Republic Computer Services - Response Group - NAAMSA and AIEC and SAAMA

Martin's life in computers started when he was, following countrywide tests by IBM, chosen to join the newly-formed Standard Bank computer division in 1968. His first course was 'programming the IBM 360/40 computer'.

1973	Martin	The NAAMSA retail sales statistics are computerised and become an effective yardstick. Martin programs, in cobol, the first programs effectively analysing the NAAMSA databases. Much time is spent with Mr. John Jessup of Leyland, creating specialised Dealer Reports. A programming standard is evolved, the edit / update stage, the processing stage and finally the sorting and printing stage. Yes, sequential processing with magnetic tape. 16k Memory. No disk.
1974	Bert	A system similar in nature to that of the NAAMSA system is installed for SAAMA following a meeting downtown Johannesburg. Bert Pepler is there. The programs are stored on punch cards.
1975		A bureau system is written for new company BMW South Africa, headed by Ron Meetcham. Programming moves from coded blocks on paper using a clutch pencil to the new Burroughs TD700 20 x 12 video terminals. Wow - what a leap forward. Des Bramwell has Dealer Systems programmed and processed by RCS.
1976		Dealer sales versus competition with forecasting computations is written for Nissan South Africa under the guidance of Hannes Visser.
1977		Ford Motor Company, DP Manager Geoff Hoole commissions Martin to write the Ford Naamsa Dealer Sales Statistics system using Burroughs TD 830 80 x 24 screens.
1978		Republic Computer Services (Pty) Limited becomes the core operation of the Bureau. Colourful preprinted stationery is designed by John Jessup of BMW for their Dealer Reports. Update 2002: Mr. John Jessup is now with Nissan South Africa.
1979		Mr. Andre Jensen of Co-ordinated Transport commissions a fuel-saving system from Martin for their Ford road deliveries.
1980		Co-Ordinated Transport install an on-line vehicle tracking system for their Ford motor ferry operation under the guidance of Mr. Andre Jensen. . For the first time ever, Martin computerises a one-day cricket test, giving the commentators the run rate, ball by ball, in a test between England and South Africa at St. Georges Park in Port Elizabeth. Vitally important when the side that bats second is chasing a target. What is their current rate, what rate do they need to win ? Equipment used is a black and white TV set as a monitor and a Sinclair ZX81 with a thermal printer. At tea intervals and at lunchtime, the entire memory is copied to a tape recorder as backup. Picture left shows the first TD800 terminal.
1981		RCS becomes the first on-line computer bureau in the Cape Province. The name "Response" is coined as a phrase pertinent to the company's service and response times.
1982	Dave	Auto Carriers joins the VTS system which by now is real-time online to Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. Dave Roberts joins Auto Carriers to oversee VTS from the client side. RCT is formed and subcontracted to provide Terminals and Connectivity.
1983		Response places terminals into VTS at Motor Manufacturers sites and gives online access. Ivan Honeyborne, Mike Brassel and Lynn Schroeder are at BMW. Update 2002: Mr. Lynn Schroeder has a BMW agency in George.

1984	Martin	Southern Star, who move Delta's cars, join the Response VTS. Leo Crossman is the Port Elizabeth Manager and the decision is made at lunch with Ernest and Joan Pieterse. Update 2002: Mr. Leo Crossman has now retired.

