| Show Damaged pag'eRs 2F The Salt Lake Tribune Sunday December 21 UP&L Invests in 1986 High-Tec- Equipment to Enhance Underground Coal Mining 05 4S0 h they support caves in a controlled fashion reducing overburden pressure on other parts of mine The continuous miner operator when sitting in the conventional place under a canopy at the rear of the machine attempts to back out of the way of falling rocks and coal He relies on experience and training to not pull the machine out too quick and miss getting as much of the coal as possible or too late and risk getting buried by falling coal and rock The operator not only wants to get report as much coal from the pillar as pos“As far as the disaster goes that is sible to increase mining productivity but to remove as much underburden something we want to learn from Number one the computer monitoras possible That way the roof has sufficient room to adequately cave and ing system was probably not available at the time of the fire and numnot shift that weight to other areas of ber two having the remote the mine While most operators move the controlled continuous miners wouldn't have had any effect on the continuous miners out in time that disaster" does nothing to lessen their exposure The safety benefits of radio remote to a major underground hazard controlled continuous miners no That's where the radio remote conwhere becomes more evident than in trols come in ail’ underground mine section where When using those controls the opDO feet by 80 feet chunks of coal or erator typically stands about about 20 feet behind the end of the continuous ’pillars" are extracted Jhe pillars are all that remain after miner The controls are mounted on a continuous miners complete develop- panel the size of a bread board which mental mining During or shortly af- - is attached to a waist-levbalancing ter the pillars are removed the roof post Continued From F-- l ' tion level There’s been a shift in emphasis in our mines to safety and cost control” f However the UP&L spokesman denied the Wilberg disaster or the report by the division of public utilities prompted the company to focus more on eoal mine safety and cost control He said UP&L began installing the remote controlled continuous miners and the monitoring computers before the division of public utility issued its UP&L’s Tom Akers tor system at operates new computerized mine monid mine near Orangeville Wilberg-Cottonwoo- Robert L Evans mine manager of UP&L's mining operation observed “Remote control is something that has been around the industry for about 10 years But it has been reluctantly accepted for a number of reasons Operators have been used to sitting on the machine They’ve been used to the feel of the machine And you loose the feel of the machine when you’re on remote There’s no doubt about that” UP&L decided to solve that problem by forbidding continuous miner operators to sit in the control cabs once their machines were modified for remote control said Mr Evans “Take away the fact they can get back into the cabs and you make them get used to it remote controls Once they get use to it you can’t take them away from it” he added Richard Motte a continuous miner operator in the Little Dove section of UP&L’s operation stopped from pulling pillars the other day and confirmed Mr Evans’ observation about remote controls “It 1 takes a while to get use to really like it It keeps you out of the dust You just stand back here and you’re safe You’ve got a lot better visibility” Mr Motte said when he operated But Maker’s Stock Not for the Faint of Heart Hot Pursuit by Consumers Indicates Lazer Tag Is It This Christmas By Dedra Hauser Knight-Ridde- r Newspapers SAN JOSE Calif — As the Christ- mas season started a desperate fato press a $20 bribe on Bruce Young beseeching the manage er of Karls Toys and Hobbies in Shopping Center to get Lazer Tag for him The story ended happily for this father who managed to buy the $50 high-tec- h gun game a few days later without the bribe But many other parents and adult buyers haven’t beer as lucky This modern version of the age-olgame of tag has become the runaway hit of the Christmas season causing huge shortages in the marketplace and becoming a new hit for the Fremont Calif toy manufacturer that brought us the Teddy Ruxpin talking bear As a result Worlds of Wonder Inc has become one of the hottest young companies in Silicon Valley The growth of Worlds of Wonder recalls this area’s years when multimillion dollar corporations and huge personal fortunes sprang up overnight It also brings back memories of the rapid demise of many companies that choked on their own suc- ther tried Eas-tridg- d go-g- o cess It’s too soon to tell if Worlds of Wonder can avoid the pitfalls that destroyed so many of its illustrious high-tecpredecessors such as Osborne Computer Corp of Fremont and Eagle Computer Corp of Los Gatos Calif to name just two But the company’s progress so far serves as a reminder of the tough challenges faced by a company h fast-trac- k Founded less than two years ago Worlds of Wonder racked up $931 million in sales in its first fiscal year ended in March and reported profits of $81 million Much of the growth is credited to Teddy Ruxpin the $59 to $79 bear that was found under millions of Christmas trees last year With the introduction of Lazer Tag last summer Worlds of Wonder avoided one mistake that has tripped too up many promising upstarts much reliance on one product Worlds of Wonder spent $10 million in a television advertising blitz to give Lazer Tag a strong start in the market It has devised such elaborate promotion schemes as a college Lazer Tag competition held this month in which teams from colleges across the country used Lazer Tag guns in a series of games - But with Lazer Tag the company has run smack into another problem comthat bedevils many panies — the inability to keep up with the demand for Lazer Tag h “I’m getting only about of the Lazer Tags I ordered” said