McKenna Systems, Inc. was founded by Tim McKenna in 1999. Tim started his career as an electronics technician after completing an 825 hour training course at Keesler Air Force Base in 1982 and returned to Chicago to serve in the Illinois Air National Guard until 1988.
Tim's first few jobs in the field involved trouble shooting and repairing newly manufactured circuit boards. This honed his skills in finding issues with components using test equipment and then repairing the circuit boards by replacing components. The key to success was doing the job without damaging the circuit board. His last job in that field was at a start up company called P.C. Service Express which is where he learned an intimate knowledge of the Personal Computer and DOS.
Tim got a break in 1986 when he was hired by what was then called Misomex, a division of Royal Zenith as a field service technician. His newly acquired PC skills were a good fit, and his component level repair skills made him useful to the company right away as the company had machines in the field dating back to the 1950s and 1960s, many of which used the same type of electronics as the old radio sets he had worked on in the Air Force. The step and repeat machine were the best in the business and had a great reputation as being robust and very accurate. Tim's coworkers were very experienced technicians and he learned a lot about the machines, plate making, and the printing industry.
In 1989, Misomex acquired a factory in Northamton, U.K. that was then called Dale Graphics who were manufacturing a plotter cutter that could be used in the packaging industry. They also acquired a software company called MSR that had been developing a CAD system for package design to go with their layout optimization program. At first, several different technicians were involved in the "MasterCAD" and plotter installation and support. But by the end of 1990, the business grew to a point where someone was needed to support the product full time and Tim took the newly created position of Product Specialist.
For the next 7 years Tim worked exclusively on the plotters, sample makers, and CAD systems being sold by Misomex.
During this time, Tim established a good rapport with all of his customers and helped them get the most out of the equipment that they bought. Along the way, he learned a lot about the packaging industry, sample making, prototyping, blanket cutting, mock ups, and how to apply the software and machinery to number of unique requirements of his customers.
When the company went bankrupt, Tim went off to sell CADCAM software for a while, but it wasn't long before his customers started to call for help. By 1999, he hung a shingle and all this time later the business is going strong. The machines have moved around and have gotten a little older, but Tim does a good job keeping them up and running.
Tim McKenna
President
2935 W. Sherwin Ave.Chicago, IL 60645
773 251 3855 cell
