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NCR Corporation, previously known as National Cash Register, is an American software, consulting and technology company providing several professional services and electronic products. It manufactures self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals,
automated teller machine An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fund ...
s,
cheque A cheque, or check (American English; see spelling differences) is a document that orders a bank (or credit union) to pay a specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose name the cheque has been issued. The per ...
processing systems, and barcode scanners. NCR was founded in Dayton, Ohio, in 1884 and acquired by
AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
in 1991. A restructuring of AT&T in 1996 led to NCR's re-establishment on 1 January 1997, as a separate company and involved the
spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work * Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...
of
Lucent Technologies Lucent Technologies, Inc. was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey. It was established on September 30, 1996, through the dives ...
from AT&T. In June 2009 the company sold most of the Dayton properties and moved its headquarters to the
Atlanta metropolitan area Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ...
in
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
Gwinnett County, Georgia, near Duluth. In early January 2018, the new NCR Global Headquarters opened in Midtown Atlanta near Technology Square (adjacent to the Georgia Institute of Technology).


History


Early years

The company began as the National Manufacturing Company of Dayton, Ohio, and was established to manufacture and sell the first mechanical
cash register A cash register, sometimes called a till or automated money handling system, is a mechanical or electronic device for registering and calculating transactions at a point of sale. It is usually attached to a drawer for storing cash and other v ...
invented in 1879 by James Ritty. In 1884, the company and patents were bought by John Henry Patterson and his brother Frank Jefferson Patterson, and the firm was renamed the National Cash Register Company. Patterson formed NCR into one of the first modern American companies by introducing new, aggressive sales methods and business techniques. He established the first sales training school in 1893 and introduced a comprehensive social welfare program for his factory workers. Other significant figures in the early history of the company were Thomas J. Watson, Sr.,
Charles F. Kettering Charles Franklin Kettering (August 29, 1876 – November 25, 1958) sometimes known as Charles Fredrick Kettering was an American inventor, engineer, businessman, and the holder of 186 patents. For the list of patents issued to Kettering, see, Le ...
and
Edward A. Deeds Edward Andrew Deeds (March 12, 1874 – July 1, 1960) was an American engineer, inventor and industrialist prominent in the Dayton, Ohio, area. He was the president of the National Cash Register Company and, together with Charles F. Kettering, ...
. Watson—later fired by Patterson in 1914—eventually worked his way up to general sales manager. At an uninspiring sales meeting, Watson interrupted, saying "The trouble with every one of us is that we don't think enough. We don't get paid for working with our feet — we get paid for working with our heads". Watson then wrote THINK on the easel. Signs with this motto were later erected in NCR factory buildings, sales offices and club rooms during the mid-1890s. "THINK" later became a widely known symbol of IBM, which was created by Watson after he joined the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR). Kettering designed the first cash register powered by an electric motor in 1906. Within a few years he developed the Class 1000 register which was in production for 40 years, and the O.K. Telephone Credit Authorization system for verifying credit in department stores. Deeds and Kettering went on to found Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company which later became the Delco Electronics Division of General Motors. In 1913, the company's market share was dominant and it was successfully prosecuted under the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The ruling was appealed and executives avoided at least some of the court's strictures.


American Selling Force

When John H. Patterson and his brother took over the company, cash registers were expensive (US$50) and only about a dozen of "Ritty's Incorruptible Cashier" machines were in use. There was little demand for the expensive device, but Patterson believed the product would sell once shopkeepers understood it would drastically decrease theft by salesclerks. He created a sales team known as the "American Selling Force" which worked on commissions and followed a standard sales script, the "N.C.R. Primer." This was the first known sales training manual in existence. The philosophy was to sell a business function rather than just a piece of machinery. Sales demonstrations were set up in hotels (away from the distractions of the buyer's business) depicting a store interior complete with real merchandise and real cash. The sale prospect was described as the "P.P." or "Probable Purchaser." Once initial objections were swept aside and the P.P. admitted to internal theft losses, the product was demonstrated along with large business charts and diagrams. The deal was sealed with a 25 cent cigar. Patterson also invented the formal sales training academy, a summer event first set up in canvas tents and called “Sugar Camp.” The first known form of direct mail advertising also came courtesy of Patterson, who sent mail pieces to a predetermined list of addresses about his products. Patterson's “Get a Receipt” campaign was one of the world's first advertising campaigns.