Denise Haro the buyer for Merchant’s West of Los Angeles the parent company of the Karls Toys and Hobbies chain Many stores haven't been able to get any shipments of Lazer Tag “They keep telling us they’re sending it next week” complains Larry Harris owner of Tex’s Toys in Mountain View Calif Bob Goldberg Worlds of Wonder’s executive vice president for marketing readily admits that the company can’t begin to meet the demand for Lazer Tag “But no one thought this game would sell out two or three hours after it hit the stores" he said Most retailers are getting close to what they originally ordered 10 months ago he said And he said the company has done everything that it can to increase production and speed deliveries from its Far East production facilities But the company’s ability to increase production is constrained because it takes four months’ lead time to create molds for use in new Lazer Tag production lines he notes So far Worlds of Wonder has increased production “in the neighborhood of 15 percent” Goldberg said In addition to irritating consumers shortages of Lazer Tag could make Worlds of Wonder lose a big chunk of market share to similar toys such as Photon made by LJN Toys of New York s this problem Goldberg saying that retailers are telling him that most consumers would rather wait for Lazer Tag than buy another brand But local store owners and distributors said consumers recently have lost patience and have started buying other versions of the toy “As it gets closer to Christmas more and more people are buying Photon rather than wait for Lazer Tag" said a spokeswoman for Toys R' Us a national toy store chain Tovs R’ Us sells Photon and Lazer Tag The risk posed by competing versions of Lazer Tag could increase over time Consumer preference for Lazer Tag comes mainly from massive television advertising said Haro of Karls Toys "Otherwise the toys fast-grow- one-tent- pooh-pooh- are about the same" she said For this year at least Worlds of Wonder will have healthy sales from Lazer Tag and its other product lines according to Smith Barney Inc a New York-base- d brokerage firm Analyst Terence McEvoy estimated that the company will post sales of $330 million in fiscal 1987 more than triple its business in fiscal 1986 Lazer Tag alone will account for $93 million in sales Smith Barney projected But producing healthy sales increases is only one of the ingredients in a successful business Worlds of Wonder faces a challenge that has undermined many other companies — the need to manage skyrocketing expansion that strains all functions of the company and each employee observers said Failure to cope with rapid growth may have been the biggest cause of failure among Silicon Valley companies industry experts have noted To help achieve its sales goals the company has boosted its work force from 135 in April to 350 But Worlds of Wonder has one advantage in grappling with this growth said Goldberg fast-growt- demonstratof Wonder June 20 was frenzy that drove the price from $18 to $29 in one day and made instant millionaires out of some top company executives So far Wall Street has ed confidence in Worlds The debut of its stock on greeted with a buying The stock tumbled to a level just above the initial offering price in July after the company announced a loss in its first fiscal quarter that it had predicted But the quick success of Lazer Tag after its introduction in Augus revived faith in the company the continuous miner from the cab the roof caved at least a dozen times above the canopy that protected him "I always was inside the cab and I But standing back never got hurt is a lot better” Mine Superintendent Brent Hobi disagreed with those who claim that a continuous miner operator using remote controls is more likely to continue mining when a is imminent because he is furcave-i- n ther away from the danger area He observed "If anything even starts to happen he can pull that machine out The from the endangered area man can see much better and react a lot faster" Mr Hobi said when the operator drove the continuous miner from the protected cab his vision was significantly restricted particularly on his left side by the rear portion of the machine He said the bars which form the protective cage around the cab also restrict the operator’s vision Safety aside Mr Evans said continuous miners driven by remote control can usually cut longer without having to stop so the roof jan be bolted and therefore produce more coal Mr Evans said the law forbids anyone from standing under unsupported roof in a coal mine Thus a continuous miner when driven the conventional way can only make a 20 foot cut before the operator is exposed to unsupported roof and must stop the machine Cuts longer than 20 feet — possible only with remote controls — eliminate stopping and moving the continuous miner as frequently thereby increasing mining productivity said Mr Evans UP&L’s new computer system was c manufactured by Toronto-baseControls Inc and consists of sensors which are being installed underground and a control panel and monitor screens on the surface of each of the three mining operations Mr Ward said UP&L is exploring the possibility of building one control center from which all three mining operations can be monitored But Tom Akers assistant maintenance superintendent at the mine said if a central monitor is installed it likely would complement not replace those at the three mines For example he said it may be used to monitor the mirn only when all or two of them are idle Mr Akers said UP&L is only legally required to install a computer detection system at the Deer Creek mine mainly because of the way fresh air is channeled to mining sections He said the company installed the system at the Con-spe- d Wilberg-Cottonwoo- Christmas Brings Big Charge to Duracell By Dean Golembeski Associated Press Writer BETHEL Conn — The battery industry gets a big charge this time of year Millions of toys and electronic gadgets show up