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PAGE 10 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 16, 1987 What that means is that the company, which grossed sales of $1.2 million last year and expects to achieve $2 million for 1987, offers several services to customers, as well as manufacturing its own products. Customers can walk in the door " with an idea and we turn it into a product", says Sooley, or they can bring in an electronic schematic "and we can create a product based on that information." For people with an idea they wish to sell, Digitrol will also create electronic prototypes or write demonstraâ€" tion packages of software. The company will also use their facilities to assemble electronic products such as video terminal boards and power supplies for other companies. A walkâ€"in customer "may start out small and (become) larger," said Soolewy. "So we don‘t turn anybody away just because they‘re small." _ 'I"hey _also have their own specialty products, develâ€" oped over the last three years, and recently brought onto the market. One such product is a computerized batching system for the concrete manufacturing industry. "It takes cement and water and sand and gravel and mixes it in the right proportions and puts it in concrete mixing trucks," said Sooley. The other specialty product made by Digitrol is a statistical process control system for the plastics industry, a series of computerized monitors to enable Thank You! The University of Waterloo wishes to thank MARLIN TRAVEL and RAMADA CANADA for supporting the Alumni Campaign for Waterloo. The companies jointly donated a Montreal vacation package for two as the prize for student callers in a recent draw. The students‘ telephone UW graduates to update alumni files and to request donations to the campaign. Digitrol Computers president Charles Sooley says his company needs a free trade agreement because his customers are mainly in the United States. American managers are more aware of the need to automate and computerize than their Canadian counterparts says Sooley. workers to control and monitor the quality of the product they make. â€" o o _ Sooley founded Digitrol in 1976, after completing two years of study toward an engineering degree at University of Waterloo. "I was doing consulting work on the side and my markg weren‘t too good," he recalls, chuckling. "Microâ€" pm%om (the chip which is the ‘brain‘ of an electronic product) were just coming on the market and I knew about them, so people wanted my services." The coinpany has grown to where it now employs about 23 people, though actual numbers fluctuate with Digitrol Computers bullish on free trade SALT CRYSTALS CRYSTAL saLTt @99 MANUFACTURERS OF WATER 89 BRIDGEPORT RD. E. WATERLOO 746â€"0024 GUELPH CAMBRID 763â€"3100 658â€"1 350 SALES â€" SERVICE â€" RENTALS 6: Come in and find some unique gifts for the special people on your list. We‘ve got perfect things for those people who have everything. Santa did his shopping at Shantz‘s Country Cupboard . .. why don‘t you? Warmâ€"up with hot apple cider as you shop our inâ€"store 746â€"5660 ountry _ i upboard t1*i%;* the contracts the company is working on. The company spent 15 per cent of gross sales on research and development last year, down from 40 per cent in 1985. The research continues. "We‘re continuâ€" ally developing to stay ahead of the competition," Sooley said. But the longâ€"term health of the company could be partly dependent on a free trade treaty. o "It will allow Canadian manufacturers an Englishâ€" speaking market 10 times the size of our own. For small companies, the Englishâ€"speaking makes a big different. We can‘t afford to translate." Dec. 21 10 â€" 6 d. 10 â€" 6 10 â€" 3 hantz‘s 8 Notre Dame Dr. S. ST. AGATHA ph / ig * lan Kirkby photo