Welfare work

NCR undertook extensive welfare work and was referred to as "America's model factory." Some historians have referred to company owner John Patterson as the "father of industrial welfare." The company had its own welfare department and is considered a pioneer in America for this work. Some of the company's welfare initiatives include safety devices, drinking fountains, baths, lockers, chairs and back support for machine operators, indoor bathrooms and a ventilation system to provide clean air. There were special provisions for women employees including restrooms, shorter work hours, high-back chairs, a women's dining room, and lessons in domestic science. In 1893, NCR constructed the first "daylight factory" buildings with floor-to-ceiling glass windows that let in light and could be opened to let in fresh air as well.


Expansion

NCR expanded quickly and became multi-national in 1888. Between 1893 and 1906 it acquired a number of smaller cash register companies. By 1911 it had sold one million machines and grown to almost 6,000 employees. Combined with rigorous legal attacks, Patterson's methods enabled the company to fight off bankruptcy, buy-out over 80 of its early competitors, and achieve control of 95% of the U.S. market. In 1912 the company was found guilty of violating the
Sherman Antitrust Act The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author. T ...
. Patterson, Deeds, Watson and 25 other NCR executives and managers were convicted of illegal anti-competitive sales practices and were sentenced to one year of imprisonment. Their convictions were unpopular with the public due to the efforts of Patterson and Watson to help those affected by the Dayton, Ohio, floods of 1913, but efforts to have them pardoned by President
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
were unsuccessful. However, their convictions were overturned on appeal in 1915 on the grounds that important defense evidence should have been admitted. Two million units were sold by 1922, the year John Patterson died. In 1925, NCR went public with an issue of $55 million in stock, at that time the largest public offering in United States history. During the first World War, NCR manufactured fuses and aircraft instrumentation, and during World War II built aero-engines, bomb sights and code-breaking machines, including the American
bombe The bombe () was an electro-mechanical device used by British cryptologists to help decipher German Enigma-machine-encrypted secret messages during World War II. The US Navy and US Army later produced their own machines to the same funct ...
designed by
Joseph Desch Joseph Raymond Desch (23 May 1907 – August 3, 1987) was an American electrical engineer and inventor. During World War II, he was Research Director of the project to design and manufacture the US Navy version of the bombe, a cryptanalytic mac ...
.


US Navy Bombe, code breaking machine

The US Navy Bombe was built by NCR for the United States Naval Computing Machine Laboratory to decrypt the Enigma machine that encrypted German military messages. The NCR-made American bombes (decryption machines) were faster, and soon more available, than the British bombes at Bletchley Park and its outstations. The American bombe was essentially the same as the English bombe, though it functioned better as they were not handicapped by having to make it, as Keen was forced to do owing to production difficulties, on the framework of a 3 wheel machine. By late autumn 1943 new American machines were coming into action at the rate of about 2 a week, the ultimate total being in the region of 125.