under Christmas trees across the land and they lie lifeless without power — and that means batteries Consumers will spend $1 billion on batteries during the final three months of the year about 40 percent of the industry’s total annual sales according to Duracell Inc a leading maker of batteries The company with its familiar copper-to- p alkaline battery has about 45 percent of the worldwide alkaline market the fastest growing sector of the battery industry In 1975 when Duracell first advertised its products on national television alkaline batteries accounted for 15 percent of all battery sales in the United States In 1985 alkaline batteries took 62 percent of the sales and they are expected to reach a 75 percent share by 1990 said Duracell spokesman John Bergman Alkaline batteries are touted as lasting longer than the traditional zinc carbon batteries still popular in many foreign countries "The battery market overall is growing about cent a year the alkaline segment is growing about cent a year" Bergman said 4 per9 per- Battery sales nationally totaled $25 billion last year and are expected to hit $33 billion by 1990 Duracell estimates The prospects for the battery industry are even rosier when foreign markets are considered because alkaline batteries have only started to catch on there “The main reason is that battery evolution thing and the alkaline program began man said in the is a slow US” Berg- Duracell which is a subsidiary of Kraft Inc will not say how much it earned on US sales last year but the company's annual report says Duracell had total sales of about $845 million for all its products It has operations in six countries market are Battling Duracell for the Ralston Purina's Energizer with a 45 percent share of the alkaline market and Rayovac with about a 5 percent g The best reasons to buy an Apple now share Kodak also recently joined with a new line of alkaline batteries It was Kodak officials who pushed Duracell into the s consumer market Bergman said In the Kodak began using Duracell batteries in its popular Instamatic cameras “They told us if we wanted to expand our business with so them we would have to have a consumer market we began selling batteries to consumers” Bergman said It was new turf for a company that grew from a supplier of military batteries during World War II when it was a division of PR Mallory Co Inc Dissatisfied with its gains in the consumer market Duracell in the early 1970s developed a new marketing strategy that led to its 1975 television campaign for alkaline batteries “We were the first really into the consumer market” Bergman said “But the whole alakline business grew due to the introduction of a number of electronic devices” The devices included games calculators and toys which continue to fuel the alakline industry The battery the typical battery used in small toys and electronic devices now accounts for 40 percent of Duracell’s annual sales Bergman said The company also manufactures mercury silver zinc-ai- r and lithium batteries which have found a market in the ne v automatic 35mm cameras Dur icell says its research indicates American consumers bojght 2 billion batteries to power 900 million devices last j jar The average family has 10 devices that need batteries and purchases about 32 batteries a year it says The company says about 29 percent of all batteries are sold hrough grocery stores 20 percent through drug store and 16 percent through discount-catalostores Othe types of stores account for small slices of the ng sales D1 racell advertises heavily during the final quarter of each year but most sales are the result of "impulse purchases" said Charles R Perrin president of Duracell US A which is the domestic division of Duracell Inc "A couple of things keep the market going" Bergman said "One of the reasons is that batteries are a dependand you have a generation that's able source of power devices The other is the gotten used to batter-powerenew things that are developed and the things the people have" mid-1960- AA-siz- e g ir d Wilberg-Cottonwoo- and operations voluntarily to promote a safer work environment He said UP&L is meeting its first objective with the computer systems installation of sensor equipment and monitoring of air velocity carbon monoxide and methane at all of the mines’ diesel roadways and belt lines “The carbon monoxide monitors are so sensitive that if you happen to fud a roller sticking say a bearing sta-t- s to fail and it starts heating up it can generate enough carbon monoxide to set this system off” Tht system is so sophisticated that the operator can even call up a computer nsap showing the problem and its relation to underground workings Mr Akers said that gives him enough information to inform working miners tiow to exit the mine safely and to disoatch maintenance and emergency crews to the right place “Although companies have been selling mine monitoring systems in the United States for more than five years the depjndability and sophistication of the things you could do with them has greatly increased just in the last year orso" the assistant maintenance manger said Mr Afgrs said UP&L has not adopted timetable for expanding the monitoring capabilities of the computers because it wants to be sure its performing its first duties well first Never before has a holiday offer adK up to more savings We call it Apple Pays Half" You'll dh it a bargain Because for a limited tiint Apple will pay half of up to $500 on Apple© branded peripherals and software when you buy a (nullifying Apple 11 or Macintosh1 Basic System from Alpine Computing You'll also receive a free box of 5M computer accessory products - valued up to $75 as well as special coupon offers 1 ' ’’ all the worth up to $400 Just stop in any one of our three locations and see what computing is till about Well help you put together the bundle that’s right for you and you'll see the savings start to add up 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