Self-respect. it was normal to dress before leaving the house. Everything neat, clean and in its place. the shopping was fantastic and items for sale were made of quality.

[@sharidavenport5283]

@@sassyfrass4295- Yeah - I know. That was kind of my point. See the smiley face at the end of my comment? I was born smack dab in the middle of the Baby Boom 💥 1957 - so I grew up knowing this. I also know that standards change, and "boofing up your appearance" a bit was to be expected to be seen in such a production, so that would have contributed. I have Aunts who worked in the 50s and 60s, and this would certainly have applied to them as well. Work apparel wasn't quite as dressy as going to church, which explains the phrase "my best Sunday go-to-meeting hat" or dress, etc., so, standards were on specific levels. Now days, it's rare indeed - if not completely gone, for a manufacturing facility to have female employees dressed at such a high fashion level. I know about "standards of dress" - I was one of the kids with fancy church clothes which doubled as shopping outfits, especially at Christmas time, when it was time to go get my picture taken with Santa! We wore dresses to school, even when pants would have been ultimately more practical, and I was in 8th grade when that finally changed. Standards change over time, which is why we don't wear corsets and floor length, multilayered Victorian dresses today. Or knee length flapper dresses and silk stocking of the 1920s.

[@xtianrondow3881]

When quality was

[@nutzeeer]

At least the essence of quality isnt lost thanks to this video

[@captainamericaamerica8090]

THEN GO BACK TO USING ONE OF THESE! I'M SURE THEY WILL SELL IT CHEAP. HAVE A LARGE TRUCK READY FOR TRANSPORT. A CREW FOR DELIVERY, SET UP. A HUGE PLACE FOR SET UP. FOR A MASSIVE OBSOLETE COMPUTER THAT A TINY MATCH BOOK SIZE PRESENT DAY COMPUTER, HOLDS 12.OOO TIMES THE DATA😂😂😂😂😂

[@xtianrondow3881]

Why would I ? To make you happy?

[@sassyfrass4295]

@@captainamericaamerica8090 the entire nation had quality in everything Made in America not just this video content.

[@ljmorris6496]

We gave alot of that capability up, the good news is more semiconductor factories are being built in Arizona again..

[@kc4cvh]

1:21 After Jack Welch, hardly an American had a job at General Electric.

[@phuturephunk]

Also, because of Jack Welch, one of the US's most storied industrial firms spent the better part of a decade and a half cosplaying as a crappy bank. But it sure did make the line go up, so Jack Welch was considered a genius because of it. Then, in the aughts, right before Welch passed on from this mortal plane, he got pissy in public because GE lost half its valuation due to cosplaying as a crappy bank and this fact was pointed out to him.

[@jaminova_1969]

He also sold off the RCA name and laid-off or fired thousands at NBC until it was no longer profitable.

[@floorpizza8074]

Jack Welch was the quintessential corporate raider. May he rest in hell.

[@marstondavis]

@@floorpizza8074 Yeah! But he made great grape jelly.

[@1978garfield]

Sadly Jack Welch figured out there is more money to be made in being a profitable stock than actually making a good product for a fair price and investing in your workforce. Firing American workers is nearly always good for the stock price. Buy and sell some companies, fire some people. Whatever it takes to keep the stock price up.

[@darkwinter6028]

How’s it work? Well, generally, it’s electric… 😉

[@fmphotooffice5513]

Reading comments: 2 distinct things: Either they are Chinese companies based in China selling inventory internationally OR ~50% are American companies finding the cheapest way to make inferior inventory wherever it costs the least to produce. **Look at where the offices are located.** At some point there was a meeting in a conference room in an industrial park office somewhere in the US. They held in their hands a piece of crap (air pump, etc) as a sample of the way the unit will look and function when 1000 of them ship in a shipping container, and decided to import that to compete with similar quality junk for you to buy inexpensively. Cheap stuff is fine for certain applications. You have to PAY for quality. Take inflation into account. You want a beautiful, high quality guitar? That takes resources and time. The artist ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD needs to pay rent and food. That's reflected in the price. Don't be cheap and expect a playable guitar then get miffed when it warps or something snaps off, etc.

[@mode1charlie170]

Core memory was the technology that put man on the moon.

[@Gannett2011]

7:34 - that looks like a fun computer game!

[@normcameron2316]

Just imagine the heat generated by those acres of boards.

[@ivanyurkinov]

there was a 2 inch water line and pump visible in one of the racks. they must have used them to heat the offices in the winter time. good thing electric rates were cheap back then

[@bardo0007]

Actually the first circuit boards were invented already before 1910. And also used during WW2.

[@snarflatful]

Now, my smartphone has more RAM than that behemoth.

[@sassyfrass4295]

it also is spyware - congratulations.