Post-war

Building on its wartime experience with secret communication systems, high speed counters and cryptanalytic equipment, NCR became a major post-war force in developing new computing and communications technology. In 1953 chemists Barrett K. Green and Lowell Schleicher of NCR in Dayton submitted a patent "Pressure responsive record materials" for a carbon-less copy paper. This became US Patent 2,730,457 and was commercialized as " NCR Paper." In February 1953, the company acquired the
Computer Research Corporation (CRC) The Computer Research Corporation (CRC) was an early developer of minicomputers. It was founded on July 16, 1950.Reilly 2003, p. 164. The founding owners of CRC were Floyd Steele, Donald Eckdahl, Hrant (Harold) Sarkinssian, Richard Sprague, and ...
, after which it created a specialized electronics division. In 1956, NCR introduced its first electronic device, the Class 29 Post-Tronic, a bank machine using
magnetic stripe The term digital card can refer to a physical item, such as a memory card on a camera, or, increasingly since 2017, to the digital content hosted as a virtual card or cloud card, as a digital virtual representation of a physical card. They share ...
technology. With the General Electric Company (now known as GE ), the company manufactured its first transistor-based computer in 1957, the
NCR 304 The NCR 304 computer hardware, announced in 1957, first delivered in 1959, was National Cash Register (NCR)'s first transistor-based computer. The 304 was developed and manufactured in cooperation with General Electric, where it was also used inte ...
. Also in the 1950s NCR introduced MICR (
magnetic ink character recognition Magnetic ink character recognition code, known in short as MICR code, is a character recognition technology used mainly by the banking industry to streamline the processing and clearance of cheques and other documents. MICR encoding, called the ' ...
) and the NCR 3100 accounting machines. In 1962, NCR introduced the NCR-315 Electronic Data Processing System which included the
CRAM Cram may refer to: * Cram (surname), a surname, and list of notable persons having the surname * Cram.com, a website for creating and sharing flashcards * Cram (Australian game show), a television show * ''Cram'' (game show), a TV game show th ...
storage device, the first automated
mass storage In computing, mass storage refers to the storage of large amounts of data in a persisting and machine-readable fashion. In general, the term is used as large in relation to contemporaneous hard disk drives, but it has been used large in relati ...
alternative to magnetic tape libraries accessed manually by computer operators. The
NCR 390 NCR may refer to: * NCR Corporation, formerly National Cash Register * "No carbon required" carbonless copy paper * A Nature Conservation Review, UK book * Naval Construction Regiment of US Navy Seabees * New Carrollton station Amtrak code * Not c ...
and
500 500 may refer to: * 500 (number) * 500 BC * AD 500 Buildings and places * 500 Boylston Street of Boston * 500 Brickell in Miami * 500 Capitol Mall in Sacramento * 500 Fifth Avenue * 500 Renaissance Center, one of seven buildings in the GM Re ...
computers were also offered to customers who did not need the full power of the 315. The NCR 390 accepted four types of input: magnetic ledger cards, punched cards, punched tape, and keyboard entry, with a tape read speed of 400 characters a second. The company's first all- integrated circuit computer was the Century 100 of 1968. The Century 200 was added in 1970. The line was extended through the Century 300 in 1973. The Century series was followed by the Criterion series in 1976, NCR's first virtual machine system. During this period, NCR also produced the 605 minicomputer for in-house use. It was the compute engine for the 399 and 499 accounting machines, several generations of in-store and in-bank controllers, and the 82xx/90xx IMOS COBOL systems. The 605 also powered peripheral controllers, including the 658 disk subsystem and the 721 communications processor. In 1974, scanners and computers developed by NCR marked the first occasion where items with the Universal Product Code (UPC) was scanned at the checkout of a supermarket, Troy's Marsh Supermarket in
Troy, Ohio Troy is a city in and the county seat of Miami County, Ohio, United States, located north of Dayton. The population was 26,305 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Miami County and the 55th largest city in Ohio; it is part of the Da ...
, a few miles away from NCR's Dayton Headquarters. It was treated as a ceremonial occasion and involved a little bit of ritual. The night before, a team of Marsh's supermarket staff had moved in to put bar codes on hundreds of items in the store while NCR installed their scanners and computers. In 1982, NCR's Peripheral Products Division in Wichita, Kansas, together with peripheral manufacturer, Shugart Associates, helped propel the computer industry into a new era of intelligent standardized peripheral communications with the development the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI). The SCSI standard enabled such diverse devices as disks, tapes, printers, and scanners to share a common interface to one or more computer systems in a way that was never before possible and a model for subsequent interfaces to follow. NCR developed the world's first SCSI interface chip, the
NCR 5380 The NCR 5380 is an early SCSI controller chip developed by NCR Microelectronics. It was popular due to its simplicity and low cost. The 5380 was used in the Macintosh Plus and in numerous SCSI cards for personal computers, including the Amiga a ...
, based on the SCSI interface standard collaboratively developed. By 1986, the number of American mainframe makers had dropped from 8 (IBM and the "seven dwarfs") to 6 (IBM and the "
BUNCH Bunch may refer to: * Bunch (surname) * Bunch Davis (), American baseball player in the Negro leagues * BUNCH, nickname of five computer manufacturing companies, IBM's main competitors in the 1970s * Tussock (grass) or bunch grass, members of the ...
") and then to 4: IBM, Unisys, NCR, and
Control Data Corporation Control Data Corporation (CDC) was a mainframe and supercomputer firm. CDC was one of the nine major United States computer companies through most of the 1960s; the others were IBM, Burroughs Corporation, DEC, NCR, General Electric, Honeyw ...
. The company adopted the name NCR Corporation in 1974.


