Who’s Who in the Zoo

Rod Atkins - National Projects Manager, Kannegiesser Australia

A Career Built on Curiosity and Adaptability

Across more than 30 years, Rod Atkins has worked for global corporations, Australian-owned manufacturers, and Australia’s largest commercial laundry operator. He has stood on both sides of the sales counter and both sides of the commissioning floor. His career wasn’t planned but it was shaped by persistence, continuous learning, and a genuine desire to solve problems.

That combination has made Rod one of the most respected technical figures in the Australian laundry industry today.

His journey into commercial laundry started not with intention, but with a clerical error and that mistake set the stage for more than 30 years of contribution to Australia’s laundry and textile sector.

An Accidental Beginning

In May 1994, Rod arrived at what he believed was an appointment to discuss a government grant for setting up a small electrical business. At the time, he was working in stadium lighting and had ideas about branching out. What he didn’t know was that his paperwork had been mixed up, and he was actually attending a job interview with Diversey.

He turned up covered in dust, wearing his work gear, and completely unaware he was being considered for a technician role. But instead of leaving embarrassed, he stayed for the conversation and walked out shortlisted for the position. On his second interview, this time cleaned up and in proper work attire, he was offered the job on the spot.

That decision marked the beginning of Rod’s enduring career in laundry chemistry, dosing systems, machinery, and technical project leadership.

Learning From the Ground Up

Rod began as a service technician for chemical dosing systems across laundry, hospitality, and institutional sectors. With only a week of basic training and no background in chemicals or laundry operations, he was thrown into the deep end. His first major job was at the Hilton Hotel in Melbourne, an experience he freely admits was both chaotic and educational.

He built his expertise the hard way by reading, watching experienced closely, earning from senior staff and problem-solving onsite.

This hands-on approach became a trademark of his career. Rod didn’t just learn systems; he understood why things went wrong and how to fix them.

Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, Diversey went through two major acquisitions, first by Unilever, then by SC Johnson. Exposing Rod to global training and new methods. The eventual decision by Johnson Diversey to exit laundry forced him to rethink his future. With no role left for him in the laundry division, Rod moved on, but not without carrying a decade of deep operational knowledge.

Cleantech and the Shift to Leadership

Rod joined Cleantech in 2007, stepping into state management for the chemical division across Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia. Here, he developed broader commercial and operational skills, working closely with both the chemical and machinery teams.

Cleantech was a very different environment from the corporate world of Diversey — more entrepreneurial, more hands-on, and more reliant on the technical depth of its key people. Rod thrived. Working under experienced leaders, he sharpened his knowledge of wash processes, strengthened his customer relationships, and gained a more holistic understanding of what laundries needed beyond chemicals.

For Rod, this period was transformational. He learned to balance technical precision with commercial realities, built confidence diagnosing end-to-end process failures and he began shaping solutions rather than just supplying products.

Cleantech was later acquired, prompting Rod to continue developing his career through shorter roles with Jasol and then Kannegiesser.

Machinery, Diagnostics and a Growing Reputation

At Jasol, Rod worked under respected industry figure Stan Cam and deepened his grounding in wash chemistry and customer service. He then shifted into machinery with Kannegiesser, a move that expanded his expertise once again – this time into the mechanical, operational and workflow aspects of commercial laundries.

Stepping into the Customer’s Shoes

Rod later joined South Pacific Laundry (now SPL) in a project management capacity, taking on one of the rarest experiences a machinery or chemical professional can have, relocating an entire commercial laundry operation.

His role relocate the Brunswick plant and its equipment into the newly built Broadmeadows facility in Victoria. Projects of this scale are once-in-a-career events.

Rod had to manage planning, demolition, equipment movement, installation, commissioning, and the operational pressures of keeping production running.

The experience gave him insight into budgets, downtime, staffing impacts, customer expectations, and the real-world pressures that sit behind procurement decisions.

It was also this time on the customer side that reshaped Rod’s approach permanently. He began to understand, at a much deeper level, what laundries fear, what they prioritise, and the hidden complexities behind “just installing a machine”.

It made him a more practical, empathetic, and solution-driven technical expert.

Returning to Kannegiesser and Leading National Projects

Today, Rod serves as Kannegiesser Australia’s National Technical Projects Manager, wearing two hats:

Project Management: guiding major installations from design to handover, ensuring new equipment integrates smoothly into production environments.

High-Level Technical Support: assisting customers with complex diagnostics, equipment challenges, and optimisation of washroom and finishing systems.

The role suits him. It utilises every part of his background, chemical knowledge, mechanical understanding, project coordination, and customer empathy.

Looking Ahead: Robotics, RFID and Automated Sorting

Rod sees three major innovations shaping the next decade: Robotic sorting and feeding, RFID-integrated automation and Labour-reducing systems that increase throughput.

While Europe is accelerating faster than Australia, he’s confident that labour pressure and operational efficiency needs will drive local adoption.