Ski’s MFG Bio

It all started in the United States Marine Corps

Or did it? Many of us believe that some people are born with a skill set or Talent that prepares them for some endeavor somewhere down the road of life. For Ski, it surfaced while serving in USMC. He enlisted at age 17, completed high school then spent the next two years in the “Green Machine” as he called the Corps. Shortly before discharge from active duty [they had two-year enlistments back in the 1970s] he was awarded a Letter of Commendation for his efforts in process improvement. It seems even a 200-year organization as successful as The Marine Corps appreciated a process of on-going improvement.

You are a natural educator but there is no money in Education

Those words were spoken to Ski by his dad. He wondered how his son would cope. “Consulting.” Was his response. Then both of them smiled! And so it was that in November 1981 a colleague of his dad asked for some computer help. Ski is a serial entrepreneur since age 11, beginning with a most noble goal: Support his motorcycle habit.

In 1982 a major data processing consulting and installation project lead to the inner workings of a major manufacturer of protective garments. Among Ski’s duties: Time Studies. In addition, he modified an Inventory application that performed Average Costing to permit the selection of FIFO or LIFO methods.

In 1992 IndustryWeek magazine carried a book review on the occasion of the release of the 2nd Edition of The Goal — A Process Of On-Going Improvement by Dr. Eli Goldratt. Even better, the local library had a copy!

Dr. Goldratt was the father of Theory of Constraints (TOC), a business management philosophy and set of logic tools for organizations. He passed in June 2011. TOC was first applied in manufacturing but has now been applied in every industry known to man. Ski and others prefer the term, Constraints Management for its more practical sounding theme. Business owners are cautious when applying “theories” to solve real challenges.

In 1989 Ski returned to manufacturing implementing CAD/CAM and off-machine storage of CNC Code for a MAZAK-based company with both Turning and Milling machine tools. During which time a major client required the adoption and implementation of EDI (electronic data interchange) for Purchase Orders and Change Requests.

In November of 2000 Ski met Goldratt in person and decided to create an international business magazine around his methodology. TOCreview magazine’s premiere issue was published 95 days later. What an adventure.

In the Fall of 2002 Ski completed the Jonah Certification with H. William Dettmer. He then branded this new 6-day training [it takes two weeks of training with a week’s break in between for traditional training from A.Y. Goldratt Institute]. Ski called it the Jonah3+3™ and signed up two colleagues to go through the first-ever offering. Ski has trained and certified 10 Jonahs to date.

The Winter of 2003/2004 found him in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida writing his first book [first to be published that is], Purple Curve Effect — SKI’s Throughput on Command. A business leadership guide chronicling his adventures mostly in the startup space.

In August 2004 while riding around the USA on his motorcycle Ski tried an LBO [leveraged buy-out] of the Red Horse Motorworks custom OEM. As Director of Manufacturing, he was able to more than double production in just 90 days but was unable to raise the funds for the purchase. Before leaving Red Horse, his marketing efforts created more than four times the demand for which the new manufacturing processes addressed in stride. He had implemented TOC’s sDBR — Simplified Drum-Buffer-Rope — to prepare for and then keep up with all future demand.

Goldratt was on a new mission in 2005 and Ski signed on to help with the Events and Events Marketing [having had a client in that space back in 1999]. For almost a year he worked part-time on the recently formed Goldratt Consulting marketing efforts across the USA and was onsite at the Denver, Dallas, San Diego, and Raleigh events. Ski’s White Paper on Distribution [the TOC way] was used to help promote the events.

2008/2009 RhinoGATOR: Using his Purple Curve Effect model, Ski assembled a team and created an API-driven Job Board and got some traction in just 90 days.

2011 Staff My Agency: Using Marketing the TOCway, he was able to join a startup and fix its sales and marketing efforts and put it on sound footing in just 90 days.

2012 GoLive Magazine: Ski had an idea at Patriot Boot Camp [now part of TechStars] in July 2012 and created a startup to create digital magazines. First for the iPad using Adobe InDesign then added Android, Nook, and Kindle. The first of which was Purple Curve.

2017 Agile Audio Dashboards (AAD): Another startup and work in progress, they pivoted into a “reseller” model with a number of affiliate vendors and one major joint venture, giving birth to an amazing VoiceFirst Platform: SurveyLine powered by Voice Metrics LLC of Columbus, Ohio. At AAD he also created two physical prototypes of Alexa-powered devices for use in automobiles way before Amazon introduced Echo for Autos.

2021 AffordableQuarters TODAY! The big 22! Ski’s twenty-second startup, this time in the affordable housing space. Converting ISO Shipping Containers into all manor of housing. Dream Homes for DIYers starting at just $25,000.00USD. Agricultural structures, homeless shelters, and EV charging stations are just a few of the projects.

Ski’s Key Speaking Roles

• MARKETING INSIGHTS WITH ALEXA; EWE/LTS 2019, Syracuse, NY; Mar 2019
• MONETIZING ALEXA (THINK B2B); VoiceFirst Summit, Newark, NJ; Jul 2018
• Should Your Organization have an App; ACLEA, Austin, TX; Jan 2014
• 90 Days is Long Enough to Launch; MoDevEast, Washington, DC; Dec 2012
• System Optimization via TOC; DoD Performance Symposium; Lansdowne 2010
• Lean Real Time Performance Management; National Mfg Week, Chicago, IL; 2008
• Leading Lean Six Sigma Projects Quality Expo; Detroit, MI; 2008
• Keynote: Theory of Constraints in Production; NWDA, Philadelphia, PA; 2002

In 2017, Ski retired. Again. Having first retired after the events of 911 2001. After turning 62 years young he began looking for other things to do with his time. Today, Ski considers himself “semi-retired” and is looking to help Pay It Forward for future generations of free enterprise-loving Americans.

Need a Mentor? Ask!

Give SurveyLine a try (via Echo device or smartphone app):
*“Alexa, launch Contact Ski Man!”

Get Ski’s book for FREE: Purple Curve Effect
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©Copyright 2020-2022 Jeff ‘SKI’ Kinsey.