Twas the night before closing
And all through the shop
Not a system was showing
They were all on the dock

NIMs and detectors
And MCAs too
Some had been tested
But only a few

The chief he had called
For a big shipping quarter
‘Cause he had made promises
That he hadn’t oughter

The troops had been warned
To ship lots and fast
Surely a failing
Would cost someone his …job

Mckernan and Compo
Were now off the hook
The backlog was bulging
No mind what it took

They sold them and stole them
They gave them away
The discounts they equaled
The orders one day

Serrano had hired
Every man he could find
The payroll kept climbing
Yet we’re further behind

Space was a problem
‘Till jones came around
He soon had an option on
Every building in town

Daniels was anxious
Needless to say
His appetite waning
Down to four meals a day

Tench was complaining
‘Bout the lack of germanium
Whatever would he have to say
If ever that problem went away

Waehner was so worried
He was weak in the knees
He thought he might lose
His Oldsmobile keys

Invoices were typed
And totaled and tallied
The computer crunched on
The bean counters rallied

The chief called in Kane
But Kane wasn’t able
To bring forth good news
To the conference room table

No matter the lab
Which Smith kept in black
No matter twice counting
The stock front and back

No managing of assets
Or cutting of fat
Can alter the outcome
The profits are flat

Now the chief has promised
The board to a man
Results in the form
Of a five-year plan

With sales growth compounded
And profits clear
At percentage rates
Of twenty per year

The chief then recalled an
 MCA feature sublime
The dead time clock
That corrects for lost time

This triggered a plan
In the mind of the chief
If the year didn’t end
‘Twould save lots of grief

The concept’s not new
As he planted the seeds
Dead time correction’s
What this company needs

Dead time correction
About three months worth
Will smooth out the glitch
To a new year give birth

Now ’81, ‘82
And ’83 All
May end anytime
‘Tween Winter and Fall

Canberra will never
Again be in hock
So long as the chief
Has his dead time clock