Thomas McGourty - Revision history

Dave at 10:49, 12 September 2020

2020-09-12T10:49:44Z

Dave: /* Prior to joining Commodore */

2020-09-12T01:10:11Z

Prior to joining Commodore

Dave: /* Prior to joining Commodore */

2020-09-12T01:09:39Z

Prior to joining Commodore

Dave at 01:04, 12 September 2020

2020-09-12T01:04:54Z

Dave at 00:14, 12 September 2020

2020-09-12T00:14:40Z

Dave at 00:13, 12 September 2020

2020-09-12T00:13:28Z

Dave at 00:02, 12 September 2020

2020-09-12T00:02:19Z

Dave at 23:59, 11 September 2020

2020-09-11T23:59:46Z

Dave: /* Prior to joining Commodore */

2020-09-10T01:24:40Z

Prior to joining Commodore

Dave: /* Prior to joining Commodore */

2020-09-10T01:05:19Z

Prior to joining Commodore

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 [[File:General_708.jpg|left|thumb|150px|General model 708 adding machine]]
-Prior to WWII Thomas McGourty worked for National Cash Register as a repairman in New York City. After the war, he started an office equipment repair shop in Jamaica NY, then moved to Patchogue, NY. Office equipment was very difficult to obtain at that time so Mr. McGourty became a dealer for General adding machines which was a second tier product. Although fairly well built, the adding machine had a design problem which caused adding errors. In 1955 Mr. McGourty bought a half dozen of the machines and figured out a way to fix them in his shop. He did a pretty good business selling the machines, and when the General salesman Marty Rogg called again, he was floored when he found that McGourty was ordering more machines to sell, not returning defective ones he couldn't sell. Marty asked Mr. McGourty if he would consider going to Connecticut to fix the machines at the General-Gilbert factory assembly line. Mr. McGourty agreed, and for the next couple of years commuted to Winstead Connecticut to manage the manufacturing line.
+Prior to WWII Thomas McGourty worked for National Cash Register as a repairman in New York City. After the war, he started an office equipment repair shop in Jamaica NY, then moved to Patchogue, NY. Office equipment was very difficult to obtain at that time so Mr. McGourty became a dealer for General adding machines which was a second tier product. Although fairly well built, the adding machine had a design problem which caused adding errors. Mr. McGourty bought a half dozen of the machines and figured out a way to fix them in his shop. He did a pretty good business selling the machines, and when the General salesman Marty Rogg called again, he was floored when he found that McGourty was ordering more machines to sell, not returning defective ones he couldn't sell. Marty asked Mr. McGourty if he would consider going to Connecticut to fix the machines at the General-Gilbert factory assembly line. In 1955, Mr. McGourty agreed, and for the next couple of years commuted to Winstead Connecticut to manage the manufacturing line.
 Mr. McGourty rose quickly through the ranks at General-Gilbert.  In May, 1960 he was promoted from Technical Director, Adding Machine Division to Assistant Vice President.<ref>The Hartford Courant(Hartford, Connecticut) Tue, March 1, 1960 · Page 14</ref>  In March, 1961 he was placed in charge of all production at the Winsted plant.<ref>The Hartford Courant(Hartford, Connecticut) Sun, March 26, 1961 · Page 4</ref>  In September, 1962 Mr. McGourty was promoted to the role of Vice President and General Manager at which point he moved his family to Connecticut.  It was during this time that he learned about managing a large manufacturing line and through a company training program, he was introduced to the work of theorists such as Deming, Taylor and Mayo.

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 == Prior to joining Commodore ==
 Thomas McGourty was a World War II veteran who has the distinction of having been the youngest Master Sergeant in WWII.  He was in charge of the motor pool in the US 8th Army air corps.
-Prior to WWII Thomas McGourty worked for National Cash Register as a repairman in New York City. After the war, he started an office equipment repair shop in Jamaica NY, then moved to Patchogue, NY. Office equipment was very difficult to obtain at that time so Mr. McGourty became a dealer for General adding machines which was a second tier product. Although fairly well built, the adding machine had a design problem which caused adding errors. In 1955 Mr. McGourty bought a half dozen of the machines and figured out a way to fix them in his shop. He did a pretty good business selling the machines, and when the General salesman Marty Rogg called again, he was floored when he found that McGourty was ordering more machines to sell, not returning defective ones he couldn't sell. Marty asked Mr. McGourty if he would consider going to Connecticut to fix the machines at the General-Gilbert factory assembly line. Mr. McGourty agreed, and for the next couple of years commuted to Winstead Connecticut to manage the manufacturing line.
 [[File:General_708.jpg|left|thumb|150px|General model 708 adding machine]]
+Prior to WWII Thomas McGourty worked for National Cash Register as a repairman in New York City. After the war, he started an office equipment repair shop in Jamaica NY, then moved to Patchogue, NY. Office equipment was very difficult to obtain at that time so Mr. McGourty became a dealer for General adding machines which was a second tier product. Although fairly well built, the adding machine had a design problem which caused adding errors. In 1955 Mr. McGourty bought a half dozen of the machines and figured out a way to fix them in his shop. He did a pretty good business selling the machines, and when the General salesman Marty Rogg called again, he was floored when he found that McGourty was ordering more machines to sell, not returning defective ones he couldn't sell. Marty asked Mr. McGourty if he would consider going to Connecticut to fix the machines at the General-Gilbert factory assembly line. Mr. McGourty agreed, and for the next couple of years commuted to Winstead Connecticut to manage the manufacturing line.
 Mr. McGourty rose quickly through the ranks at General-Gilbert.  In May, 1960 he was promoted from Technical Director, Adding Machine Division to Assistant Vice President.<ref>The Hartford Courant(Hartford, Connecticut) Tue, March 1, 1960 · Page 14</ref>  In March, 1961 he was placed in charge of all production at the Winsted plant.<ref>The Hartford Courant(Hartford, Connecticut) Sun, March 26, 1961 · Page 4</ref>  In September, 1962 Mr. McGourty was promoted to the role of Vice President and General Manager at which point he moved his family to Connecticut.  It was during this time that he learned about managing a large manufacturing line and through a company training program, he was introduced to the work of theorists such as Deming, Taylor and Mayo.

