- AT&T --=-April/May 1990

VALLEY VOICE A publication for active and retjred AT&T Network Systems and AT&T Bell Laboratories employees of Merrimack Valley 1600 Osgood Street North Andover, MA 01845

1. F. McKinnon Transmission Systems Vice President

Valley Voice office (508) 960-2302 Editorial staff: Irene Dumas, x2377 Dianne Coppola, x3553

Photography: Roger Culliford, x2597

Valley Voice is published for employees like George Batta, an inspector in the 04, 05, DDMl000 shop in Salem I.

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John F. (Jack) McKinnon Transmission Systems Vice President Merrimack Valley

It is with great pleasure that I return to Merrimack Valley , where I began my AT&T career 28 years ago as a product engineer. Between that first assignment and now I have been to many locations around the country, in different organizations and with varying responsibilities .

It is immediately evident to me that the employees of Merrimack Valley have a lot to be proud of. Your factory is a shining example of how AT&T must operate to remain competitive in the 1990s and beyond.

My door is always open to those with new ideas, and I hope to get to know many of you personally as I continue to become reacquainted with this great facility.

On the cover - The formal award from the Boy Scouts of America is called the Lord Baden Powell Award for Distinguished Citizenship. To the many Merrimack Valley employees who have crossed Joe Sweeney's path, "Man of the Year" is an understatement. Joe 's involvement in company and community activities is legendary . More about Joe on page 11. Photo by Roger Culliford .

MACCS Maintenance alld Calibration Control System

A world class manufacturer must have high facility uptime. By improving facility uptime, MVW will be better able to ship a quality product on time and meet customer needs.

Gene Boudreault watches as Joe Hadley puts a call in with MACCS.

Carl Waite receives a breakdown call.

Charlie lo.fond and Bob Roberts go over a MACCS report.

MACCS is a new computer system that will allow the maintenance department to provide faster, better service to its customers. MACCS keeps track of all breakdown reports and keeps a history of maintenance and calibration for each piece of equipment.

When someone puts in a breakdown call with MACCS, the system generates a work order which is printed out in the appropriate maintenance area . A tradesman can then use MACCS to check on the machine's history and see how many times it's been worked on, when it was last worked on , who did the work, what was done, and how long it took . He also can review the machine's preventive maintenance and calibration schedules.

MACCS was developed by a committee of engineers, maintenance workers and production associates . This process began in January, 1988; and in August, 1989, GDX became the first shop to cut over to MACCS.

"Things run much smoother, we just put the call in MACCS and maintenance comes out to fix it," says Roger Tremblay, a supervisor in GDX. "I'm also saving a lot of time monitoring the status of calibrations in my shop."

"Our overall goa) is to reduce the number of breakdowns and provide better facility availability," says Dave Ierardi, development engineer. "We want to be at a point where we do more preventive maintenance and have fewer emergency breakdowns."

MACCS will be available to just about everyone at MY. Production associates and supervisors can use the system to report breakdowns. Maintenance tradespeople, supervisors and engineers can use it to keep track of what's happening and to improve the communications between shifts. Product, process, test and design engineers can use it to evaluate facility performance in their shops.

MACCS is operational in about 70 percent of the shops now. By the end of 1990, the entire factory will be covered. Eventually all maintenance activity at Merrimack Valley, including all machinery in the shop, computers and printers in the office, and even light bulbs, will be covered by MACCS.

Shop supervisors can schedule training by calling the Training organization at x5000. If you have any questions about the system, or would like to get a MACCS login, please call Jim Stormont x2870.

High facility uptime enables us to ship a quality product on time! Frank Devine loads a finished product for shipment.

3

flnmnd the Works

4

TI SHOP MOVES

I f you've walked through the center of building 30 on the second floor, you've probably

noticed that the TI shop has been cleared out. Yes, we still build TI. lt's just been combined with the D4 shops into a new shop called Patriot, all under Maurice Henderson's Diversified Products group.

The intent is to provide space for the Salem shops to return to the Valley. The result for TI and D4 is a brand new circuit pack shop that was designed to be flexible enough to build other products as well . Process engineer Maria Green says, "We were able to reuse existing facilities, existing technologies and D4 floor space to develop a shop that would provide our customers with extremely high quality, low cost products in the shortest possible lead times. It isn't easy, but, because of the terrific attitudes, good old-fashioned common sense and lots of hard work by everyone on our team, we are well on our way to reaching those goals."

