IN THE MID‐1980S, ALLEN‐BRADLEY SAW THAT THE REQUIREMENTS FOR world‐class competitiveness in manufacturing were changing. The company's Milwaukee headquarters was manufacturing such basic electro‐mechanical products as push buttons, starters, and limit switches. But reaching new levels of competitiveness meant more than starting, stopping, and sensing. Customers were looking for ways to improve productivity and add value to their products, and this required a new generation of microprocessor‐based products.