[@maplemanz]

The plant is probably a super fund site for TCE contamination.

[@rowan1able]

Right on ~

[@dungeon_masster.]

как же все сложно, зато сейчас Америка может просто печатать деньги и не париться

[@chillydawgg4354]

I've heard some of this music in other such films

[@RaysLaughsAndLyrics]

Chilly.. Probably 60's Disney flicks or Canadian. National Film Board (NFB) documentaries.

[@MoneySavingVideos]

I don't see any homeless tents in Phoenix

[@RealDixonPeter]

Them big racks is like being inside a microchip

[@brentschmitt3338]

All these American jobs are long gone.

[@1978garfield]

There is a reason Walgreens replaced GE on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. We are becoming a nation of retail workers. That will only last until robots take over retail. There will be some jobs maintaining the robots but not many.

[@jimmyp6443]

All manufactured in China today

[@Discopuss]

I think this was before anyone told all those women how oppressed they were...surprised this film hasn't been censored yet.

[@AA-ke5cu]

Virtually no design obsolescence like G.E. hair thin light bulb filaments.

[@BracaPhoto]

Fyi - i think these are "Ma Bell" telephone racks

[@stellamcwick8455]

Western Electric developed the 19” rack system which was adopted by just about everyone since. So you are correct in a way. They also developed wire-wrapping.

[@mr1jon1smith]

Can you please put the number and time lower?.. Its distracting and also blocks a lot of the image. Thanks!

[@JoelMMcKinney]

🗽🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🗽

[@74KU]

This video should be shown in China..

[@senilyDeluxe]

Minor nitpick: Could you upload movies in 4:3 aspect ratio in 4:3 instead of 16:9? Just so the ~3 people on this planet watching on 4:3 screens don't have a black border all around?

[@michaeljohnson-jx8pi]

Yes my birthday is April 8th1970. I agree

[@jupitercyclops6521]

I remember when we had jobs. Once upon a time, we wouldn't stand for our politicians selling Our jobs & secrets to foreign lands.

[@brettbrown9261]

...the old world. When the US dollar had 80% more buying power than today 2023

[@sassyfrass4295]

NO GDP no worth.

[@curtislowe4577]

Why are these jobs gone? Unions, taxes and health care costs made increased automation cheaper? Foreign labor so cheap it more than makes up for increases in shipping costs? Advances in technology made some of these devices obsolete. (I discovered the magnetic core memories a few years ago in conjunction with Apollo project equipment videos. Each toroid is a discrete memory bit.) Other reasons?

[@MicMc539]

Because the Rich get richer and the poor work for minimum wage.

[@curtislowe4577]

@@MicMc539 🤦‍♂️ try again please without the communist/socialist cliché.

[@MicMc539]

@@curtislowe4577 Yeah, because Capitalism is working soooo well for US workers! Try 35 hour weeks. 7 days sick leave. 3 weeks Maternity/Paternity leave 4 weeks annual leave with 17% loading 3 months long service leave after 10 years. That's minimum in most western countries. How's it going in the Land of Brave?

[@sassyfrass4295]

Congress over regulated industry so the jobs would go over seas and then they bought stocks. Kissinger was glad to see such support!

[@1978garfield]

Environmental laws haven't helped.

[@AA-ke5cu]

Radio Shack.

[@user-nx2ln5mo9i]

А потом все эти работы будут отданы азиатским странам на аутсорс .

[@ericbivins8014]

Nowdays it would be an army of Chinese workers making something that breaks not long after you buy it.

[@MicMc539]

If it was made in the US you couldn't afford it, not that you have any manufacturing left!

[@SteveMacSticky]

Yeah. They make iPhone for apple

[@nutzeeer]

And yet japan was overtaking the US. I wonder how they did it.

[@floorpizza8074]

The exact same way China is doing it today. They made competing products at lower prices by paying slave labor wages. Once Japan reached first world status, manufacturing moved on to other low wage countries, and the cycle continues to this day. Two differences, though. Even Japan's cheaper products were well made. Their high end products are unequaled, even by countries like the US and Switzerland.

[@keithammleter3824]

Two things made Japan a great technical manufacturer:_ 1) Cooperation between companies in a way that was considered anti-competitive in the USA; 2) An outcome of World War 2 was that Japan was not to spend tax money on creating & maintaining a military offensive capability.

[@sassyfrass4295]

@@floorpizza8074 now Japan is a dying nation self proclaimed at that.

[@coffeeisgood102]

And then came along Bill Gates…

[@HeathLedgersChemist]

WTF is soddering?

[@HEC350]

This didn't age well

[@RickLyle78]

Take off the time line readout😢 I have never watched the video completely through on any of your videos because of it.