In addition to all the second floor production associates and supervisors, the team includes process, quality, product and test engineers, people from New and Changed, IMPAC, MPCS, folks from machine and test set maintenance, plant construction, accounting, and scores of other support groups that continually work

ROLL 'EM!

Afilm crew was on location at Merrimack Valley on March 20, gathering footage for a

film to be shown at the 1990 AT&T stockholders meeting.

Entitled "For Our Children," the film deals with AT&T's concern for the environment and will show several stories including recycling in New Jersey, reforesting areas burned in the 1987 California brush fires , and the elimination of CFCs and CHCs here at Merrimack Valley.

In the photo, left , Dave Rudd, senior staff engineer, looks on as crew members prepare to film.

to improve the way Patriot builds products. It looks as though everyone involved will have a shop to be proud of.

Pictured below, from left, are Patriot supervisors Joe Toto, Dick Pepin , Steve Bryan and Rick Ryan. Missing is coordinator Mel Clevesy.

PU~M)[ 1)I\lWON () JH J\ PP[iU~ J\NC[

M~[J\ tIND[/1 CONST/Wcr / ON

FUrURE ~IITRIO; SHOP

FOURnI ANNUAL SUPPUER RECOGNITION PROGRAM

Pete Pence, assistant vice president of Bellcore Quality Assurance,

delivered the keynote address at the latest Supplier Recognition Award program.

The choice of Pete as speaker was especially fitting since Bellcore maintains an on-site surveillance organization at Merrimack Valley to monitor the quality of products shipped to the Regional Bell Operating companies, as a group one of MV's largest customers.

Pete, pictured at right, emphasized the need for teamwork between supplier and customer, stating that the supplier must first know how its product will be used in order to deliver the best choice of product

COlLEGE DAY

More than 1200 employees attended a College Day held on March 29 in the

cafeteria. The event was sponsored by the AJJiance Employee Resource Center (AERC.)

Representatives from nineteen local area colleges were on hand to meet with employees and answer questions about starting or continuing their education . AERC staff members were present to answer questions on the services they provide.

supplies] doesn't come in good, its not going to come out good."

Seventy-two companies from around the globe were honored in this year's program, twenty-two of which were returning for four consecutive years as outstanding suppliers.

The successful supplier program, administered by Jim Mills,

Merrimack Valley manager of purchasing and transportation, selects those suppliers who

meet stringent require­

ments for quality and service.

During the four years of L....w.....---........ -"'------~--'r_---..-..-'--" ...... -' the program

and service. He told the supplier representatives

gathered that their quality initiatives could not be considered as separate from AT&T's. "If it [incoming

Merrimack Valley 's supplier base has been reduced by half.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE EXHIBIT

MERRIMACK VALLEY WORKS displays AT&T's oldest and newest tele­phones at the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce Business Expo. On hand to answer questions are, from left, Liz Coote and Ed Feitzinger, MV Quality engineers, and Lisa Loveland and David Greenberg, GBS account executives. (For more information on GBS see page 15.)

5

Around the Works, cont'd

6

VIDEO PREMIER

T here was excitement in the air as the cast and crew mingled in the elegantly decorated

lobby, anxiously awaiting the premier showing of the new video. Stars posed for the photographer and paused to be interviewed by a reporter. It happens all the time in Hollywood ...

Only this wasn't Hollywood, it was North Andover, and the lobby was in Merrimack Valley's new Customer Conference Center, and the stars were AT&T employees!

The new video, "The Customer Conference Center at Merrimack Valley," has been distributed to account managers world-wide to announce the availability of the new center for customer presentations. The center gives account executives a sales-tool to showcase MV's product lines, state of the art manufacturing processes, and our commitment to quality and customer satisfaction .

The cast party was arranged by Sharon Muller, Customer Conference

QWL SUCCESS STORY

QWL teams are formed throughout Merrimack Valley to give employees a forum

for contributing ideas for process improvements. QWL team 36 in the machine maintenance department recently succeeded in a project that exemplifies the very spirit of the QWL philosophy.

Over the years, exhaust systems throughout the plant have been moved, upgraded, removed, etc.