Small computers

In 1982, NCR became involved in
open systems architecture Open systems architecture is a system design approach which aims to produce systems that are inherently interoperable and connectable without recourse to retrofit and redesign. Concept Systems design is a process of defining and engineering the a ...
. Its first such system was the UNIX-powered TOWER 16/32, the success of which (approximately 100,000 were sold) established NCR as a pioneer in bringing industry standards and open systems architecture to the computer market. These 5000-series systems were based on Motorola
68k The Motorola 68000 series (also known as 680x0, m68000, m68k, or 68k) is a family of 32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessors. During the 1980s and early 1990s, they were popular in personal computers and workstations and w ...
CPUs A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, an ...
and supported NCR's proprietary transaction processing system TMX, which was mainly used by financial institutions. This product line also saw the first time NCR had offered its products through other than its own direct sales channels since the early 1900s. Formally added to its company structure in March 1981, NCR's OEM System's Division spearheaded the design, sales revenue and market awareness and acceptance of NCR's Tower family. Part of the cause of this success was the decision by NCR senior management to hire reseller industry veterans for key positions within the fledgling operation and have that unit work with, but not answerable to, NCR's traditional management structure. The industry shift from proprietary minicomputers brought personnel with minicomputer and reseller backgrounds such as division heads Roger Nielsen (ex-Data General), Robert Hahn (ex-Data General), and Dan Kiegler (ex-Datapoint marketing), marketing manager and later Director of Field Sales, Dave Lang (ex-DEC reseller marketing director and salesperson) and other critical contributors at corporate levels; who then hired a complementary field sales organization primarily made up of proven people from DEC, Wang and other faltering minicomputer firms. In the 1980s, NCR sold various
PC compatible IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones. ...
AT-class computers, like the small NCR-3390 (called an "intelligent terminal"). They proposed a customized version of
MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few oper ...
named NCR-DOS, which for example offered support for switching the CPU between 6, 8 or 10 MHz speeds. The computers featured an improved CGA adapter, the NGA, which had a 640×400 text mode more suitable for business uses than the original 640×200 mode, with characters drawn using single-pixel-wide lines, giving an appearance similar to that of classic IBM 3270 terminals. The additional four-color 640×400 graphical mode was identical to CGA's 320×200 mode from a programming point of view. NCR also manufactured two proprietary series of mini-to-midrange computers: * I-Series: 9010 (IDPS Operating System), 9020 and 9100 (IMOS Operating System), 9040 and 9050 (IRX Operating System), 9200 / 9300 / 9300IP / 9400 / 9400IP / 9500 / System 1000 models 35 / 55 / 65 / 75 (ITX Operating System). These were "I" (Interactive) computers allowing TTY terminals to be connected. Later models supported all industry-standard communication protocols. * V-Series: 8500 ( VRX Operating System) and 9800 (VRX/E Operating System). These were "V" series, comparable to mainframes, supporting "Page mode" terminals. The hardware did have similarities with the I-Series while the operating system and user interface was totally different. In 1990, NCR introduced the System 3000, a seven-level family of computers based on Intel's 386 and 486 CPUs. The majority of the System 3000 range utilised IBM's Micro Channel architecture rather than the more prevalent ISA architecture, and utilised SCSI peripherals as well as the more popular parallel and serial port interfaces, resulting in a premium product with premium pricing. The 3600, through NCR subsidiary
Applied Digital Data Systems Applied Digital Data Systems (ADDS) was a supplier of video display computer terminals, founded in 1969 by Leeam Lowin and William J. Catacosinos. Lowin simultaneously founded Solid State Data Sciences (SSDS). SSDS was one of the first developers ...
supported both the Pick Operating System and Prime Information. The 1970s saw the widespread installations of the Model 770 in National Westminster and
Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...
banks throughout the UK, but it was not until the Model 5070, developed at its Dundee plant in Scotland and introduced in 1983 that the company began to make more serious inroads into the ATM market. Subsequent models included the 5084, and 58xx (Personas) series. In early 2008, the company launched its new generation of ATMs—the 662x/663x SelfServ series. NCR currently commands over a third of the entire ATM market, with an estimated $18 trillion being withdrawn from NCR ATMs every year. In addition, NCR's expertise in this field led the company to contract with the U.S. Military to support the Eagle Cash program with customized ATMs.


