Part of the leadership team reporting to the General Manager, Materials Manager has total responsibility for materials planning and logistics activities that include inventory management, material planning, forecasting & replenishment, warehousing, logistics and indirect procurement. This is a critical role within the plant operations that ensure on-time customer order fulfillment and delivery. This role drives strong collaboration with finance, controlling, supply chain and program management teams within plant and corporate settings.
Responsibilities:
- Independent responsibility for material and logistics planning, inventory planning, release management, on-hand inventory accuracy, forecasting and replenishment, freight optimization.
- Lead a team of materials planners and plant procurement teams; identify needs for skill development and focus on training and performance improvement of the team.
- Design most optimal material planning and inventory solutions, taking into consideration EBITDA, working capital and on-time execution of customer orders; Supervise, initiate, control and direct the activities of all personnel involved in ensuring on-time delivery at minimum cost of labor and materials
- A significant contributor to the financial success of the plant operation by ensuring customer satisfaction is a key priority.
- Lead continuous improvement plans as it relates to materials planning, freight management, space optimization and timely customer order fulfillment.
- Develop analytical tools and daily best practices as it relates to inventory optimization and risk mitigation.
- Provide subject matter expertise to the materials planning team as it relates to ERP and inventory management best practices.
- Train materials personnel in TS16949, ISO 14001, Health and Safety, and facility policies, procedures and work instructions as they apply to their role.
- Lead physical inventories, monitor inventory levels and adjust accordingly.
- Timely execution of performance appraisals for direct reports.
- Ensure coordination between materials planning, production schedules and shipping schedules to meet customer requirements.
- Coordinate all sub-contracting activities
Qualifications:
- A bachelor’s degree or college diploma in business administration, commerce or economics is preferred.
- Certification in Supply Chain/Materials Management Program from an accredited institution will be a distinct advantage.
- Minimum 5 years functional experience in materials and inventory management
- Hands-on experience in monitoring and ensuring inventory accuracy, inventory turnover rates and order fill rates to diagnose inventory planning, forecasting and replenishment problems.
- Have led material planning and inventory performance improvement projects in fast paced manufacturing settings.
- Demonstrate planning and analytical skills; able to recommend and implement sustainable supply planning and inventory management solutions to drive operational performance improvements.
- Solid experience in collaborating with controllers and other managers to make forecasts and build inventories that are compatible with plant’s production and sales strategies and budgets.
- Possess excellent communication skills to interact with co-workers, customers and suppliers about operational matters.
- Solid experience in evaluating and analyzing risks associated with material planning and inventory management; hands-on experience in managing customer demand variations.
- Working knowledge of freight planning, lane optimization.
- Solid knowledge of ERP system/BI reporting. Familiarity with computer applications and communications software. Able to train people on IT systems.
- Working experience on continuous improvement initiatives in supply chain/plant operations settings.
- APICS /CPIM certification preferred
- Hands on experience in scheduling and inventory planning in an ERP system environment.