Center manager, as a way of extending thanks to everyone involved with the making of the new video. "Achieving the degree of perfection we want for ourselves and our customers was hard work ," said Sharon. "Numerous takes were required because the camera sees everything - just like our customers."

Video stars, from left, Dick Hagan, Sr. Product Planner; Mike Ryan , Director, Target Productions; Jack Coppolino, Sales Manager, Boston Acct. Team; Al LaFavors, Manager, Customer Service; Dave Draughn , Manufacturing Resource Planning, manager; and Lisa Rotatori, CCC receptionist.

Usually hidden from view by dropped recommendations, and achieve ceilings, they are turned on and off results. The team's recommendations by switches. The problem existed with ' are now incorporated into the factory the labeling of the switches. Factory specification, and all new and standards in place necessitated naming existing exhaust systems will be only one machine on the on/off identified on the on/off switch switch. Upon investigation, the QWL controlling their operation . team concluded that a dangerous Instrumental in this success were condition might arise if an exhaust team members Jackie Clark, Benny system were shut down inadvertently Cordischi, Mark Hazell , John because it was not identified on the Hunkele, Donald Richardson, Lee switch label. Richardson and Doug Sanford, along

From this simple observation the with Hal Waters , who brought the team was able to follow steps to project to the team , and Herb Jones identify the problem, formulate from factory engineering.

In pursuit of . • •

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

The Baldrige Award: D In 1987, Federal legislation created the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award , named after the late Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige.

D The program is administered by the National Institute of Standards & Technology, with the assistance of the American Society for Quality Control and the American Productivity & Quality Center.

D The program is funded by private industry.

D The first Baldrige awards were presented in 1988 to three companies. In 1989 two companies were recipients. The award program allows for an annual total of six awards: two to large manufacturing companies, two to small manufacturing companies, and two to service companies .

D Winners are announced during October, National Quality Month.

D The awards are presented by the President of the United States.

any Americans are familiar with Japan's Deming

Prize, the prestigious quality award named in honor of the American consultant who played a key role in Japan's post-war economic recovery. The Baldrige Award is America's answer to the Deming Prize -similar in many ways, yet even more stringent and difficult to win.

AT&T has recognized the significance of the award and how it can enhance a company's image. More importantly, however, the criteria on which the award is based represents the collective thinking of our nation's top quality experts. AT&T agrees with the philosophy and expects to use the criteria that the award is based upon as a model for running the business.

During the last few months of 1989, a "trial" application was completed in order to determine how we would fare today. An evaluation was then perfonned by internal examiners to identify our weaknesses. You can expect to see changes in the way we do business as a result of this activity.

The actual application process requires documentation of how stated criteria are addressed by the applicant company. Based on a point system, finalists are detennined. Then the real test begins.

A team of five investigators (all top quality experts) is dispatched to one or more of the company's locations. Key areas of investigation ask the questions: Does the overall approach to quality make sense? Are there adequate resources and people to carry out the program? Is there a viable long-tenn program with documented, measurable results?

It is hoped that the Baldrige Award will soon receive the same kind of recognition in the United States that the Deming Prize receives in Japan - live coverage of the presentation on prime-time TV and front-page newspaper headlines.

Perhaps in the near future AT&T's Transmission Systems will be in the spotlight when the awards are presented. And if it is, all of us will have played a role in making that happen.

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Newest EES Members

'T: here will be among us, certain ones who stand above the crowd;

those who peifonn the unusual, the difficult, those whose contributions can be truly called the cream of technological triumphs."

. . . from the original Engineering Excellence Society booklet, 1969.

From chemical awareness to outstanding design contributions, Merrimack Valley's 1989 inductees into the Engineering Excellence Society personify the ideals set forth twenty-one years ago.

The five inductees bring the number of active society members to roughly fifty, compared to the total engineering universe of close to 2,SOO. The selection is by a peer review board. The honor is considerable. The challenge is to remain constantly innovative in a field in which change is the purpose for existence.

Congratulations to Merrimack Valley's 1989 Engineering Excellence Society inductees : Ralph V. Collipi, Jr., Roger Dunn, Eric S. Fisher, Arthur O'Dea and Terry I. Rankle.

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Ralph V. Collipi, Jr.