NCR 5xxx series

The NCR 5xxx-series is the range of (ATMs) produced by NCR from the early 1980s. Most models were designed and initially manufactured at its Dundee factory in Scotland, but later produced at several other locations around the world. There have been several distinct generations: * 50xx-series; The initial models introduced in 1983 were the 5070 (interior vestibule) and 5080 (Through The Wall or TTW) introduced a number of features which have become standard among ATMs. Most notably, the individual functions of the ATM are divided among discrete modules which can be easily removed and replaced for repair or replenishment. The 5080 featured the standard anti-vandal smoked perspex screen which covered the keypad and screen until the cardholder inserted their card. The enhanced 5084 TTW model appeared in 1987, and had an improved anti-vandal fascia and was the first ATM to dispense with the need for the retracting perspex screen. The 5085 offered the first crude deposit function; with the machine supplying the deposit envelopes which were subsequently stored in the machine's safe for subsequent back office processing. * 56xx-series; produced from 1991 to 1997. Enhanced functions such as color displays and improved security and usability functions became available. The introduction of Media Entry Indicators (MEI) which highlight the card entry slot to the customer was also a part of this series. Some 56xx machines produced between 1994–1996 were badged as "AT&T" rather than "NCR", mirroring the company's brief ownership under the telecoms giant in the mid-1990s. 56xx models have included the 5670 (interior lobby cash dispense only), 5675 (interior lobby multifunction—dispense & deposit), 5684 (exterior TTW dispense only), 5688 (exterior TTW drive-up multifunction) and 5685 (exterior TTW multifunction). * 58xx-series marketed as Personas from 1998 to the present. These models were characterised by the gradual move towards greater ATM functionality including intelligent, envelopeless deposit by means of automated cheque recognition modules, coin dispense, and electronic cash recognition functions which allows bank customers to deposit cash and cheques with instant processing of the transaction. The 58xx series has also been characterised by the gradual introduction of LCD displays instead of the traditional CRT monitor. Models have included the 5870 (compact interior lobby dispense only), 5873 (interior lobby with cash accept & deposit only), 5874 (Exterior TTW cash dispense), 5875 (Multifunction TTW). The latest TTW versions of the Personas line, introduced in 2000 and marketed as M-Series added functions such as cash recycling, coin dispense, barcode reading, a larger 12" LCD display with touchscreen option, and for the first time, a common wall footprint for both the Multifunction (5886) or single function (5887).


NCR 66XX series

NCR's 6th generation of ATMs have been noted for the further move towards intelligent deposit and the expansion of secondary functions such as barcode reading. * 667x-series marketed under the Personas M-Series brand were introduced in 2005 to the present. These models consist of the 6676 (interior lobby multifunction) and 6674 (through-the-wall multifunction). The outlook design is very different from the Personas model; on the front-access 6676s the front cover is opened upwards which claim to be saving the services area.


NCR Self-Serv 20 and 30 series

NCR's latest ATM services, introduced in 2008. This series is a complete redesign of both outlook and technological contents. It is also a cost down product. Self-Serv 20 series are single-function (e.g. cash-out) ATMs, while Self-Serv 30 series are full-function (cash-out and intelligent deposit) machines.


AT&T


Teradata

Teradata Teradata Corporation is an American software company that provides cloud database and analytics-related software, products, and services. The company was formed in 1979 in Brentwood, California, as a collaboration between researchers at Caltech ...
partnered with NCR in 1990 and was purchased by NCR in 1991. Mark Hurd took over the company's Teradata division in 1999 and is credited with expanding NCR's Teradata business. Hurd streamlined operations and invested in research. The Teradata division at NCR became profitable in 2002.


Acquisition

NCR was acquired September 19, 1991 by
AT&T Corporation AT&T Corporation, originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is the subsidiary of AT&T Inc. that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agen ...
for $7.4 billion and was joined with Teradata Corporation on February 28, 1992. As an AT&T subsidiary, its 1992 year-end headcount was 53,800 employees and contractors. By 1993, the subsidiary produced a year-end $1.287 billion net loss on $7.265 billion in revenue. The net losses continued in 1994 and 1995, losses that required repeated subsidies from the parent company and resulted in a 1995 year-end headcount of 41,100. During these three years, AT&T was the former NCR's largest customer, accounting for over $1.5 billion in revenue. On February 15, 1995, the company sold its microelectronics division and storage systems division to
Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate (" chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai A ...
which named it
Symbios Logic Symbios Logic was a manufacturer of SCSI host adapter chipsets and disk array storage subsystems. It was originally established as the NCR Microelectronics division of NCR Corporation in 1972, before NCR's takeover by AT&T Corporation in 1991. In ...
. At the time it was the largest purchase of an American company by a Korean company. For a while, starting in 1994, the subsidiary was renamed AT&T Global Information Solutions, but in 1995, AT&T decided to spin off the company, and in 1996, changed its name back to NCR in preparation for the
spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work * Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...
. The company outlined its reasons for the spin-off in an Information Statement sent to its stockholders, which cited, in addition to "changes in customer needs" and "need for focused management time and attention", the following: :... vantages of
vertical integration In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the supply ...
hich had motivated ATT's earlier acquisition of NCRare outweighed by its costs and disadvantages.... varying degrees, many of the actual and potential customers of Lucent and NCR are or will be competitors of AT&T's communications services businesses. NCR believes that its efforts to target the communications industry have been hindered by the reluctance of AT&T's communications services competitors to make purchases from an AT&T subsidiary. NCR re-emerged as a stand-alone company on January 1, 1997.


