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Who's Who: James Winsor

At home and at the office, Arral Industries' James Winsor utilizes his engineering background in challenging, imaginative ways.

June 17, 2002

On the surface, James Winsor is a classic technogeek. The California native earned an electrical engineering degree in 1984 from Cal Poly Pomona and spent six years as an electrical design engineer at General Dynamics. Today, at age 40, he is vice president of new business and technology at kiosk designer-manufacturer Arral Industries Inc.

Testament to his geekiness is evident through his residence, workplace, and the people who know him best. His backyard swimming pool, for example, is so sophisticated it calculates how much water evaporates over time and replenishes the water supply automatically. It has programmed lighting, dolphin-shaped topiary, and fountains.

"I do it more as a hobby," Winsor said of his Corona, Calif., home, located just down I-5 from Arral's Ontario plant. "I moved in eight years ago and it's still not finished."

No detail, it seems, is too insignificant for Winsor's tinkering. Jim Wagner, a sales representative for Qualspec, a technical sales service firm, has known Winsor for more than a decade. He said he was amazed that Winsor installed an air compressor in his garage and ran air hoses under concrete just so he could inflate pool toys for his three daughters.

"He's definitely an engineer, and is very good with controls and electronic input products," Wagner said.

Arral's man

Winsor joined Arral Industries back in 1992, at a time when he said the company was busy with military contracts, designing and manufacturing parts for such products as Stinger missiles. The company, started in 1968 by Louis Arranaga, thrived during the `70s and `80s as part of California's burgeoning military industry, and peaked at about 100 employees. Arranaga, now semi-retired, still owns the company and meets with Winsor and vice president for manufacturing and engineering Mike Martin weekly.

Arral Industries vice president of new business and technology James Winsor takes a hands-on approach to his work.

When the military work slowed down in the `90s, Winsor turned his attention to the commercial world, helping design a self-service product for libraries that launched Arral's kiosk business in 1994. Today, the company has more than 50 commercial customers, though its payroll is just 35 employees.

"I came on as a manufacturing guy, and became project engineer as we were getting out of aerospace and into more commercial," Winsor said. "We had a successful product, and went to more self-service and kiosk. We were 20/80 commercial to aerospace before, now we're 80/20."

Winsor's current title at Arral is a bit of a misnomer. Sales manager Ben Wheeler said Winsor certainly leads the company's technology efforts, but acts as more of a chief operating officer. He said the technology part of Winsor's job brings out his creative side.

"He knows all the new technology, and we're the first ones to have it," Wheeler said. "If it's a new digital camera, we have it first. He encourages us to be creative enough to go out and find new ventures and new ideas."

Leadership and creativity

Winsor deserves credit for Arral's unlikely emergence in the kiosk industry after three decades as a steady supplier to the U.S. military. Winsor himself has been transformed from a mere technogeek into a business leader capable of developing strong relationships with customers and employees, while keeping his hand in the design of new products.

"He's a good talker and presents a good image," said Wagner, a teammate on Winsor's softball team. "He's one of those guys who can handle the whole show, engineering to marketing, soup to nuts type of thing."

Four years ago, Arral won an important contract to design kiosks for United Airlines, today probably Arral's largest client. There are 103 mobile chariots in operation, and a prototype of a new design is being tested at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Among Winsor's engineering contributions is the design of a dead man brake that stops the device from rolling if the operator loses control.

"If we ask for something, even if it's out of the scope of the project, there's never any hesitation," said Ron Zak, project leader for United's deployment group. "There were no cutting corners at all. You could see that from the get-go."

Another project, for Avnet Inc., a seller of mobile/wireless computer solutions, required delivery of a kiosk on a tight time frame, according to general manager Gil Hooper.

"James is a technical, but likeable person, who's not afraid to go out on a limb and make a commitment and stand behind it," Hooper said. "We couldn't have gotten it done by anyone else."

Working on it

Winsor gets a lot out of life, whether it's indulging his long list of hobbies -- scuba diving, snow skiing, softball, boating -- or keeping employees and customers content at Arral. Sure, he's got those technogeek qualities, but also thrives on other aspects of his position with Arral.

"I try to treat work as a hobby," he said. "You have a lot of people who complain about their job. We have programs and events to motivate, and everyone knows each other here. I try to make it a place you want to work."

Long-term, Winsor envisions obtaining an MBA, but not until his three girls get a little older. Besides, his focus on Arral is paramount. He said that the more he gets into the business and marketing of the company, the more he likes it. And he knows that his understanding of technology is Arral's competitive advantage.

"My goal is to know what cutting-edge technology is available, then understand it so we can offer it to our customer," he said. "We're a problem-solver, we provide solutions."