
Chapter 10 n IQ Applied to Product Development 439
SMITH CORONA GOES BANKRUPT TWICE MAKING UNNEEDED PRODUCTS
After more than a century of innovation in typewriter technology, Smith Corona
came to an ignominious demise. It had failed to recognize and negotiate the
Information Age revolution of the computer and word processing paradigm shift.
Smith Corona’s final innovations of its first Personal Word Processor in 1985 and
“the world’s first Laptop Personal Word Processor” in 1989 could not match the
word processors that ran on personal computers. In its press release of its final
bankruptcy, CEO Martin E. Wilson says, “Despite tremendous efforts over the
past five years, it became clear that Smith Corona could no longer continue to
operate as a stand-alone business. … The new Product sales that would have
alleviated our financial constraints did not materialize.”
28
This was a sad demise
for a company that made high-Quality typewriters, but in attempts to update
what it calls its “ink on paper heritage,” it introduced a new series of Products
and services it hopes will compete on the world market.
29
Obviously, its “hopes”
did not materialize. The world market voted “no!” And Smith Corona is no more!
Issue: Poor Quality Product Engineering and Manufacturing,
Specification and Requirements Data (BOM)
Costs of Poor Quality Information about the Product Engineering and
Manufacturing Specification ...