Independence

One of NCR's first significant acquisitions after becoming independent from AT&T came in July 1997, when it purchased Compris Technologies, a privately held company in
Kennesaw, Georgia Kennesaw is a suburban city northwest of Atlanta in Cobb County, Georgia, United States, located within the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. Known from its original settlement in the 1830s until 1887 as Big Shanty, it became Kennesaw under its 1 ...
that produced software for restaurant chains. In November 1997, NCR purchased Dataworks Inc., a 60-person privately held company in San Antonio, Texas. The Montgomery County Historical Society and NCR Corporation joined in 1998 into a partnership committed to preserving the historic and voluminous NCR Archive. In 1999, NCR moved an estimated three million items from NCR's Building 28 into the Historical Society's Research Center. In 1998, NCR sold its computer hardware manufacturing assets to
Solectron Solectron Corporation was an electronics manufacturing company for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). It was the first electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry in 1977. Solectron's first customer designed and distributed an electro ...
and ceased to produce general-purpose computer systems, focusing instead on the retail and financial industries. In 2000, NCR acquired
customer relationship management Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information. CRM systems compile data from a r ...
provider Ceres Integrated Solutions and services company
4Front Technologies NCR Corporation, previously known as National Cash Register, is an American software, consulting and technology company providing several professional services and electronic products. It manufactures self-service kiosks, point-of-sale termin ...
. Recent acquisitions include self-service companies
Kinetics Kinetics ( grc, κίνησις, , kinesis, ''movement'' or ''to move'') may refer to: Science and medicine * Kinetics (physics), the study of motion and its causes ** Rigid body kinetics, the study of the motion of rigid bodies * Chemical kin ...
, InfoAmerica and Galvanon, and software company DecisionPoint. In April 2003, NCR purchased Copient Technologies, an Indiana-based retail marketing software company. CEO Lars Nyberg announced his resignation from the company in February 2003 in order to address family matters. NCR promoted Mark Hurd to replace Nyberg as CEO in March 2003. Early on in his new role, Hurd made changes in order to cut costs, including layoffs and converting an executive parking lot into an ATM training center. Within his first year as CEO, the company's stock doubled and NCR became a market leader in ultra high-end data-warehousing software.


Bill Nuti's management

In 2006, NCR acquired software company IDVelocity and the ATM manufacturing division of Tidel, a cash security equipment manufacturer specializing in retail markets. On January 8, 2007, NCR announced its intention to separate into two independent companies by spinning off
Teradata Teradata Corporation is an American software company that provides cloud database and analytics-related software, products, and services. The company was formed in 1979 in Brentwood, California, as a collaboration between researchers at Caltech ...
to shareholders. Bill Nuti would continue his role as president and CEO of NCR, while Teradata Senior VP Mike Koehler would assume leadership of Teradata. On October 1, 2007, NCR Corporation and Teradata jointly announced the Teradata business unit spin-off was complete, with Michael Koehler as the first CEO of Teradata. On January 11, 2007, NCR announced plans to restructure its entire ATM manufacturing operations, with 650 jobs at its Dundee plant being cut. A further 450 jobs were cut in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. In 2009, the Dundee manufacturing facility was closed, along with plants in São Paulo and
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
, citing global economic conditions. NCR extended its self-service portfolio into the digital media market with the January 2007 announcement of NCR Xpress Entertainment, a multichannel entertainment kiosk. NCR's acquisition of Touch Automation LLC was announced on December 31, 2007. On October 15, 2008, NCR announced a global reseller partnership with Experticity, a Seattle based software company. In 2009, NCR relocated its corporate headquarters from Dayton, Ohio to near Duluth, Georgia; Dayton had served as NCR's home for 125 years. In 2009, NCR became the second largest DVD Kiosk operator in North America with the acquisitions of The New Release and DVD Play. In 2010, NCR completed the acquisition of digital signage company, Netkey. In August 2011, NCR purchased Radiant Systems, a hospitality and retail systems company, for US$1.2 billion. Radiant's hospitality division turned into a new Hospitality Line of Business within NCR. Radiant's petroleum and convenience retail business became part of its retail line of business. Several Radiant executives remained on board, including Scott Kingsfield, who was a general manager of NCR's Retail Line of Business and left NCR in 2014, and Andy Heyman, who became general manager of NCR's Financial Services line of business. In August 2012, the company was hit with charges of avoiding U.S.
economic sanctions Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they ...
against Syria, greatly affecting its stock price. In February 2013, NCR completed its acquisition of
Retalix Retalix Ltd. is a former Israeli software company that developed, licensed, implemented and supported software applications for retailers, wholesalers and distributors of fast-moving consumer goods, mainly in the grocery, convenience store, and ...
(NASDAQ: RTLX), a provider of retail software and services, for approximately $650 million in cash. In January 2014, NCR completed its acquisition of
Digital Insight Digital Insight was a provider of online banking software to banks and credit unions. It also designed FinanceWorks, a product that allowed customers to manage their finances. In 2014, the company was acquired by and folded into NCR Corporation. ...
Corporation, a provider of online and mobile banking to mid-market financial institutions, from equity firm Thoma Bravo, LLC for $1.65 billion in cash. In September 2016, Mark Benjamin was named president and chief operating officer of NCR. Benjamin is a 24-year veteran of human resources management and will report directly to Bill Nuti.