Recognized for his leadership role in increasing worker awareness of chemicals through development of chemical training modules. His training procedures are used by other AT&T entities throughout the country. He helped develop emergency procedures for the North Andover Fire Dept. and conducted hazardous material training for the North Andover Local Emergency Planning Committee. He is part of a national AT&T team which evaluates all AT&T manufacturing locations for environmental health and safety programs. Ralph established the volunteer Emergency Response Team in place at Merrimack Valley.

Ralph holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from UNH and a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering from Lowell University. He works in the Environmental & Safety engineering department.

Roger Dunn

Recognized for his contribution to the FT Series G Lightwave team.

Roger joined AT&T in 1979 and the lightwave team in 1986. His contribution to the development of standard equipment configurations and associated engineering guides for the FT Series G Dual Quadrant Assembly product played a major part in the conversion of equipment orders to the new DQA product in time to meet the planned digitalization of AT&T's long distance network.

The AT&T Network Systems sales organizations presented two Bronze Awards in recognition of his contributions to the bulk ordering of radio and lightwave products.

Roger is a graduate of Union College.

1

Eric S. Fisher

Recognized for his innovative use of AT&T computers in Lightwave test sets and the development of the Shared Resource Network. He has designed and developed test sets and test strategies for several major projects.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Lowell University and is part of the Lightwave Regenerator team.

Arthur O'Dea

Received the award as a result of several years of process development and improvement in the Hybrid Integrated Circuit assembly shop. Effort has been focused primarily on the vapor phase soldering and cleaning processes associated with the assembly of external leads, leading to the elimination of CFC solvents.

Arthur holds a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Vermont and is currently working towards a Masters degree. He has been at MVW for 6 years.

Terry I. Rankle

Honored for his innovative implementation of the Electrified Track Vehicle (ETV) used for material handling. He was also instrumental in the success of the "facility network cable management system," an AT&T product providing the capability to network large amounts of voice and data cabling from point to point in a factory environment. The first application of this grid system has been installed at Merrimack Valley's VISION line and includes electrical and compressed air distribution systems as well. Terry attended Longview College in Lee's Summit, Missouri. He is a member of the material provisioning engineering department.

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Merrimack Valley VVorks People

TWO RECEIVE BLACK ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Ii wo MVW employees were honored as Black Achievers in an annual program

sponsored by the Greater Boston YMCA. Rodney M. Lee and Meredith E. Marshall were among 117 individuals from 67 Massachusetts companies who were recognized for their dedication to the encouragement of minority and disadvantaged youth through achievement and career goals.

Rodney has been a Member of the Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Labs in Ward Hill for over three years. His work involves the design of digital integrated circuits and systems and the design of software tools to model and simulate those models. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a Masters degree from U. C. Berkeley.

Meredith is a product planner for the AT&T Network Systems Transmission Product Management organization. His responsibilities include overall product management of subscriber Loop Carrier Systems for the Far East and Caribbean markets. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Boston University.

Upon accepting the award, the Black Achievers commit themselves to at least 40 hours of volunteer work with minority or disadvantaged youth . They serve as role models and mentors to inner-city youth who aspire to high academic and/or

10

professional achievement. Both Rodney and Meredith have been active in area civic, charitable and professional organizations.

IN MEMORIAM

Domenic E. Accardi, retired millwright, February 23, 1990

Richard S. Barry, function manager, March 24, 1990

William Bartoshevich, retired engineering associate, December 15, 1989

Alfred L. Bouchard , retired section chief, February 4, 1990

Seaver B. Cole, retired packer, February 2, 1990

Emile Desmet, retired machine operator, March 3, 1990

Rose M. Dobbin, retired layout operator, February 5, 1990

Rita G. Fletcher, retired bench hand, March 10, 1990

Robert C. Grant, retired transpor­tation manager, February 3, 1990

Jeannette B. Haggerty, retired wireman, February 2, 1990

Arthur A. Kershaw, retired layout operator, February 21, 1990

Morris E. Levy, retired tester, March 13, 1990

John B. Makus, retired drafter, January 27, 1990

Robert C. Morse, Sr., retired layout operator, December 2, 1990

Edward. P. Osgood, retired plant security, November 3, 1989

James Papavacil, retired stock selector, February 16, 1990

Andrew C. Vasilakis, retired section chief, December 27, 1989

Helen F. Wicko, retired nurse, October 30, 1989

ON THE MOVE

[i ffective March 15, Hugh Scott, Material Management Director, Merrimack Valley

Works, became Sales Director, BellSouth Services, located in Atlanta.