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 Prior to WWII Thomas McGourty worked for National Cash Register as a repairman in New York City. After the war, he started an office equipment repair shop in Jamaica NY, then moved to Patchogue, NY. Office equipment was very difficult to obtain at that time so Mr. McGourty became a dealer for General adding machines which was a second tier product. Although fairly well built, the adding machine had a design problem which caused adding errors. In 1955 Mr. McGourty bought a half dozen of the machines and figured out a way to fix them in his shop. He did a pretty good business selling the machines, and when the General salesman Marty Rogg called again, he was floored when he found that McGourty was ordering more machines to sell, not returning defective ones he couldn't sell. Marty asked Mr. McGourty if he would consider going to Connecticut to fix the machines at the General-Gilbert factory assembly line. Mr. McGourty agreed, and for the next couple of years commuted to Winstead Connecticut to manage the manufacturing line.
+[[File:General_708.jpg|left|thumb|150px|General model 708 adding machine]]
 Mr. McGourty rose quickly through the ranks at General-Gilbert.  In May, 1960 he was promoted from Technical Director, Adding Machine Division to Assistant Vice President.<ref>The Hartford Courant(Hartford, Connecticut) Tue, March 1, 1960 · Page 14</ref>  In March, 1961 he was placed in charge of all production at the Winsted plant.<ref>The Hartford Courant(Hartford, Connecticut) Sun, March 26, 1961 · Page 4</ref>  In September, 1962 Mr. McGourty was promoted to the role of Vice President and General Manager at which point he moved his family to Connecticut.  It was during this time that he learned about managing a large manufacturing line and through a company training program, he was introduced to the work of theorists such as Deming, Taylor and Mayo.
 Mr. McGourty resigned from General-Gilbert in May, 1963 after eight years with the company.<ref>The Hartford Courant(Hartford, Connecticut) Thu, May 30, 1963 · Page 11</ref>
 == Time with Commodore ==

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 === West Germany, 1965 ===
-In May 1965, McGourty was promoted to the role of Vice-President, Manufacturing for Commodore Business Machines (Canada), Ltd and was listed as an officer of the company.  It was around this time that McGourty's manufacturing expertise was needed at the Willy Feiler Zahl-Und Rechenwerke GMBH plant in West Germany.  McGourty and his family moved from Ireland to West Germany.
+In May 1965, McGourty was promoted to the role of Vice-President<ref>National Post (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) 29 May 1965, Sat • Page 26</ref>, Manufacturing for Commodore Business Machines (Canada), Ltd and was listed as an officer of the company.  It was around this time that McGourty's manufacturing expertise was needed at the Willy Feiler Zahl-Und Rechenwerke GMBH plant in West Germany.  McGourty and his family moved from Ireland to West Germany.
 === United States, Norfolk Connecticut, 1966 - 1967 ===

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+[[File:McGourty.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Thomas K. McGourty in uniform]]
-{{Infobox person
-| name        = Thomas K. McGourty
-| image       = McGourty.jpg
-| image_size  =
-| caption     = Thomas K. McGourty in uniform
-| birth_date  = {{Birth date|XXXX|XX|XX}}
-| birth_place = [[XXXXXXXX]]
-| death_date  = {{Death date and age|2005|X|X|XXXX|XX|XX}}

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 After leaving the armed forces in (XXXX year), he founded an adding machine dealership on Long Island in New York City.  It was during this time that McGourty initially met Jack Tramiel, the co-founder of Commodore.  Mr. McGourty was naturally mechanically inclined and had the ability to fix the early Barrett adding machines, which was a skill that caught Jack Tramiel's attention.
-In 1955 he took a job at General-Gilbert Corporation, a clock and adding machine manufacturing company in Winsted, Connecticut and moved his family from New York to Connecticut.  In May, 1960 he was promoted from Technical Director, Adding Machine Division to Assistant Vice President.<ref>The Hartford Courant(Hartford, Connecticut) Tue, March 1, 1960 · Page 14</ref>  In September, 1962 Mr. McGourty was promoted to the role of Vice President and General Manager.  Mr. McGourty resigned from General-Gilbert in May, 1963 after eight years with the company.<ref>The Hartford Courant(Hartford, Connecticut) Thu, May 30, 1963 · Page 11</ref>
+In 1955 he took a job at General-Gilbert Corporation, a clock and adding machine manufacturing company in Winsted, Connecticut and moved his family from New York to Connecticut.  Mr. McGourty rose quickly through the ranks at General-Gilbert.  In May, 1960 he was promoted from Technical Director, Adding Machine Division to Assistant Vice President.<ref>The Hartford Courant(Hartford, Connecticut) Tue, March 1, 1960 · Page 14</ref>  In March, 1961 he was placed in charge of all production at the Winsted plant.<ref>The Hartford Courant(Hartford, Connecticut) Sun, March 26, 1961 · Page 4</ref>  In September, 1962 Mr. McGourty was promoted to the role of Vice President and General Manager.  Mr. McGourty resigned from General-Gilbert in May, 1963 after eight years with the company.<ref>The Hartford Courant(Hartford, Connecticut) Thu, May 30, 1963 · Page 11</ref>
 == Time with Commodore ==