Supply Planner

About the role

The regional supply planner is responsible for management and maintenance of the supply plan to determine the lowest/most efficient source of supply to balance customer demand, production and logistics capacities, and raw materials requirements. This ensures orders are fulfilled as required for their responsible area, approved through the Supply Management Review process. The role involves determining the stock replenishment strategy and managing inventory targets for the business line by effectively translating demand inputs (forecast and sales orders) into an achievable plan for their product group. The focus is on increasing supply chain efficiency through targeted replenishment parameters and associated KPIs to ensure product availability meets the sales plan while minimizing operational costs.

Responsibilities

• Supply Plan:
  • Develop Mid and Short Term Supply Plan to regional sites using Rough Cut Capacity Planning to validate capabilities.
  • Initiate and execute short and medium-term supply optimization from given customer demand and plant cost and capacity structure; communicate to the organization.
  • Develop and provide plants with weekly/monthly supply plans.
  • Evaluate business opportunities with the help of an optimization tool.
  • Develop and ensure inventory stocking policies are followed for produced products or trade goods down to SKU level, including safety stock levels and order quantities.
  • Monitor process order On Time, In Full (OTIF) metric to assess the quality of the plan.
  • Convert planned orders for manufacturing plants within the ERP as the handover to the Production Scheduler.
• Stakeholder Management:
  • Coordinate the execution of the supply plan with the responsible ISC Organization, effectively managing any exceptions with demand forecasts.
  • Work collaboratively with the ISC Organization to ensure key assumptions on anticipated production capabilities are reflected within the forecasts.
  • Actively communicate the situation on blocked stock to the ISC organization.
• Inventory Segmentation and Network Optimization Models:
  • Determine the most appropriate inventory replenishment models that balance service, cost, and inventory based on business objectives using the Arkieva Inventory Module.
  • Use the Arkieva supply module for network optimization to determine the most efficient supply plan to fulfill customer requirements.
• SAP and Arkieva Master Data Maintenance:
  • Maintain Arkieva master data (plant assignments) relevant for the supply and inventory planning process.
  • Maintain SAP master data (replenishment parameters and planning rates) relevant for the supply and inventory planning process.
  • Responsible for the process quality of NUSAP (new SKU creation) implementation within the management of change (MOC) procedures for all products within their region, in close partnership with Manufacturing.
• Power User Arkieva (Select Employees):
  • Act as a project leader or participant in supply and inventory management projects with minor financial impact, focusing on SAP and Arkieva changes, including management of external expertise.
  • Create training materials for users of APO and carry out training of relevant personnel to support continuous improvement (Planners, Schedulers, etc.).
• Business Planning:
  • Support preparation and facilitation of Regional Supply Reviews.
  • Collect and summarize inventory forecasts and forecast accuracy.
  • Collect and summarize system (customer, in transit, and in-plant) inventory.
  • Monthly collection, analysis, and distribution of inventory, forecast, and accuracy analysis.
  • Provide input to the Demand Management Review (SMR) in developing forecasting strategies on existing items, new products, and product phase-outs.
  • Co-lead the Demand Supply Review (DSR) to drive tactical implementation of the approved plans.
• Improvement Suggestions:
  • Propose tools and structures for the improvement of the planning function and, after consultation with the IBP Manager, implement these structures.
  • Manage specific Supply Chain projects to meet budget requirements, project timelines, goals, and business objectives.
  • Actively drive improvement in planning/scheduling-related activities in the plant, such as process change-over reduction, inventory reduction/leveling, reduced scheduling effort, increased production efficiency, labor load leveling, accurate delivery date quotes, and provision of real-time information to customer service and the plant.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business, Mathematics, Engineering, Supply Chain, or related discipline.
• Highly proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Access, SharePoint).
• Very good English communication skills.
• Excellent analytical skills and demonstrable capability to analyze data (including mass cross-reference data validation, trending, and forecasting).
• Strong communication skills; able to communicate with all functional levels within the business.
• Experience with SAP (or equivalent ERP system), Business Warehouse (or equivalent data warehouse), or Arkieva (or equivalent advanced planning software) is preferred.
• Solid understanding of supply chain and business processes.
• Ability to prioritize and proactively complete projects with little direction.
• Process-driven attitude and results-oriented.
• APICS CPIM or CSCP certification is preferred.
• Willingness to travel (approximately 10% Regional or Global).

Schedule

This is a permanent, full-time position based in Houston, TX.