Kirstin Tong, President

Kirstin Tong received a degree as a Diplom Wirtschaftsingenieur from the Technical University Berlin, Germany in 1992. Following her degree she came to the U.S. to attend the doctoral program at the University of Alabama. During her research work she got involved with Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc. (MBUSI) with the objective to design and optimize Mercedes’ supply network. The research initiated by this project was the basis for her dissertation. Kirstin received her Ph.D. in operations management in 1996.

After finishing school, Kirstin started working for a start up company focusing on integrated supply chain management. Besides other projects, she was the project manager on a supply chain project at the Chrysler Corporation and Whirlpool Corp. In December 1998, Kirstin founded QMARK a service company providing consulting and software tools for large manufacturing companies mainly in the automotive sector. Besides managing the company, Kirstin managed several international projects in Americas and Europe including Mercedes, Cadillac, and Honda. In more recent years her work introduced her to the Marine Industry with a focus on yacht manufacturing and refit industries. In 2007, Kirstin focused all her efforts into a new technology based information services for the Yachting Industry resulting in the formation of Yacht Record, LLC.