Jensen Systems Inc

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by Jens Jensen. I started Jensen Systems Incorporated along with a minority share partner in December of 1986 in Phoenix Arizona. Within a year I bought the partner out and continued expanding services. By 1990 we had 25 employees, were providing millions of dollars in Equipment and Services per year. JSI became the first Authorized Allen Bradley Controls Systems Integrator in the state of Arizona, and an Intellution Partner and Beta software test site. As Controls Systems Integrators we focused on providing PLC based control systems for OEMs and End users, with occasional municipal customers. The majority of projects involved either Ultra-pure water production or chemical mixing/distribution for the semiconductor industry. Most of our System's ultimate destinations were to a Motorola, Intel or TRW facility. Our emphasis was to provide high quality engineering and completed control systems for the most technically challenging and schedule demanding projects involving fluid handling in semi conductor facilities. There was a downturn in the semiconductor industry 1989-1990 that I did not navigate very well from a business standpoint. I allowed my principal customer to convince me to do several months pre-project development work at my risk in anticipation of a very large ultrapure water treatment facility for a new semiconductor fab on the East Coast, (one of the largest in the world at that time). Although, I believe we were instrumental in our customer's contract for that project, their corporate office decided to use an in-house engineering group (on the East Coast) with the excuse that we were too small to handle this project. We were told by the local office that they would make it up to us, which I accepted. The next couple of years turned out to be a continuing struggle from a cash flow standpoint as our primary customer was swamped with the large project we were excluded from. We were still doing lots of proposals with them and others, and kept our staffing level up in anticipation of work that never materialized. In retrospect I realize that since our primary customer was busy, they weren't very aggressive with pricing, at a time when with the industry downturn, everyone else was extremely aggressive. In 1992 I started a Software company named Workware Incorporated with an outside (50%) investor. With the continuing cash flow problems at Jensen Systems Incorporated I eventually (1994) chose to curtail operations as a Systems Integrator and concentrate on Workware Incorporated. All Jensen Systems Incorporated projects were completed in a professional manner, all bills were paid, and enough capital remained to continue financing my share of Workware Incorporated. Four former employees started a new Systems Integration company, which was sold to a larger company. One employee became the Chief Engineer at another System Integrator, and several became the core of the facilities engineering group for a new Motorola plant in Chandler, Arizona. I moved my family to the mountains of Arizona and wrote software during 1995 and 1996. My plan was to create commercial software for Systems Integrators.

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