Kenny Macleod
kenny@tmn.com.au
Australia:
A taste of adventure in the wilderness
Kenny McLeod, one of the first FlexSim distributors in the world, talks about his beginnings as a representative in Australia and Oceania. Kenny and his wife have been running TMN Simulation since 2007. Four years ago, they shifted their home office into a 6.5T 4WD Expedition Camper and started traveling around Australia.
Do you have experience with other process simulation tools, or was FlexSim your first choice?
My background is in data analytics, and I learned simulation with SIMUL8 in the UK. I started TMN Simulation in Australia as a SIMUL8 reseller but quickly changed to FlexSim because I preferred the vendor relationship and the software. I also spent six years on the Board of Simulation Australasia, a key industry association, including time as Vice Chair. This exposed me to all facets of simulation – physical, analytical, and virtual.
The territory you serve is huge, covering six time zones! How do you cover such a vast area?
My territory is vast, but it is mostly desert or ocean. It spans from West Australia to some Pacific Islands, including Fiji and Tonga. On a day-to-day basis, my work is done remotely because it’s only feasible to travel if a big project requires a presence. Standard office hours are less important with our wide area so we fit work around our travel. My travel budget
was huge, but our touring of Australia now allows us to spend some time in each city, where we can arrange meetings.
Being on the road, you don’t have access to an outlet or Wi-Fi like you do in offices. How do you communicate with the world?
Our camper is a serious off-road vehicle, and we spend a lot of time crossing and living in the vast deserts of Australia. We often find ourselves 1,000 km from the nearest town, so satellite communication is the only option. We have Elon Musk’s Starlink, a satellite phone, and an emergency beacon in case we get stuck.
A 5-minute setup gives us 300+ mbs download speed wherever we stop.
FlexSim is software that runs on a computer. How do you handle access to electricity during your trips?
Australia has a LOT of sun. Plenty of solar panels and a big battery pretty much keep us topped up, and we have an inverter, which turns the 12 v DC from our batteries to 240 v. It can make 1.6 kw so we can even run an air conditioning unit or an electric kettle for tea or coffee.