We’d like to thank all our customers for their business over the last 25 years.
Back in 1992, after two years of development, version 1 of the “Herschel Manufacturing System” was ready. We released it as “shareware”, which meant people could try the software and then buy it if they liked it.
We thought Herschel was a great product and prepared to receive a rush of orders.
Needless to say, nothing happened – but the bills still kept arriving every month.
Crunch time soon approached.
Our money was just about to run out when thankfully, in one week, we received our first two orders. Bernie Timms and Guy Naylor – thank you!
Gradually the number of Herschel users grew and as they did, we tried to keep the software improving by incorporating their many, many suggestions (special thanks to Clive Osborne and Peter Allgood and all the other helpful contributors for their ideas and grumbles).
It’s interesting to look back through the Herschel support files – they not only bring back memories but also show the progression of business communications, starting with phone logs and typed letters, then faded faxes, dot-matrix printed emails, smudgey inkjet emails, then laser followed by colour laser documents and finally, with the advent of cloud-based support, nothing!
The biggest change I’ve noticed over the years is that back in the 1990’s I’d visit an electronics sub-contractor and their purchasing department would be full of people shouting down the phone. Nowadays it’s strangely silent as they all tap away at their emails / FaceBook / Ebay etc.
Our plans for the next 25 years are to establish Herschel as the default choice for businesses who need a system to control their operations, but don’t want to spend a fortune. We’d like these businesses to grow, make more money, and most importantly, employ more people.
