onal computers, which are 386-chip machines, have 120Mb hard drives and two floppy drives. PDQ makes it a point not to upgrade its hardware any more frequently than once every five years; since the mattress business is not a high volume operation, the 386 machines are entirely appropriate in this environment.
There is an Hewlett-Packard Series 9000 minicomputer at the corporate office and workstations throughout the organization. The minicomputer processes store reports, maintains inventory records for each of the stores as well as for the company as a whole, and keeps track of the delivery routing for all ten stores.
Corporate also has a total of 28 personal computers in the office (out of a total of 35 workers). With the exception of the personal computers in Accounting (which includes data processing), these have the same configuration as the machines in the field. There is also a personal computer in the warehouse which is used to enter inventory information and to print delivery routing slips.
There are several different types of printers in use at PDQ. Each of the stores uses an Okidata daisy wheel printer to print invoices and delivery information at the time of purchase. These printers are preferred because carbonless forms can be used to create multiple copies in a single pass. At the end of the day, the stores also print a cash reconciliation form and cash receipt report on plain paper (which the Okidata is also able to accommodate easily). This configuration enables each store to operate its computer system at a low cost.
Printers within the corporate offices are more varied. A LaserJet 4 (also by Hewlett-Packard) is used in the Accounting Department to print reports; an Okidata is used to print checks and invoices. There are shared printers elsewhere in the office, including a LaserJet II and a LaserJet III for use by various groups of workers. These two printers are connected to a print sharing device...