Hugh came to Merrimack Valley on July 1, 1989, from the North Carolina Works, where he had been manufacturing resources director.

* * * Effective April 1, Dan Tymann,

Circuit Pack Test Development Engineering Manager, Columbus, became Lightwave Regenerator Engineering and Operations Manager, Merimack Valley.

Dan began his AT&T career in 1981 as an entry level engineer after graduating from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. In 1988, he was promoted from senior engineer to function manager and assigned to the Columbus Works as Test Engineering manager.

Dan will be living in Newbury, Mass., with his wife Andrea and three-year-old daughter Sarah. He says he welcomes the challenges presented at the Valley.

Lee Marshall Scott lymann

Effective April 2, A) Simon, Manager of Resource Planning at the Merrimack Valley Works since 1986, became Manager of Sales -Transmission, for Network System Sales, covering Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana.

He will be located in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Al began his AT&T career in 1966 as a staff trainee in the Purchasing Division in Chicago.

COVER STORY -..JOE SWEENEY HONORED BY BOY SCOUTS

J oe Sweeney, Merrimack Valley's Public Relations Manager, is the 1990 Boy

Scouts of America Man of the Year. Joe is no stranger to the employees

of Merrimack Valley. He began his career in 1953 as an electronic tester at the Lawrence location. Most remember the enthusiasm and energy Joe put into the CWA Local 1365. He was the first union president, holding that office from 1957 to 1970.

Although after his union presidency Joe rejoined Merrimack Valley on the management side of the house, the constant visitors to his office and daily mounds of telephone messages attest to his continued commitment to the people.

The Boy Scouts of America award recognizes those who have demonstrated integrity and genuine concern for others in both their business and personal lives.

Joe's current active community involvement would more than fill this page. Looking back over the years, he has held numerous elected and honorary posts. Noteable among these is his being named one of two Outstanding Young Labor Leaders in the U.S. in 1960 by the AFL-CIo.

RETIREES

Years of Service January

10 John 1. Matthews 34 Charles S. Nason, Jr. 10 Ronnie Patrakis 10 Kenneth N. Prescott 10 Antonetta M . Russo 10 Zenia Sluz

February

36 Nicholas A. Abate 33 Allen H. Akroyd 24 Rita K. Anderson 31 James Angelone 10 Ester C. Aparicio 39 Lucien L. Archambault 38 Gabriel Augusta 29 Frank 1. Azzarito 32 Doris E. Baillargeon 34 John 1. Barry 32 Robert H. Becotte 30 George E. Bedard 30 Donald G. Belanger 30 Mary H. Belanger 20 Annie H. Beretsos 34 Robert A. Berni 35 Clement F. Berthiaume 25 Gloria M. Blake 32 Hazel L. Blomgren 30 Bonnie L. Blood 34 Paul L. Bourque 28 Jean M. Bowes 28 Ronald H. Bredbenner 28 Barbara R. Brown 25 George L. Busby 30 Richard 1. Busch

36 37 31 37 31 28 34 33 20 37 29 24 27 28 25 33 30 21 34 34 23 24 23 23 34 34 33 25 38 34 29 34 27 33 29 37 35 29 15 33 28 12 36 21 23 29 37 22 32 34 33 34 34 30 15 28 30 28

Helen E. Callahan Al fred 1. Cardoso Jacqueline 0. Carey Americo E. Carifio Florence E. Caron Mary R. Cartier Joseph 1. Casale Aline D. Castonguay Alice 1. Chase Raymond 1. Childs Irene L. Chretien Jean E. Clausnitzer Joseph E. Coakley Robert E. Cole Richard R. Collins Albert 1. Comeau Anne G. Compagnone Janet E. Connors Albert B. Consentino Kathleen A. Cordes Dino Comella Jean R. Cote Florence M. Cottis Gertrude 1. Cox Henry 1. Crepeau Jean M. Daigle Therese M. Daley Mary C. Davis Gerald F. Davis Helen S. DeFusco Joanne E. DeRoche George 1. DeRoche Frank T. DeRosa Robert C. DeSando Clara M . Demers Rene 1. Demers Virginia H. Desjardins Philip 1. Dicalogero Lydia R. Dion Aline C. Dodier Robert F. Donahue Doris M. Dore Rose C. Doucet Pauline A. DuPuiyo Janett F. Duchemin E. Blanche Duffett Stephen T. Dulgarian Gwendolyn E. Edmondson William A. Eldredge Charles E. Ethier, Sr. Sandra M. Failla Irene Farrah Ronald R. Fauth Eva N . Fecteau Gloria 1. Fernandez John T. Flanagan Charles V. Fowler Evelyn G. Fraize

