Rakesh Thakkar

Sr. Director, Supply Chain & Operations

30+ years of operational leadership in Manufacturing and Supply Chain.

Previous Experience

Illinois Institute of Technology
Adjunct Professor

Honeywell
Sr. Director Operations Excellence

DuPont
Sr. Director Global Supply Chain

Beam Global
Business Relationship Leader

Bunn-O-Matic
Manufacturing Systems Manager

Littlefuse
Global Operations Leader – Lean Leader

Rak is a seasoned supply chain professional with deep expertise built over decades of hands-on operations and leadership roles at leading industrial and consumer goods manufacturers. Rak began his career as a material handler in a warehouse, in that role he developed a foundational understanding of supply chain operations, including forklift driving and delivery logistics. His career has spanned the full spectrum of supply chain functions, making him a versatile and effective problem solver in complex manufacturing and distribution environments.

Rak joined Saphineia from Honeywell, where he was the Senior Director of Material Execution. In this capacity, Rak was the process owner for Sales and Operations Excellence (S&OE), where he was responsible for ensuring that materials and components flow efficiently through the supply chain, from suppliers to production and eventually to customers.

Prior to Honeywell, Rak served in senior operations and global supply chain roles at Laird Technologies (DuPont Group), Rockfon and Littelfuse. Rak’s consumer experience includes 5 years in supply chain roles with Beam Global, including designing and implementing the S&OP process for controlled and open alcohol states, as well as managing contract manufacturers of non-alcoholic mixers.

Rak currently serves as adjunct professor of graduate-level courses in S&OP and purchasing at Illinois Institute of Technology.

Education & Accreditations

B.S., Operations Management
DePaul University

MBA
Lake Forest Graduate School of Management

Certification
Production & Inventory Management, Project Management Professional and Six Sigma Green Belt

Value Chain Skills

  • Warehousing
  • Production Planning & Scheduling
  • S&OP, SIOP & S&OE
  • Inventory Management
  • Purchasing
  • Distribution & Logistics
  • Operations Management
  • Optimizing working capital
  • Process & Continuous Improvement