Relocation and recent history

In January 2018, NCR relocated its corporate headquarters from near Duluth, Georgia to a new office in Midtown Atlanta. NCR's mailing address is 864 Spring St NW, Atlanta, GA 30308. In April 2018, Mike Hayford was named CEO. He leads the company's strategic shift from hardware provider to software- and services-led enterprise technology provider. In 2019, NCR announced plans to start building a campus in Belgrade, Serbia. In January 2021, NCR reached an agreement to acquire ATM operator
Cardtronics Cardtronics is a global financial services technology company that provides automated teller machines to retailers, and operates the Allpoint interbank network. Since 2017, Cardtronics’ network counted over 200,000 affiliated ATMs and is the l ...
in a deal valued at $2.5 billion.Emily Bary
"NCR reaches agreement to acquire Cardtronics in $2.5 billion deal,"
''MarketWatch'', January 25, 2021.
In October 2021, NCR opened in
New Belgrade New Belgrade ( sr, / , ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. It is a planned city, built since 1948 in a previously uninhabited area on the left bank of the Sava river, opposite old Belgrade. In recent years, it has become the central bus ...
, Serbia the largest IT center and campus in Europe. On September 16 2022, NCR announced it will split its Digital Commerce and ATM businesses in two separate companies. The split is targeted for the end of 2023.


Products and services

NCR's R&D activity is split between its three major centers in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
(retail); Dundee, Scotland (financial industry); and Waterloo, Ontario. It also has R&D centers in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
;
Cebu, Philippines Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...
;
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 m ...
, Serbia;
Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...
,
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
and
Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...
Chengalpattu Chengalpattu, previously known as Chingleput, is a city and the headquarters of Chengalpattu district of the state Tamil Nadu, India. The town is located near to the industrial and IT hub. It is the headquarters of the district and is away ...
and
Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. ...
, India.NCR Corporation unveils largest R&D facility outside US in Hyderabad
. Times of India (2017-11-10). Retrieved on 2013-09-27.
NCR also has manufacturing facilities in Beijing,
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...
, and the Indian territory of Puducherry and Chengalpattu which is a regional manufacturing and export hub.


Hardware

NCR FastLane in use at a Virginia Walmart store * Item Processing platforms (mainly checks) (7780, iTRAN 8000, TS) *
PCs A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or techn ...
(System 3000) * Point of Sale (POS) for retail and
food service The foodservice (US English) or catering (British English) industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations, and many ...
** POS Displays ** POS Printers **
POS POS, Pos or PoS may refer to: Linguistics * Part of speech, the role that a word or phrase plays in a sentence * Poverty of the stimulus, a linguistic term used in language acquisition and development * Sayula Popoluca (ISO 639-3), an indigenous ...
Touch Screen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...
s ** POS Terminals *** NCR Silver, complete point-of-sale that runs on iPad, iPhone or iPod touch device ** POS Self Checkout (NCR SelfServ Checkout, formerly NCR FastLane) **
POS POS, Pos or PoS may refer to: Linguistics * Part of speech, the role that a word or phrase plays in a sentence * Poverty of the stimulus, a linguistic term used in language acquisition and development * Sayula Popoluca (ISO 639-3), an indigenous ...
Scanners ''Scanners'' is a 1981 Canadian science fiction horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring Stephen Lack, Jennifer O'Neill, Michael Ironside, and Patrick McGoohan. In the film, "scanners" are psychics with unusual telepathic ...
* Self-service hardware, ATMs and kiosks (EasyPoint, Personas, SelfServ) * Servers (S1600, S2600, System 5000, Tower) * Petroleum POS Optic 12, Optic 5