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more retirees 22 Bernadette M . McCool 30 Victoria M . Sielicki 28 Raymond W. McNamara 29 Carroll O. Smith

33 Robert V. Ganley 21 John W. McSheehy 31 David R. Smith 38 Geraldine A. Gavin 34 Ernest G. Miller 28 Barbara G. Sostak 10 Joseph A. George 15 Ernest E . Morgan 23 Eugene O. Soucy 18 Angeliki F. Gianakoulias 29 Jeanette G. Morgan 27 Edward F. Stanley 18 Ellis Gill 37 Emile A . Morin 29 Denise M. Stewart 37 Noel M . Gosselin 34 Stanley 1. Moron 10 Florida M. Thibault 35 Phillip R. Goyette 25 Constance R. Morrissey 10 Lee C. Thomas 30 Mary A. Greenwood 37 Paul M. Mufson 40 Helen S. Towne 32 Robert E. Greenwood 33 Pauline R . Murphy 25 Marcelle L. Tremblay 35 Robert 1. Guilmette 33 William L. Murphy 37 Donald L. Tremblay 45 Joan K. Hart 33 John A. Newell 43 Rosario 1. U rso 28 Carole B. Hartman 29 Harold C. Nickles 34 Borden T. Vachon 45 Richard 1. Haseltine 34 Helen M. Nolet 34 Leo A. Veilleux 34 Edward L. Hilton 27 Richard A . Nyberg 39 Charles R. Victor 39 Stewart W. Hopkins 38 Donald 1. Olesch 16 Edward F. Waning 30 John M. Jackson 35 Shi r1ey F. Osgood 26 Theresa N. Watson 31 Olga N. Jaglowski 32 Robert 1. Ouellet 38 Norman R. Webster 39 Erol E . Johnson , Jr. 38 Roland L. Ouellette 33 William 1. Wedge 32 Alton D. Jones 28 Evelyn A. Owens 24 Eleanor M. West 37 Mae M . Judge 33 Kenneth F. Paradis 28 Barbara B. White 29 Geraldine C. Kannheiser 34 Joseph Patuto 25 Margaret T. Whiting 15 Alkmene G. Kataxinos 17 Rudolph A. Paul 37 Clarence E . Whittemore 34 Roy E. Keiser 34 Benjamin A. Peabody 33 Howard C. Wilbur 34 Dan 1. Keleher 33 John 1. Phaneuf 37 Arnold G. Willette 37 Martin E. Kelly 34 Arlene F. Picard 28 Agnes A. Willman 30 Bernice C. Kenney 35 Walter 1. Pike 33 John Wilson 32 Walter E. Killerby 14 Serafino Polizzotti 36 Roger E . Wilson 15 Celia G. Kotis 25 Suzanne G. Prescott 47 Samuel Winic 29 Eileen N. Kubus 21 Jacqueline M . Provencher 10 Helen K . Witkiewicz 20 Barbara S. Kuegel 22 Rita M. Prue 24 Charles E . Wolfe 30 Lucille D. LaChance 10 Frank 1. Puglisi 36 William 1. York 10 Adele LaFrenier 34 Howard S. Quickly 53 John C. Young 20 Violet L. LaPierre 34 Rita F. Rapa 39 Vincent 1. Zamierowski 30 Robert R. Lacroix 10 Lucienne Rey 31 Joseph S. Zappala 33 Harold A . Lambert 27 Marcelle 1. Riley 29 Mary T. Zaremba 16 Leo 1. Lamontagne 28 Maybelle W. Rival 33 Stanley A . Zaremba 32 Marcel J Lamoureux 32 Paul V. Rival 22 Marcelle A . Lemieux 33 Robert H. Robertson March 32 Robert 1. Lemire 25 Norma G. Robinson 36 Lorraine F. Bilodeau 30 Harrell N. Lewis 24 Rosamond M . Rodgers 24 Sandra-Ann Drohen 22 Mervin A. Locke 34 Fred P. RummIer 24 Richard G. Durant 21 Hope L. Lockrow 45 Mildred E . Ryan 10 John 1. Leone 33 William F. Lynch 38 Paul A. Ryll

