HP HP-Measure-1964-06 free download

File name HP-Measure-1964-06.pdf

HP Quality: How It Happens Sister City Salute www.HPARCHIVE.com from the chairman's desk O PERATI G RESULTS for the first half of our current fiscal year were extremely gratifying. Despite a rather unfavorable business climate in the electronics indus- Looking ahead to the second half, it appears that modifica- tions in defense programs and the government's efforts to reduce over-all Federal expenditures will continue to have try as a whole, our company had the best first half in its an unsettling effect on the electronics industry. As you are 25-year history. As reported in detail elsewhere in this issue, aware, many companies in the industry, particularly those sales were up 9 percent in comparison with the first six that are heavily committed to the defense effort, have suf- months of 1963, and incoming orders rose 11 percent. Even fered sharp reductions in sales and earnings. Some have had more impressive was the 25 percent gain in net profits to a to layoff large numbers of employees and cut back expendi. level of nearly $4,000,000. tures for new plants and equipment. The fact that we were able to improve our after-tax profit Despite this trend, I see no reason why our second half margin from 5.8 percent of total sales in the first half of can't be substantially better than the first. Our order rate is 1963 to 6.6 percent in 1964 indicates that we are achieving holding up well and we traditionally enjoy a moderate greater efficiency and economy in our operations. This is seasonal upswing in business during the summer months. largely the result of your day-to-day efforts to reduce costs Moreover, we introduced a number of important new prod- and do a more effective, productive job, whether it be in ucts at the IEEE Show in March and these should begin to engineering, manufacturing, marketing, or administration. add significantly to our over-all sales volume during the As an indication of how our performance compares with latter part of the year. that of other companies in the industry, you might be inter- ested in some recent figures compiled by the First National While I am basically optimistic about the future, I think City Bank of New York. Each quarter, the bank analyzes it well to point out that we are in an increasingly competitive the profit performance of major U.S. industries. Its summary market. The fact that several of our competitors are caught includes a category labeled "electrical equipment and elec- in a profit squeeze means that