Position Summary:
Develop, lead, and continuously improve the Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes, ensuring alignment with the company's strategic objectives. Facilitate cross-functional collaboration to create demand and supply plans that balance customer needs, production capacity, and inventory goals. Act as the primary process owner of the S&OP framework, coordinating stakeholders and driving accountability for actions and results. Maintain the master schedule (forecast) in the ERP system, adjusting to changing business and customer needs. Develop and maintain the Plan for Every Part (PFEP) for all sites. Lead the annual costing update process for all manufactured finished goods across all facilities. Drive business continuity with recommendations, directives, or analysis to ensure safe, quality, and on-time delivery of products to end users.
Essential Functions:
Collaborates with supporting departments and senior management to resolve complex problems that may negatively impact sales objectives. Evaluates, recommends, and implements changes to the planning process aligned with continuous improvement goals.
Collaborates with Sales, Operations, Finance, Engineering, and others to ensure the S&OP model reflects the most current outlook.
Manages and may adjust the master schedule based on customer feedback and manufacturing capacity.
Revises the master schedule as necessary when material shortages or capacity issues arise that cannot be resolved to meet the schedule. Reports significant deviations to contract administration and senior management.
Recommends alternative plans to management when necessary to achieve divisional goals based on analysis and insights.
Monitors and tracks performance to the master schedule using production logs, comparing progress to plan, and resolving scheduling issues by collecting and analyzing information and recommending solutions.
Prepares detailed reports summarizing production requirements and performance against the plan, including backlog, forecast, business plan, and capacity data for planning meetings. Supports senior management in facilitating these meetings.
Maintains professional and technical knowledge through educational workshops, technical publications, networking, or professional associations.
Ensures compliance with relevant federal, state, and industry regulations. Advises management on necessary actions to meet these requirements.
Leads continuous improvement initiatives to enhance the efficiency of internal systems and processes. Recommends actions based on data analysis and comparative assessments, proposing changes in methods when needed.
Acts as a consultant to management on major matters. Establishes goals for projects, identifies mentoring needs, and provides training and guidance to less experienced employees. May provide leadership to teams or departments.
Shares specialized knowledge with others and represents the company in specific projects, contributing to team efforts to achieve desired results.
Drives business improvements based on analytical insights and understanding customer demand. Promotes continuous improvement within the process to ensure both accuracy and efficiency.
Trains, develops, and updates process requirements, software, or systems that depend on process functionality. Fosters a culture of performance, continuous improvement, and collaboration within the department and across the supply chain.
Qualifications:
Education and Experience:
Bachelor's degree in Business Administration or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience that provides both theoretical and practical knowledge in the field.
At least three years of increasingly responsible experience in production planning within a manufacturing environment.
APICS CPIM certification is preferred.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
Advanced knowledge of manufacturing resource planning principles, automated systems, industry practices, and policies.
Ability to lead and implement continuous improvement methods (e.g., pull systems, JIT).
Thorough knowledge of manufacturing resource planning systems and interface operations; proficient in standard business application software.
Ability to analyze complex problems and provide solutions, often requiring new approaches or significant modifications to standard procedures.
Skilled in interpreting complex policies and recommending procedural changes.
Ability to effectively respond to inquiries or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, or the business community.
Strong communication skills, including the ability to deliver persuasive presentations to senior management, customers, and boards of directors.
Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, ERP systems, and demand forecasting software (e.g., Demand Solutions).