Conroe company still using computers museums want to put on display

Duwayne Lafley, of Santa Fe, was an operator on IBMs in the U.S. Navy before going into the private sector. (Robert Stanton / Houston Chronicle) Duwayne Lafley, of Santa Fe, was an operator on IBMs in the U.S. Navy before going into the private sector. (Robert Stanton / Houston Chronicle) Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Conroe company still using computers museums want to put on display 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

And you think your folks are archaic for using flip phones ...

Sparkler Filters up north in Conroe still uses an IBM 402 in conjunction with a Model 129 key punch – with the punch cards and all – to do company accounting work and inventory.

The company makes industrial filters for chemical plants and grease traps.

Lutricia Wood is the head accountant at Sparkler and the data processing manager. She went to business school over 40 years ago in Houston, and started at Sparkler in 1973. Back then punch cards were still somewhat state of the art.

A PCWorld profile in early 2012 looked at Sparkler's virtually antique equipment, and the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., even sent a team out to try and coax the company into abandoning the 402, mainly so they could buy it and put it on display in the museum.

Wood says the cards are slowly being phased out in favor of PCs, but she wasn't sure when.

"We get new cards from the repairman, and when those run out I don't know what we will do," says Wood.

That repairman is Duwayne Lafley of Santa Fe, who was an operator on IBMs in the U.S. Navy, before going into the private sector.

"I may be the only punch card tech left," Lafley says. He used to work on NASA's machines, since he was cheaper than the official IBM techs, starting in 1977. His work helped get the Space Shuttle in orbit. NASA left the punch cards in the dust in 2001.

Companies used to fly him out to work on their IBMs. One of Lafley's clients was even the New York Times.

"Ross Perot has a private museum devoted to IBM machines and they've asked about extra parts," says Lafley, who keeps his extra IBM guts at his 1,500 square foot shop.

The former presidential candidate and billionaire Perot started his career as an IBM salesman in 1957, later stepping out on his own in 1962 to form the soon-to-be-gigantic Electronic Data Systems firm.