Play Meter

Issue: 1983 December 31 - Vol 9 Num 24

Hibarger Will Unravel the
Mystery of Computers
any operatOrs used co eval-
uate their routes with a
calculator or pencil and
paper according co gross revenues.
But more financial expertise is
needed coday. Costs and expenses
must be considered, and many oper-
ators know a computer is perhaps
the best tool for figuring them out.
Computers . Expen e . Gras
revenues. Computerizing a bu ines
can be a confusing, fru crating
process for the operatOr. T o help
remedy chis ituation, Ray Hibarger,
president of Han on Distributing in
Bl oomingt n, Minne t a, will
present two computer - rel a ted
seminars at the Fifth Annual
Amu ement Operator Expo, March
9-11 at the O'H are Expo Center in
Chicago.
Hibarger, who has been workin g
with computer since 196 , will pre-
sent : " Computerized Route Ac -
counting yscem - Are They fo r
You? " and " When Considering the
Use of a Computer, What Do You
Do Next? "
Hibarger educated him elf ab ut
computers co increase hi bu ine
knowledge, and he believe educa-
tion will bring operatOrs out of the
financial Dark Age . The A E
shows are a " ignificant fo rce" in
educating the indu try , he a id. " I
have always been a upp rcer of the
AOE. The concept of education wa
and remains an important function
Hiba rger diversified hi distrib-
utOr hip co ocher equipment line
and during chi time his natural
curio icy drew him co co mputers.
The bu ines m an de eloped a fair
experci e in microcircuitry , but he
too k a wait-and -see attitude about
hi computer intere cs knowing th at
they would eventu all y in vo l e h i
bu ines a nd perhaps hi indu try.
When the
o mm o d o r e h o m e
co mpute r was intro du ced a t a
o n umer Eleccro ni
how, H ibar-
ger kn e w then th a t co mput e r
w uld b in eve ry ho me. "The re t i
hi sco ry," he aid .
M
8
Coin-op system
RaJ' H iba rge r
in the indu try. AOE broug ht co the
indu try a new co ncept in tr ade
ho w which h a
inc been imi-
tated."
Hiba rge r i an engineer by educa-
tion and chat' ho w he bega n wh at
he term hi " tempe cuo u love
a ffa ir with co mpute r . " Then he be-
an wo rking o n hi PhD in che mica l
engineering and rea lized he didn 't
like it. Hiba rge r m t o rne pe pie
who we r intere ted in foo ball and
began co rec g nize its bu ine s
po tenti al. He eventually beca me a
di tributor who "ga ve up a eriou
career and started a seriou ca reer. "
Hiba rger wa not interes ted in
the ho bbyi t ma rk et and in read
be an off ring oftw a r a nd hard-
wa re fo r a p ciali zed m ark et, t he
co in-op in d ustry. Hi
oft wa re i
na m d
.A.M .E .. (fo r
e nera l
me nt Manage me nt
alua -
ti o n y te rn ), and h i hardwa re
range fro m the Co mpuPro de kto p
lin to Dig ital Equipment orpora-
ti n' product line. ( Play M et e r,
e ptemb r I, 19 3, p. 77 .)
Hiba rge r' co mput e r ex pe rci e
de ve lo ped a philo o ph y chat he
pra rice at H anson ' : "Trad it io n-
a ll y the co in-o p indus try ha eva lu-
ated route on gro s revenu e . Th at
wa adequ ate ye cerd ay not today .
o t r ex pen e i the key faccor."
Th di tributo r practice wh at
PLAY MET£P.. December 31 . 1983
he 'II preach to AO E '84 attendees. In
eminar titled "Comput rized
hi
Route Accounting ystems-Are
They For You ?" Hibarger will give
attendee a comprehen ive outline
of a compu terized route accounting
sy rem that wil l include informacion
on machine and location revenu ,
co t allocation, vehicle maintenance,
license and contract tracking , and a
service log.
There are "a plethora of factors"
that determine who hould comput-
erize, uch a an op rator' growth
plan, the number and type of
machines , hi operating philo ophy,
and staff. Howev r, " it i profitable
for anybody to computeriz his
bu ine . It is a labor saving device,"
Hibarger explained.
Operator attending "When
Con idering rhe se of a om purer,
What Do You Do Next ?" wi ll
con ider rhe selection of hardware
and software . They'll learn co make
a n educated deci ion on a computer
purcha e. The operaror will decide
what kind of y rem he wanes and
che n consider vendor selectio n , o r
who will provide his equipment. ·
"You're nor purcha ing a tangible
product; it's a busi n ess system,"
H ibarger expla ined . "T he vendor is
a partner in auromaring a bu iness ."
ervice contract is another topic
the seminar will cover. "Many
operator are surpri ed co realize
char software needs servicing," he
said. Business condition will nor
always be the arne, nor tax laws or
legislative act ivity.
oftware ponabiliry, or the ability
to move oftware from one machine
to another machine, will be di -
cu ed along with ha rdware expand-
ability . Will the hardware be
expa ndable as a bu iness g rows?
usromizing software is a nother
con ideration that i especially
importa nt for operaror . H ibarger
aid that although e eryon ha a
different way of doing thing , "to
fully auro m ate a route , cusromiza-
rion i es entia!."
Hibarger will al o di cu
user
training (" ompurer don ' t just
crunch number ; they have co inc r-
face with people.") and payback
analy i or is chi investment worrh
it?

PlAY METER. December 31 , 1963
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9

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