Casey Rakoczy
Director of Development and Commercialization at OluKai
Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Area
In My Own Words
This is a collection of wisdom with over 20 years in the manufacturing arena.
The keys to success in any manufacturing environment come down to your daily routines, whether in engineering, management or as an operator on the shop floor. What we create as habit becomes our management Kata. For me, these routines include:
- Daily interactions with operations and the ongoing pursuit for visual management. If there are problems on the shop floor, you should "Go and See" and make no assumptions. It should be obvious where issues occur and problem solving should always involve a process and seldom individuals.
- I think with a "Business Model Generation" mind. Who are my customers, my key processes, my key partners? Where are my streams of revenue, costs, and value propositions? Knowing these things gives purpose to our work.
- I believe in total financial transparency. The more people know where the costs of a company are and where the revenue streams are, the more valuable your employees become to you with cost reduction or revenue generating ideas. Fiscal transparency fosters innovation, improvement and employee empowerment within a business.
- Lean manufacturing is about 25% learning lean principles and tools and 75% coaching others to success in applying those tools. Some of these tools are meant to be in a routine while others are nice to have in the right situation. Coaching is the channel to mitigate production and quality issues on a daily basis.
- I've seen best progress in innovation in trying and failing and trying again. The application of the "Plan, Do, Check, Act" cycle is of utmost importance when creating new products in a manufacturing environment.
- Effective product development utilizes a disciplined and robust gate review process where outputs at each gate dictates that product's fate. If it doesn't meet the criteria for the business plan, it doesn't go forward. Good project managers always are best at anticipating pitfalls before each gate.
Work Experience
Director of Development & Commercialization - Vietnam
OluKai2023 – Present
As Director of Development in Vietnam, I am working cross culturally to build the most comfortable ocean lifestyle footwear in the world with our Vietnamese Ohana (family). We are making footwear we believe in, in the most responsible ways and meeting our consumer’s expectations for high quality footwear. This takes an army of individuals dedicated to craftsmanship and embodying the spirit of Aloha! It is with all humility that I have an opportunity to lead this group to excellence.
Men's Footwear Product Developer
OluKai2016 – 2020
My work as the Men’s Footwear Product Developer starts and ends with bringing to life fascinating and attractive footwear for our key consumers at the right price and at the right time. To do this effectively, I manage hundreds of styles across 3 seasons per year that are all in some phase of early design to finishing the goal and ushering them into production. It is key in my role to manage patterns, toolings, materials selection, costing, timelines, fit, field and lab testing, supplier evaluation, and design consultation. Along with these core responsibilities, its my genuine interest to foster a positive atmosphere within our mens product creation team. I am much more effective when the team I am working with is working seamlessly. Sometimes this means stepping out of my job function and providing training, assistance or learning other parts of the team’s responsibilities.
Head Brewer & Brewing Coach
Portlander Fermentation Lab2015 – 2016
Portlander Fermentation Lab was started here in Buenos Aires to advance craft brewing excellence in Argentina. Started in April 2015, we offer classes for people interested in brewing, we brew new and exciting styles of beer for consumption in the greater Buenos Aires area and we offer the lab to existing craft brewers to prototype new styles of their own. We have transformed from a start-up brewery to a company in 9 months. We are excited to open our new brewery in March 2016 with capacity to brew 20,000 liters per month. In addition to this, we have started a distribution division that will offer warehousing, delivery, coaching and technical support for craft brewer start-ups and offer support at the point of purchase locations (bars & restaurants) in Buenos Aires. This will offer craft brewers from all over Argentina an opportunity to sell in the nation's capital and most populous city.
Brewing Chemist
7 Colores Brewing2014 – 2015
In October 2014 I decided to take 1 year sabbatical from working as an engineer in the USA to pour some effort into our start-up brewery in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since my initial investment with this brewery we have grown sales from 2000 liters per month in 2011 to over 13,000 liters per month in 2015. After learning Brewing Chemistry and Microbiology of Beer at Oregon State University's PACE program offered through the School of Fermentation Sciences, I decided to put this newfound education in to practice. This challenge of growing a startup microbrewery in a foreign country offered me an opportunity to work abroad and immerse myself in a Spanish speaking culture. This moves me closer toward my goal of becoming fluent in another language.
Manufacturing & Pattern Engineer
LaCrosse Footwear2010 – 2014
My position now is integral to the introduction of new products into the Danner Factory. I currently conduct pattern engineering work to enable new designs to consistently be manufactured in the factory. Includes pattern grading, tooling, capital investments and process documentation.
Product Development Manager
LaCrosse Footwear2008 – 2010
Design and development of footwear for Mining, Oil & Gas, and Railroad industries. Development of footwear for the US Marine Corps, US Army and US Air Force. Includes both LaCrosse and Danner brands.
Manufacturing Engineer
Freightliner1998 – 2008
Body-In-White Robotic Cell Design and Project Management Automotive Tooling and Fixture Design Project Management and Coordination of Facility and Process Equipment (Conveyor Install, Crane Install, Electrical/HVAC, Water/Drainage)
Education
Bachelors of Science
Marquette University1993 – 1998
Senior Project - Ergonomic Design of Cutting Shears
Continuing Education
Oregon State University2014 – 2014
•Microbiological techniques and ASBC Methods of Analysis used in QA/QC labs •Fundamental techniques for isolating, enumerating, staining, and screening brewing yeast and contaminants •Official methods that can be implemented in a brewery lab •Official methods used to evaluate beer production in a QA/QC lab •How to use modern equipment to analyze wort/beer and evaluate process quality •Scientific principles behind packaged beer quality and analysis •Ways to implement and analyze statistical data as it relates to brewing quality beer •Quality assurance vs. quality control as it applies to a brewery