33 Florence A. Maher 29 Rita H. MacDonald 34 Mildred R. Saldi 10 Muriel Prime 24 Frank 1. Mahoney 28 Jennie I. Sandner 16 Grace F. Vachon 30 Nicholas 1. Mandonas 28 Harriet A . Sanuk

30 Ann P. Markos 32 Rose C. Savastano 32 Walter F. Marston 34 Nicholas P. Scatamacchia 25 Pauline L. Martel 34 Philip A . Schiavoni 34 Gerard G. Martin 34 Dorothy A. Sciuto 32 Richard 1. Marzioli 34 James C. Scott , Jr. 26 Josephine T. Matthews 27 Peter P. Scuderi 37 Alfred L. McCarthy 43 Doris Sevigny

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Customer awareness visit GDX production associates visit Oklahoma City

Engineers and supervisors often travel to customer locations to

see how our products are used and if there's anything we can do to make their jobs run smoother. Not too long ago, there was a customer visit to Oklahoma City (OKC) that was a little different. On this visit, Roger Tremblay, GDX supervisor, was accompanied by three production associates from the GDX HIC shop.

"In the GDX shop, we've taken the idea of quality cells one step further and started the OKC Customer Quality Cell ," says Roger. "We decided that this was a perfect opportunity for our production associates to meet the customer and share ideas and concerns that could lead to better service."

Barbara Haggerty (first shift), Joe Potter (second shift) and Mike Alper (third shift) were chosen to represent Merrimack Valley. Their visit started out with a tour of the factory. OKC

Joe Potter, left, and supervisor Roger Tremblay observe the KJV encapsulation process, one step in the production of GDX HIes.

is an assembly plant with no manufacturing from raw materials. Some of their assembly jobs are similar to MV's.

During their tour, the three were given the chance to try hand inserting GDX HICs made at MY. This operation is done on an automated line which moves the board on to the next position after 20 seconds. "After sitting on the line and hand inserting, I can really understand why quality does make a difference," said Mike. "Hopefully, I can pass this on to my co-workers."

GDX production associates Mike Alper and Barbara Haggerty discuss the procedure used to ship our products to OKC.

Barbara, Joe and Mike each presented a different topic at the cell team meeting. They brought back the results to MV for further discussion with their peers. "I now consider the OKC people as co­workers," said Barbara. "They handle the product right after us, and we all work for the same company. Still, it takes everyone working together and caring to make the job go smoothly."

The visitors learned a great deal at OKC, and they enjoyed meeting their customer. "They're just like us," said Joe. "People trying to do their job." When they returned to MV, they shared their experiences with their co-workers.

"They did a good job in representing Merrimack Valley as a supplier," said Roger. "We left OKC with a good feeling about our customer, and our customer knows that they have a supplier that cares and is in tune with their needs."

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X5000 - CENTRAL EDUCATION & TRAINING NUMBER

A central training number has been established to deal with the increasing demand for the

many services offered by Merrimack Valley's Education and Training organization. This 24-hour central line lets callers request information on any subject related to education and training .

If you are unable to reach an individual instructor, just dial xS()()(). If no one is available to answer your call, a recorded message will ask you to leave your name, extension, shift, and message. This information will then be forwarded to the appropriate person and acted upon as quickly as possible.

SAFETY & qUALITY AWARENESS

Congratulations to the PWBI Ferrites team for reaching first place in the Component

Factory's Safety & Quality Awareness Program for the month of January. The team, led by Carmen Milora, had the best safety and quality ratios out of the five Component teams.

Diane Ouellette's GDX SESS team achieved second place.

In February, the award went to Rick Hajec's Piezoelectric team. The scores were close, but their perfect safety ratio put them in first place.

The Transmission HIC team, under the guidance of Tracy Freeman , achieved second place.