Services

* E-business * Education * IT infrastructure services * Managed services * Payment * Retail * Self-service


NCR Self-Service

NCR's Self-Service subsidiary develops self-service software and hardware travel technology. Solutions for hardware include the TouchPort II C for airline check-in and ResortPort for hospitality self-service. Common Use Self-Service technology simplifies the check-in process by allowing passengers one common point of access for check-in. NCR Self-Service, LLC, was founded as Kinetics in
Lake Mary, Florida Lake Mary is a suburban city that is located in the Greater Orlando metropolitan area in Seminole County, Florida, United States, and is located in Central Florida. The population was 13,822 at the 2010 census. History Lake Mary was named after ...
. NCR acquired the company in 2004.


Obsolete

* Class 1000 register * Class 2000 bank posting machine (c. 1922–1973) * NCR 2170 Retail System point of sale terminal and software * NCR Voyager, an i386 SMP computer platform that preceded Intel's SMP specification * Electronic shelf labels ( RealPrice – discontinued 2008) * EasyPoint Mini, a touchscreen device originated by Copient Technologies * Class 50 series and 56 series ATM's


Senior management

* CEO: Michael Hayford (April 2018 – present) * CEO: Bill Nuti (August 2005 – 2018) * CEO:
Mark Hurd Mark Vincent Hurd (January 1, 1957 – October 18, 2019) was an American technology executive who served as Co-CEO and as a member of the board of directors of Oracle Corporation. He had previously served as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, a ...
(2003–2005) * CEO: Lars Nyberg (1996–2003) * CEO: Jerre Stead (1993–1995) company renamed AT&T GIS * CEO: Charles E. Exley, Jr. (1983–1993) * CEO: William S. Anderson (1973–1984) * CEO: Robert S. Oelman (1962–1973) * CEO: Stanley C. Allyn (1957–1962) * CEO:
Edward A. Deeds Edward Andrew Deeds (March 12, 1874 – July 1, 1960) was an American engineer, inventor and industrialist prominent in the Dayton, Ohio, area. He was the president of the National Cash Register Company and, together with Charles F. Kettering, ...
(1931–1957) * CEO: Frederick Beck Patterson (1922–1931) * CEO: John H. Patterson (1884–1922) * Interim CEO: Jim Ringler (2005) * Interim CEO: Bill O'Shea (1995) * Interim CEO: Gil Williamson (1993)


See also

*
NCR Book Award The NCR Book Award for Non-Fiction, established in 1987 and sponsored by NCR Corporation, was for a time the UK's major award for non-fiction. Closing in 1997 after a period of decline and scandal, it is best remembered as the forerunner of the Sam ...


References


Further reading

* Biles, George E. "John Henry Patterson's contributions to industrial welfare". ''International Journal of Public Administration'' (1993) 16 (5): 627–647. doi:10.1080/01900699308524815. * Friedman, Walter A. "John H. Patterson and the sales strategy of the National Cash Register Company, 1884 to 1922." ''Business History Review'' 72.4 (1998): 552-584
online
* Haberstroh, Stacy L. " 'The Sun Never Sets on National Cash Registers': The International Operations of the National Cash Register Company, 1885-1922." (Diss. Miami University, 2013
online
* Nelson, Daniel. "The new factory system and the unions: The National Cash Register Company dispute of 1901." ''Labor History'' 15.2 (1974): 163-178. * Schleppi, John R. "'It Pays': John H. Patterson and Industrial Recreation at the National Cash Register Company." ''Journal of Sport History'' 6.3 (1979): 20-28
online
* Sealander, Judith. ''Grand Plans: Business Progressivism and Social Change in Ohio's Miami Valley, 1890-1929'' (1988
excerpt
pp 18-42 on NCR


External links

* *
NCR IPS UK



Information on early National registers





The Core Memory Project: NCR Computers of the 20th Century

Decision Mate V
{{Authority control American companies established in 1884 1884 establishments in Ohio Manufacturing companies based in Atlanta Electronics companies established in 1884 Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Computer companies of the United States Electronics companies of the United States Financial technology companies Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Point of sale companies Superfund sites in Delaware History of Dayton, Ohio 1991 mergers and acquisitions Former AT&T subsidiaries