▁The ▁issues ▁caused ▁two ▁board ▁members ▁to ▁res ign ▁and ▁in ▁June ▁ten ▁employees ▁were ▁laid ▁off ▁after ▁orders ▁were ▁N OK   3 ▁million ▁below ▁budget . ▁ ▁The ▁company ▁was ▁saved ▁by ▁a ▁N OK   6 - mill ion ▁contract ▁with ▁the ▁Norwegian ▁Meteor ological ▁Institute ▁which ▁N D ▁won ▁in ▁February ▁ 1 9 7 1 ▁in ▁competition ▁with ▁major ▁international ▁players . ▁The ▁Nord ▁Integr ated ▁Computer ▁System ▁( N ord ic ) ▁was ▁completed ▁in ▁April ▁ 1 9 7 2 ▁and ▁consisted ▁of ▁three ▁Nord - 1 s ▁and ▁a ▁new ▁Nord - 5 . ▁The ▁latter ▁was ▁the ▁first ▁ 3 2 - bit ▁min ic om put er ▁in ▁the ▁world . ▁This ▁solution ▁was ▁chosen ▁to ▁allow ▁the ▁Nord - 5 ▁to ▁act ▁as ▁a ▁number ▁cr unch er ▁while ▁the ▁Nord - 1 s ▁would ▁handle ▁smaller ▁tasks . ▁One ▁of ▁these ▁was ▁used ▁to ▁collect ▁information ▁from ▁a ▁global ▁network ▁of ▁weather ▁stations . ▁ ▁When ▁the ▁project ▁finished ▁Nor sk ▁Data ▁was ▁without ▁orders . ▁Sales ▁represent atives ▁were ▁not ▁appreciated ▁in ▁the ▁company ▁and ▁were ▁typically ▁fired ▁about ▁once ▁a ▁year . ▁The ▁company ' s ▁strategy ▁was ▁to ▁create ▁excellent ▁products ▁which ▁could ▁sell ▁themselves . ▁As ▁the ▁twenty - five ▁people ▁involved ▁in ▁the ▁Nord ic ▁project ▁were ▁not ▁required ▁elsewhere , ▁they ▁were ▁moved ▁to ▁the ▁market ing ▁department . ▁It ▁was ▁first ▁with ▁this ▁move ▁that ▁the ▁company ' s ▁management ▁started ▁real izing ▁the