Barry grew up in Columbus, Indiana, and can trace his family’s history in southern Indiana all the way back to the 1700s. His dad started working at Cummins in 1940 as a machinist, and continued there for 37 years. But while Barry admired his dad, he didn’t consider a technical career for himself, until a high school physics teacher advised him that engineering would be the perfect fit for him. “That teacher was very influential,” says Barry. “I followed his advice and enrolled at Purdue, which was a no-brainer as one of the greatest engineering schools in the country.”

It was a smooth transition, as Barry had been already taking AP-level calculus and statistics classes. But he also liked getting his hands dirty. “I guess that’s my dad’s influence,” says Barry. “I just loved doing hands-on projects. My senior year, we took on a project from a combustion professor, who wanted to disprove a bunch of devices on the market that claimed to improve a car’s fuel economy. We rigged up a device onto the 5th wheel of a Purdue company car, and tried to emulate official EPA tests for acceleration and deceleration. We didn’t have a test track, so we drove up and down US-52 bypass, which I don’t think you could get away with today!”

What really sparked the flame for him was Purdue’s co-op program, where students alternate semesters between taking classes and working full-time in industry. “I had the connection at Cummins, so I was fortunate to spend two years working there while attending Purdue,” he says. “At that time in the 70s, engineers typically worked at a drafting board. One of the important things I learned during my co-op was that I preferred working with people, versus working at a drafting board.”

After graduating in 1982, Barry started looking for sales jobs at technical or engineering companies. He began at Timken, where he sold bearings. “It was a perfect first job, because bearings are in everything,” remembers Barry, “One day I could be dealing with 150-ton machines from Caterpillar, and the next day selling to a Mennonite wagon builder!”

After 5 years, he then moved to a sales position at Garrett Turbochargers, which found him travelling – and away from his family – for 90 percent of the year. This isolation prompted an unusual job offer during Christmas dinner in 1987. “My father had been machining parts in his basement since he’d retired,” says Barry. “He told me, ‘I think there’s an opportunity here. But I don’t know how long I can do it by myself.’ None of my siblings were interested, but I was. I actually sent him a resume and a cover letter to convince him!”

His dad actually tried to talk him out of it. “He told me I had an engineering degree from Purdue and a good job, and that’s an awful lot to put at risk to come join him in his basement. But somehow I just felt that I needed to do this.”

Soon enough, Barry and his wife had quit their jobs and sold their home (“I actually went back to sleeping in my childhood twin bed!” laughs Barry). He soon realized he had a lot to learn. “I had been in the sales side so long, it had been years since I had actually sharpened a drill or run a machine tool,” he says. “Fortunately, I could mentor under one of the greatest machinists ever. For two years, that’s what it was – just me and my dad, making parts in his basement.”

Barry Turner quit his corporate job in 1988 and went to work for his dad, machining parts in his basement. Turner's Machining Specialties has since grown exponentially.

Fortunately, Turner’s Machining Specialties proved to be a success. In 1990, they moved out of the basement, bought their first building, and hired their first employee. Four years later, they moved to a bigger building. Four years after that, they put an addition onto the building. By 2004 they had so much work, they added a second shift in their factory.

“We started out just supporting our local contacts at Cummins,” says Barry. “When they moved on to other companies, they would ask us to keep supporting their machining needs at their new companies. And so the business just grew and grew, 100% by word of mouth.”

Back to basics

In 2008, Barry’s entrepreneurial spirit would pivot once more. “I was approached by a surgeon who had patented a procedure for treating spinal stenosis, but couldn’t find a place to manufacture the device,” he says. “We agreed to team up. We would do all the engineering design and development for the prototypes, in exchange for equity in the new company. And that’s how Innovative Surgical Designs, Inc. was born.”

Much like his “mentorship” in his dad’s basement, Barry needed an education in the field of medical devices. “The first time a surgeon tried our tools, he broke every instrument I had built!” says Barry. “I thought orthopedics was precise and delicate, but actually it’s just carpentry in the human body. Our tools had to be tough enough to match.”

The procedure (and its tools) have been tested in Russia, Italy, France, and Ireland, and a hybrid version has been approved by the FDA for use in the United States. “Our first human patient was a Russian landscaper, who could no longer work and was bedridden because of his condition. I was there in the operating room for the first procedure. Months later we got a letter from him, saying we had given him his life back. That’s pretty impactful.”

Getting things done

Starting a company is an intimidating prospect, but Barry says you have to start somewhere. “When we were in the basement, our accounting system was two nails on the wall – checks would go on one nail, and receipts would go on the other, and the difference between the two was how much money you made!” he laughs. “Then we went from nails on the wall to envelopes, and then to shoeboxes, and eventually to a computer. We just kept improving a little bit at a time. It was a long, slow, steady process.”

Now the family is addicted to entrepreneurship. Barry’s wife Donna (also a Purdue grad, with a Bachelor’s in Math and a Master’s in Statistics) started Lifestyle Specialties LLC, specializing in fuel system and turbocharger remanufacturing. Their son Alex started his own business, Taglia Tool LLC, fabricating hand tools for glass artists. “Today, there’s a lot more involved starting a business than back when we were in the basement,” says Barry, “but I’m fortunate to be able to help, because I’d been through the process myself.”

With the recent overseas supply chain issues, Barry finds his company in the catbird seat – a domestic company able to make custom parts that manufacturers desperately need. His background in problem-solving at Purdue led him to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right skillset. “A customer may come to us with a very expensive piece of equipment that’s broken, and they’re losing thousands of dollars an hour,” says Barry. “I have the confidence to work that problem, figure out what kind of steel they need, what the tolerances are, and how quickly we can make it. My world is a mechanical world, and my Purdue education helps me to succeed in that world.”

“We’ve worked hard to develop our reputation, through hard work and innovation,” he says. “It’s really fulfilling to be the guy people come to when they want to get things done. I always tell young people: find something that no one else wants to do, and do it better than anyone else.”

Barry Turner pivoted from engineer to salesman to entrepreneur, and his whole family is now involved in starting new businesses.

Writer: Jared Pike, jaredpike@purdue.edu, 765-496-0374

Turner's Machining Specialties: www.turnersmachining.com