Creative Systems:  The History

by Julie Knott

In the early 1970's, before the days of personal computers and floppy disks,
Bill Plice was a young MIT electrical engineer with an interest in boat design
and a knack for computer programming.

Bill had already designed a boat, performing all the stability calculations by
hand.  Slide rules and planimeters were the design tools of choice back then.
Stability calculations were a long process, and Bill had the idea to apply his
computer skills and try his hand at automating the process.  In the evenings,
after his day job at Seattle's Boeing Computer services, he wrote a program
called SCEND, designed to test a vessel model's strength and stability with
the use of a mainframe computer.


A Hobby Becomes a Career

SCEND was a fresh face in the software world, not connected to any other
program and adaptable to an interactive operation.  Once SCEND was up and
running, Bill took on some customers who needed calculations.  Customers would
provide vessel drawings and their data was plugged into a mainframe on punch
cards.  Printouts were produced of hydrostatic properties, cross curves and tank
characteristics, saving hours of time and improving the reliability of the
calculations.  By the end of 1973, several Seattle-area naval architects were
using Creative Systems' services.

Within a few years, Creative Systems purchased its own computer, an Altair,
one of the world's first microcomputers.  Stepping away from punch cards,
the Altair allowed for direct dial up to the mainframe computer on which SCEND
was installed.

The first program developed on the Altair was a Tank Soundings calculator, an
ancestor of the present day optional module TS.  The new module went public at
a B.F. Jensen open house where a terminal allowed guests to marvel at the
real-time calculations appearing on the screen.  Alluring as Tank Soundings
was, the Star Trek game drew more attention.


BHS Begins

The challenge of providing stability analysis for a hopper dredge took Plice's
SCEND program to a new level.  The analysis was requested with both mud and
water in the hopper, which SCEND could provide.  SCEND couldn't, however,
model the effects of spilling, so the decision was made to develop a program
that could do this.

In 1982, a year after Time Magazine named the IBM PC "Man of the Year",
Creative Systems showcased the first version of Basic HydroStatics (BHS), a
program created on the new IBM PC.   Part Maker and Section Editor were
created soon afterward, making the process of reading geometry files much
easier.  BHS and GHS were officially core programs from this point forward.


From Service to Retail

It wasn't long after the advent of the PC that customers were acquiring their
own machines and experimenting with the first version of programs like
AutoCAD.  It was clear customers wanted to run their own stability
calculations, which meant that Creative Systems would no longer be needed to
provide that service.  Creative Systems was now in the software business.

As Creative Systems' customers became independent GHS users, expanding the
market was the priority.  A dealership contract was signed in late 1986 with
Coast Design, whose products included AutoYacht and AutoShip.  GHS was
introduced internationally and sales sky-rocketed.  In attempt to secure a
relationship between AutoShip and GHS, Coast Design began to call GHS
"AutoGHS".

By 1990, sales of GHS were strong, but the relationship with Coast Design had
strayed from its original purpose.  Creative Systems decided to terminate
Coast Design's distributorship.  The rapid development of AutoHydro was made
possible by an agreement with Creative Systems that gave Coast Design the
right to use portions of the GHS source code, but not to duplicate the look of
GHS nor to use its documentation.  Regardless, AutoHydro looks
remarkably like GHS in its documentation and appearance.  Since 1992,
enhancements and improvements driven by customers, regulations, and advanced
technology have placed a wide gap between AutoHydro and GHS.


GHS Partners With ABS

The relationship between GHS and the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) began
in 1989 when ABS decided to improve the efficiency of their in-house stability
software.  After visiting Creative Systems in Seattle, the Technical Services
Group ordered a complete set of GHS, thus beginning a relationship that
continues to the present.  To this day, ABS is the single largest user of GHS,
with over 200 copies installed around the world.


GHS Goes to Sea

With an eye to the growing market for on-board stability and strength
simulations, Creative Systems next branched toward an interactive interface
adapted to the needs of ship operators.  The GHS Load Monitor, commonly known
as GLM, was first installed on the F/V Island Enterprise in 1990.

When the Island Enterprise was on her first voyage with GLM aboard, the
skipper faxed a message to Creative Systems describing how he was able to make
an extra haul before the closure deadline because he could now check the
vessel's stability before bringing another haul on-board.  That one extra haul
paid for the GLM many times over.  At present, GLM has been installed on over
350 vessels around the world.

Twenty-first Century Creative Systems

These days Creative Systems is located in Port Townsend, Washington, U.S.A., a
historic seaport community located on the shores of Puget Sound.  Bill Plice
continues his active involvement with the software he created as president and
designer.

Stephen Schumacher, hired in 1997 as chief programmer, has been vice-president
of Creative Systems for over ten years.  A Harvard educated mathematician,
Schumacher developed an automatic translator enabling the GHS code to operate
in a Windows-based environment.

Julie Knott and Stewart Carrington were both hired in 2007.  Knott, a former
freelance writer, environmental educator, and small business owner, is the
business manager responsible for sales, marketing and anything related to the
business.  Carrington uses the skills he developed as an IT specialist for
Powell's Books, one of the world's largest bookstores, to provide technical
support, maintenance, and training.

Supported and utilized by distributors, trainers and customers in over 40
countries around the world, Creative Systems, Inc., brings more than 30 years
of experience to its GHS software design.