1985	Nico	Design is started on the first ever Naamsa online system, called SOS - Statistical Online Systems. The system uses highly specialised access routines giving less than 3 seconds response time in Johannesburg. Truly great Response. Mr. Nico Vermeulen of Naamsa lauds the system. Another world-beater from the RCS Response Group. Update 2002: Mr. Nico Vermeulen is Executive Director of NAAMSA.
1986	Gert	Samcor's Paul Wickwar approaches RCS to take over the Ford DSB (Dealer Services Bureau). Chris Roux joins RCS as Manager of the DSB Division. Martin is selected as finalist Computer Person of the year by the Computer Society. Gert Grundlingh runs the Systems Programming division whilst Allin Padayachee as Manager - Statistics ensures data accuracy and client satisfaction. SOS CC is formed and subcontracted to provide Terminals from Burroughs. Update 2002: Mr. Paul Wickwar passed away suddenly a few years ago. Update 2002: Mr. Chris Roux is with Delta Motor Corporation in Port Elizabeth.
1987	Allin	The NAAMSA online system is enhanced, using ET2000 terminals, to provide online graphing at the click of a key. P=Piechart, B=Bargraph and L=Linegraph. PC Programming is by Malcolm Gates. Update 2002: Mr. Malcolm Gates and family moved to the USA some years ago. Response Group computerises, in 1987, for the first time ever, the BOLS INTERNATIONAL TUNA DERBY. The competitors from countries in Europe are amazed and request copies of the programs from Response Group for use in their own countries. These are freely given. For a look at the SA TV video production, you may download this .wmv file. (8 Mb). We do the programming for associate and friend Geoff Wanvig, who is the Springbok Game Fishing Captain. Wow - 20 years ago...See pictures by clicking here Martin is subsequently invited to score the Final at Hout Bay which is a busy yet pleasant few days break.
1988	Student Awards	The company still imports PC's from Arthur Chang's GATE company in Taiwan and runs an in-house microfiche division. Staff assistance purchase schemes are entered into with Sidney Mshwewe's training school, Telkom and Spoornet. Update 2002: Mr. Sidney Mshwewe and family moved to Gauteng some years ago.
1989		Reports are printed on a 1500 line per minute printer. Locally produced "Rooikat" cards are used in PC's to emulate Unisys protocols. These come from software gurus Doug and Tony Hancock of Softnet in Jo'burg. Update 2002: Doug and Tony still run Softnet in Jo'burg.
1990	Graham	The courier font becomes increasingly dated and ariel becomes popular - the nineties are here ! Pictured left, Graham Robins, Joe, Solly and Martin at the RCS VTS annual award in Rosslyn.
1991		Co-ordinated Transport Services puts its branches online in Durban. Geoff Wanvig and Cheryl Gibson are instrumental in using the RCS Vehicle Tracking System as a powerful business tool.
1992		Plans are made to centralise the operations of the company and design starts of the new building in Port Elizabeth.
1993		The company moves up to its new building in Walmer Boulevard. Those interested in the motor ferry business may enjoy Al Turner's summary of this business line.
1994		It is decided to stop importing and selling PC's as the industry has matured and settled. The company also decides to concentrate on core business and returns control of microfiche in the Eastern Cape to MGX.
1995		The company moves to Summerstrand and starts investigating Internet as a more widespread method of disseminating data. Forward thinking ! Update 2005: The company still enjoys the same premises and has enhanced to next door..
1996		The first internet offerings by the company are published. UTE is released by Softnet. An emailed file goes to the UK overnight instead of a two week snail mail stiffy.
1997		The first leased line for client access via internet is installed on a stable Unix platform.
1998		Following exhaustive tests the www.naamsa.co.za web site is established. A new Unisys Clearpath mainframe computer is installed.
1999	Aubrey	The www.saama.co.za website is established. Response assures all clients that Y2K provision is complete. The www.autostats.co.za system is released as a PC-based front-end to the NAAMSA stats. Aubrey Gouws is Chairman of SAAMA. Update 2002: Mr. Aubrey Gouws has now retired and lives in Port Elizabeth.
2000	Mike	The agristats system is released as a PC-based front-end to the SAAMA stats. Bunty Raphael is MD of New Holland Tractors. "Response Group continues to provide the Industry with which I regard the best system and data in the world..." - Mr. Mike J Terblanche, Chairman, SAAMA 2000 AGM - 2000/09/15 Update 2002: Bunty is still MD of New Holland.
