Rakesh Thakkar

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, a role that allowed him to develop 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, where he designed and implemented the S&OP process for controlled and open alcohol states, as well as managed 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.