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Convinced that the future for computers lies largely in controlling automated plants and production lines, Norris last year bought nearby Control Corp. to gain automation know-how. Control Data is also involved in the exotic fields of missilery and space flight. The company's proudest boast is that it was tapped by the Navy to build the computer that aims and orients the Polaris missile, replacing a less effective General Electric analog computer. To guide space vehicles, Control Data is perfecting a science-fiction navigational device called ROTRAN. Through a wide-angle camera, ROTRAN measures the relative angle and distance of selected planets, will transmit its findings to a midget (one-tenth of a cu. ft.) computer that then uses the data to chart a course through the heavens.
Norris runs Control Data with a firm insistence on no frills and no nonsense. He keeps the company's overhead low by paying slim salaries that are offset by a liberal stock-option plan, places unusual emphasis on training and planning. In Control Data's computer division (1,000 employees), 17 instructors are kept busy full time teaching courses that range from computer design to report writing. With unhappy personal memories of life in a big corporation, Norris would prefer to keep Control Data small, but concedes that continued success will in all probability bring bigness. Says he: "I don't really care if our sales are $50 million or $500 million. The volume part doesn't worry me as long as we turn out quality."