Kathryn (Katy) Houk, Rockwell Automation | Women Breaking the Mold 2024

Kathryn (Katy) Houk is one of those people who didn't necessarily plan on a career in the tire industry. It just kind of happened that way.

A native of Cleveland, when she got out of school she was looking for a leadership development program. Houk had done her internship at Goodyear, so she went into the Akron-based firm's Supply Chain Leadership Development Program.

She went through several six-month rotations in supply chain roles and had a great experience. But then she had a chance for her first manufacturing role at the firm's tire factory in Topeka, Kan., a much different part of the country.

Now Houk wasn't so sure about taking this leap of faith, but one thing that helped convince her to give it a go was that her manager in Topeka would be a woman. "That gave me some confidence that women could succeed in this environment," she told Rubber News. "And also, it was only six months, so I was like I can do anything for six months.

"... And I'm so grateful for that manufacturing experience because it really changed the trajectory of the rest of my career."

That supervisor spent time with Houk not only as a manager, but also as a mentor.

"But really I think the biggest impact is that I don't know that I would have been brave enough to put myself forward for that position without her," Houk said. "I mean this really is what we talk about when we say that representation matters—especially in an environment like manufacturing.

"It made it easier for me to take that leap because she had gone first, ... because it was probably even harder for her. She was the only female on the plant leadership team at that time. So she was out there breaking glass and made it even easier for me as an early career person to take that leap."

And Houk said after learning so much about manufacturing and the opportunities to improve, she came back to Akron and spent another couple of years working in Goodyear's race tire plant.

But being early in her career, she also was looking for that next opportunity. And that came two years ago, when she made the move to Cleveland-based Rockwell Automation, where she took on the job as industry leader for tire and rubber.

Houk makes no bones about the fact that when she comes into a new job, she's looking for ways to make things better. She thrives working on cross-functional teams, especially in a manufacturing environment where there usually is a more formalized continuous improvement discipline.

"I was so early in my career, I didn't really know what else was out there in terms of tools to solve the problems that I was seeing," she said. "And that is why when I got exposed to Rockwell, it resonated with me so quickly. Like there are really powerful technologies that can be applied to manufacturing to solve a lot of these problems that I saw.

"That was the draw to Rockwell, solving those problems that I didn't know how to solve with these very advanced tools like machine learning and AI, and just very powerful manufacturing softwares."

Houk, it seemed, had found the perfect place for the next stop in her career. She had been exposed to the Rockwell technology when in procurement roles at Goodyear, and she learned more about Industry 4.0 and the digital transformation.

"I feel like I found that home in manufacturing, and the Rockwell Technology is just such a powerful enabler and catalyst for manufacturers," she said. "And so that was where I wanted to go. I felt like it was a perfect cultural fit for me because it was that faster pace of change, bleeding edge, tip of the spear. But still in the context of manufacturing."

Houk also feels that the tire and rubber industry is the perfect place to apply those types of technology, because rubber is such a dynamic material.

"It's moving, it's flowing, it's changing. It's cooling and shrinking and you know it's just a complicated material," she said. "And AI and machine learning can yield significant improvements in quality and throughput, and just overall productivity, because you can absorb vast amounts of data. And if you can achieve closed loop control, you can be optimizing in real time."

As the lead for the tire and rubber industry vertical for Rockwell's North American region, she believes she has one of the best jobs because she's responsible for a whole industry. That means she gets to look at the landscape with a wide lens and focus on what is going to move the industry forward.

In her position, Houk gets to work closely with both the Rockwell team and their customers to make sure that both constituencies are getting what they need.

"For Rockwell, I am the voice to the industry that is sharing the knowledge of what technologies can serve this industry well," she said. "Then internally to Rockwell, I am collaborating with our business units, with our research and development teams, to make sure that I am bringing the voice of the tire industry internally to make sure that our products and services and softwares are a good fit for the industry."

Houk has both experienced herself and seen others experience inequalities or situations that they had to manage through that they shouldn't have had to deal with. "I do think it's gotten better in the 10 years that I've been in this industry, but it is certainly not where it needs to be," she said.

She gets passionate about advocating for resources and support for pregnant women and new parents—both men and women. Rockwell has an employee resource group called Parents and Caretakers, and she serves on the leadership committee for that.

One reason she takes an active role is that she herself has two young children, and has had to navigate through maternity leave, and then returning to work.

"I've seen a variety of different leave policies and also just attitudes towards working parents, both positive and negative. And so I try to use whatever power I can to try to advocate for more resources and better policies for parents and caretakers," Houk said.

That means not just an improvement in maternity leave policies, but paternity leave as well. "New dads don't get enough paternity leave. I had a C-section with my second child and I don't know how I would have been able to manage without my husband home."

Things also will get better for females in the tire and rubber industry, she said, as their numbers grow.

"As more incredibly qualified, impressive women ascend the ranks of leadership, this problem will solve itself," Houk said. "In Rockwell, you have some amazing executive women who are the real deal. We have four regions in Rockwell, and three of them are led by women."

Years with company: 2

Years in rubber industry: 10

I initially was drawn to the tire and rubber industry due to the early career opportunities that I found here, including internships and a rotational leadership development program. I have stayed in the industry for over a decade now because I've continued to find opportunities to experience different areas of business (supply chain, manufacturing, capital projects, commercial operations, sales) and to grow both personally and professionally.

Rockwell is a company that endeavors to solve problems for manufacturers. I have the benefit of having an informed perspective because early in my career, I worked in tire manufacturing facilities as a scheduler. I like to joke that "if you want to know how a plant runs, be a scheduler," because every disruption that happens in a plant impacts the production schedule. I understand many of the challenges that manufacturers are facing because I've lived them. I try to bring that perspective with me as I challenge my co-workers and company to keep the realities of manufacturers at the center of everything we do. Another key theme in my career has been working on large capital projects. The urgency, intensity and complexity of these projects should not be underestimated. I try to bring that perspective to my colleagues and company as well, especially when engaging on large projects.

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