Taking the SLAC

Our first Candid Forum member for Asia CanTech has been finalised with SLAC’s Chris McKenzie confirmed for the event which takes place on 30 October-1 November in Bangkok, Thailand.

In 2016 Suzhou SLAC Precision Equipment employed McKenzie as CMO (chief marketing officer. He is in charge of providing complete solutions to the global customers. McKenzie has a wealth of experience in the metal packaging industry.

McKenzie’s hands on approach to life led him to the industrial arena where he rose to be European technical manager for Preferred Tooling, a specialist tooling company that represented many of the top Japanese tooling manufacturers. After spending time in the Aerospace and Automotive support field, McKenzie found he enjoyed the camaraderie of the can making world and so levitated to the supply and support of tooling to European can makers; this high profile role caught the attention of D.A.Stuart Ironsides who asked him to join them in a European role due to their limited manufacturing and process knowledge in a fast moving and growing market. The company eventually posted him to Malaysia, to support their growing market share and the need for technical support to their global partners.

During McKenzie’s time in Asia he worked for Henkel Surface Technologies as technical director for Asia Pacific, specialising in can making helping with startups for Ball, Pacific Can, CMB, Crown and of course a myriad of independents throughout the boom time of the 1990s. At the end of Chris’s contract he moved to Australia with his family where he expanded his roles to support Houghton and Chemtool in Central and South America, Europe and Russia.

He has since returned to the equipment side of the can making equation working for CMB Engineering, Stolle Equipment and in 2016 accepted the role of CMO for SLAC Precision Equipment.

Commenting on his involvement with Asia CanTech, McKenzie said: “I have been involved in assisting and indeed organising throughout most of my career. Over the decades I have supported the very successful knowledge transfer sessions that became the CanTech technical forums globally.

“When I was asked if I would be involved with the 2017 Candid Forum, it was an easy decision. I have always seen it as an honour to assist in our proud industry and with the CanTech Team.”

The Candid Forum has been one of the main attractions of the previous couple of Bell Publishing events, with industry heavyweights participating in a lively debate with audience participation. The Forum is essentially an opportunity for can makers and suppliers to discuss in an open platform about the key issues facing the metal packaging industry today.

You can hear the latest news and information on the show via the Asia CanTech website: www.asia-can.com. Please use #AsiaCanTech when using social media.

Related content

Leave a reply

CanTech International