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10 FOR 90

R epresentatives of Engineering, Purchasing and Transportation , and Bell

Labs are working to accomplish a net reduction of $10,()()(),()()() in outstanding supplier material costs at Merrimack Valley during 1990.

As can be imagined, achieving such a reduction will have about a $10,()()(),()()() positive effect on the Works' operating results. In addition to people from our local organizations, representatives from QM&E, as well as Purchasing and Transportation operations at the Guilford Center in Greensboro, NC and the Cedar Crest operation in Allentown, PA have rolled up their sleeves as well to make a unified attack on material costs and

achieving the $10 million goal , which has been labeled "10 for 90."

Efforts are underway to call attention to the "10 for 90" activity with stickers, buttons, posters, etc. Outstanding efforts will be recognized by an appropriate reward program . Inputs are certainly welcomed from all employees and should be directed through Ron Anderson's engineering organization or Jim Mills' Purchasing and Transportation organization at Merrimack Valley.

Remember, "10 for 90" is not limited to just certain employees. Everyone can join in and make a pitch towards the $10 million goal .

FOR

PIEZOELECIRIC TEAM members, from left, Rosa Santana, Paul Harmon, Rick Hajec, Gloria DiMattia, Bea Danahy, Sue Gosselin and Janice Sabatino gather around the trophy which will be on display in their department for the next month.

BONNIE B. SMALL VISITS MV

T he Bonnie B. Small Quality Award is presented to the Division or Business Unit

within AT&T which has demonstrated satisfactory compliance to quality ideals necessary to make our company truly world class in the eyes of our customers and employees.

Since its origination, the award criteria has been realigned with that of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. (See related story on page 7.)

This year, eight AT&T Divisions or Business Units submitted applica­tions for this award . The Transmission Business Unit was one of four that qualified for site visits by a team of

MV LEADS GBS TO NEW SALES

General Business Systems (GBS), the branch of AT&T that sells business telephone

systems, has asked for our help in its search for new customers. GBS has asked MV employees to provide leads that will direct their sales people to potential customers.

All you have to do is fill out a lead card with the name of a supermarket, doctor, beauty parlor or any small business with 2 to 80 telephone lines,

corporate examiners. Bonnie Small herself was a distinguished guest and member of the examination team that visited MV on March 13, 1990.

The recipient of the Bonnie B. Small Award will be announced sometime in April. The purpose of competing in this type of "contest" is not specifically to win an award. Because the criteria is so stringent, we are forced to evaluate our business as our customers do and are therefore able to uncover weak areas. By performing these types of evaluations and implementing corrective action, we will be better able to respond to our employee and customer needs.

In the photo above, Bonnie Small signs a copy of the AT&T Statistical Quality Control Handbook for Jim Styring, Director, Engineering & Manufacturing - Transmission Equipment.

and they'll do the rest. Cards are available at the Public

Relations office and in the Pioneer office. All leads will be followed up, and all employees submitting a lead form will receive a response from GBS as to the outcome of the sales call. Any successful sales resulting from a lead will net the employee a $25 American Express Gift Check.

So, if you know of a small New England area business that might be interested in an AT&T phone system or additional features to their present system, fill out a lead card . It could mean more customers for AT&T products and a gift certificate for you .

2ND ANNUAL EES FASmON SHOW A HUGE SUCCESS

Once again, the Engineering . Excellence Society's

Scholarship Fashion Show was a rousing success, thanks to the efforts and contributions of many people.

Held on March 7 at DiBurro's Restaurant, the show included Merrimack Valley employees as models and featured a wide variety of formal and casual wear, bridal fashions and much more.

Over $1500 worth of door prizes were awarded, including a weekend for two in Atlantic City, phones, and gift certificates from several of the show participants.

All proceeds from the event will go toward the annual EES scholarship award, to be given to a deserving son or daughter of a Merrimack Valley Works employee.

The photos on the back cover show several MV employees who modeled fashions in the show. They are, left from top, Liz Coote, John Schaefer and Gloria Narinkevicuis; center from top, Ed Faber, Cheryl Cooney and Dam Mazzocco; right from top, Mary DiMauro and Joe Roldan.

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ATs.T 1600 Osgood Street

North Andover, MA 01845

Several Merrimack Valley employees modeled fashions at the second annual EES Fashion Show. Story on page 15.

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