OKI Data Americas (ODA) announced that it has named “Dennie” Kazuo Kawahara as President and Chief Executive Officer effective 1 October 2021.
Kawahara will replace Sergio Horikawa who will leave the OKI group on 30 September. In his new position, Kawahara will be responsible for all aspects of the ODA Group.
“I look forward to working with the ODA team as we proceed with our business transformation. Obviously, we continue to face significant challenges. I feel confident that our team will continue to execute our transformation initiatives and support our distribution partners and customers effectively,” said Kawahara.
Most recently, Kawahara served as Global Transformation/OEL Chief Transformation Officer at OKI Europe Ltd. where he led significant business transformation projects, including the launch of a new ERP implementation, as well as a series of business process enhancements that drove significant efficiency and cost-savings improvements.
OKI Data Americas said that Kawahara’s experience will help drive its business transformation initiatives, specifically the refinement of business processes and systems as the company looks to further streamline operations.
Kawahara joined Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd. in 1992 and has spent a majority of his career in the IT industry serving OKI’s international subsidiaries leading global marketing, product planning and business operations initiatives. He has served as Managing Director of both Oki Data Australia Pty Ltd. and OKI Europe Ltd, and held various business development, marketing and sales positions with Oki America Inc. in the United States for over ten years.
Kawahara holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Language and Area Studies from Osaka University of Foreign Studies.
Sergio Horikawa first joined the OKI group in Brasil, where he held positions such as President of Oki Data do Brasil, an ODA subsidiary, and Chairman of the Board of OKI Brasil, a banking technology solutions company. Prior to taking over as President and CEO, Horikawa served asDeputy President of OKI Data Americas, Inc., where he was responsible for North American sales and marketing in addition to the Latin American operations, Horikawa was appointed to oversee ODA’s transformation into a leaner, printing solutions focused organisation, but also started to execute the strategic initiative of discontinuing the sales of OKI-branded printer hardware in the Americas.
“The past eighteen months have brought unprecedented challenges to the market and specifically to ODA business,” said Horikawa. “Supply chain disruptions, material shortages, fluctuating customer demand and the COVID-19 impact to the workforce and daily business cycle placed severe strains on the business. I’m very proud of the work our team accomplished during this period and sincerely thank all the employees at ODA who helped us navigate these challenges, maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction while achieving the company transformation targets. Dennie will bring to ODA an extensive experience in balancing customers and partners focus with the difficult task of delivering the expected results for the corporation, while keeping our Team’s high performance and motivation.”