2001	Vivian	The company receives a prestigious 15-year uptime award from Unisys which Vivian Naidoo as Senior Computer Operator accepts from Unisys. The company expands and the Trendline group of products is brought into the stable. The company staff structure can be seen at Organisation.
2002		The company develops www.carparc.co.za - the first authoritative assessment of a true analytical picture of what is on the roads in South Africa. In a visit to GM and Ford in the USA Neal confirms the long-standing reputation that the company has earned internationally over the past many years.
2003		Design Phase. Stability phase. Growth phase. New servers. Firewalls. Spam protection. A busy year. An award in the South African Automotive Yearbook for services to the South African motor industry.
2004		New mainframe installed. Speeds achieved up to 500 percent greater. Lines now include ADSL, Satellite and dual 128k diginet. The company revolutionises statistical reporting by introducing the NAAMSA Autopulse electronic booklet in .pdf format - with results reaching recipients generally a week earlier than before. Another milestone. Introduction of more visual representations. Maps, mouse-hover stats in NaamsaOnline. Economic results shown in both Autopulse as well as NaamsaOnline. There are now 12 servers. Autopulse is released to acclaim from the media. See picture left...
2005		The company designs and runs a Sales And Service Response Analysis system for Subaru. (SASRA) Also, the company's motor racing team starts running in the Nation Engen VW Polo Cup series. www.rgtracing.co.za. We upgrade servers and firewalls as pretty much routine procedures these days, in order to keep pace with technology. Executive General Manager, Gert Grundlingh joins a gym as the pressure mounts. (He's made of tough stuff, remember).
2006		SMS automated technology is designed and written. The release of AutoWizard is planned 3rd quarter. Systems designed and written include SAMBRA. South Africa's Motor Industry has record sales. We are proud to be part of this. Martin and Gert and Allin have now been together for 20 years. Work in progress includes a Parts system, Online Customer Profiling and attention starts being paid to the deficiency in used car sales statistics in the country.
2007		In process... www.autowizard.co.za starts off the new year. The enhancement of 1986 product SOS/ONLINE into AUTOSTATS has created a very advanced and sophisticated system - as it was in 1986, hailed as a world-beater - twenty years later now distributed via internet, once again a world-beater. As always our valued clients have provided suggestions which have been introduced into the systems giving the viewer incredible types of enquiries - and answers to their (sometimes very complicated) marketing analysis queries. See picture left...
2008		STABILITY becomes the watchword for 2008. Vivian, too, now has been with Response Group for 20 years. It is the very essence of an ongoing business to rely on the dedicated performance of key members of staff. With Martin, Gert, Allin and Vivian now all having at least 20 year's experience, other current staff having reached the five year milepost, the company is stronger than ever before, with the finest attention to detail being given to client enquiries. 1978 to 2008 means 30 years. WELL DONE TEAM.
2009	Autoforecast Autorelease Jims Presence	Our strides become leaps as AUTOFORECAST AND AUTORELEASE are shown publicly at the Jims Motor Show late 2008. The products are hailed as internationally innovative right from the word go. A BEE rating is firmly established, our shining star staff members leap to the fore in maintaining out MICROSOFT ACCREDITED PARTNERSHIP. WOW, what a team.

The NAAMSA Autopulse electronic booklet system has an international recipient list, reports are posted and/or emailed to a widespread client list and the NAAMSA "Flash Telex" release of sales each month is a regular monthly headline-maker. With global competition ever-increasing, NAAMSA's export sales figures remain eagerly sought by international automotive competitors. The NAAMSA web pages at www.naamsa.co.za have received an ever-growing number of 'hits' from worldwide enquirers since their creation.

The Automotive Industry Export Council web presence was established in 1999 and serves as a valuable portal in the growing automotive export arena at www.aiec.co.za.

Similarly, sales statistics are processed for the South African Agricultural Machinery Association at www.saama.co.za.