Computerized GC
THE CHEMICAL WORLD THIS WEEK
Next month Perkin-Elmer will show its computerized gas chromatography instrument system to the scientific community at the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Cleveland, Ohio. The system is the latest addition to a growing number of offerings designed to use computers to process data from several GC's simultaneously. The data processor in the P-E unit is one built by the company itself, yet, as vice president Horace G. McDonnell, Jr., points out, the company does not intend to compete with computer manufacturers in servicing the general market for computers. Among other instrument makers, Varian and Hewlett-Packard have established computer manufacturing divisions to compete with other computer makers as well as to supply data processors to in-house instrument manufacture. Beckman has chosen to supply with its instruments computers made by other companies, such as Digital Equipment Corp.'s PDP series. The Perkin-Elmer system will take data from one to eight GC's at once. Each GC has an interfacing device attached to the instrument, converting analog signals to digital before sending to the data processor. Basic cost is $16,000 for one interface, data processor with a 4000-word memory, and Teletype terminal. Costs run to $40,000 for a system to handle eight chromatographs. The user must have punched paper tapes from PerkinElmer for his individual analytical routines. There is no programing access to the computer, so the user cannot damage, or as product development head Richard D. Condon puts it, "bomb" the program. Hewlett-Packard's Model 3360A gas chromatography data processing system is one that is equivalent to Perkin-Elmer's. The 3360A was introduced at last year's Pittsburgh conference. According to H-P's system product manager Gil Peterson, one GC can be handled for $18,900, and eight serviced for $50,000. The Perkin-Elmer system, like Hewlett-Packard's, has an interfacing device at each chromâtograph. The H-P computer comes from the company's own line of computers and can be adapted to other uses. While analytical instrument makers have moved into computers, computer makers have begun tailoring their products to the analytical market. Digital Equipment Corp.'s PDP-12 has a basic system price of $50,000. The PDP-12 is programable, and handles up to eight GC's with infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers in any combination.
come for Allied out of a 36% drop in operating income—and virtually to cancel Olin's already low operating net income for the year. Du Pont president, C. B. McCoy, warned a month ago, "depressed by the strike in the automobile industry, the current quarter has been a difficult one." Figures on Du Pont's own trough are due this week. The company estimated in December that fullyear earnings would drop 9% from $356 million in 1969 and that sales would stay even at $3.6 billion. On paper, this indicates a fourth-quarter earnings drop of 25%. Other companies in synthetic fibers estimate even worse showing for the past quarter. This confirms that fibers have turned into a depressed area. Monsanto president Edward J. Bock states that soft fiber prices probably accounted for 30% of the company's severe profit drop between fourthquarter 1969 and fourth-quarter 1970. Monsanto's operating income may have dropped 70 to 80% from $17.7 million in the last quarter of 1969. Celanese president John W. Brooks predicted in October that the automobile strike and staff termination costs would have a sharply adverse effect on fourth-quarter profits compared with third-quarter profits. Celanese had a year-to-year thirdquarter drop of 36% in net income. Compounding the income problem are the extraordinary write-offs. In one late instance, Monsanto estimates a write-off against 1970 earnings coming to more than $11 million (35 cents per share times 33.1 million shares) from its halt in production of nitrilotriacetic acid and from other lesser situations. How much similar deck-sweeping went on in the fourth quarter in other chemicals companies—and how far these operations cut into meager earnings—will crystallize in the next few weeks from annual statements.
Monsanto's Bock Severe profit drop
EARNINGS:
Steep Descent The major chemical companies have officially leaked bad news of fourthquarter earnings ever since October. Nevertheless, these predictions—and results now coming in—are still arresting for the size of the profit descent they show. If readings from Du Pont, Monsanto, Dow, Celanese, Allied, and others are anywhere close to a barometer of the industry, fourth-quarter operating earnings were off 20 to 25%. This would pull full-year earnings at their lowest since 1963. Beyond operating earnings, extraordinary income and writeoffs abound in reports for last year. Their effect on earnings is strong enough to create a slight rise, for instance, in net in-
PATENTS:
Eastman Answers Suit
,§ S | £ § ° Du Font's McCoy A difficult quarter
Eastman Chemical Products has filed its answer to Du Pont's suit for patent infringement of a polyester patent. In the closing weeks of 1970, Du Pont filed suit against Eastman, charging infringement of a patent, U.S. 3,018,272, protecting sulfonated polyesters allegedly dyeable with basic dyes (C&EN, Nov. 30, 1970, page 11). At that time, Eastman Chemical Products issued a statement. The statement indicated that it had studied the Du Pont patent prior to making and marketing its own polyester, and JAN. 25, 1971 C&EN
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