Planning Analyst

Aspire Bakeries is a North American baking company with a leadership position in specialty frozen baked goods. Formed from leading bakery companies, its innovative food portfolio includes breads, artisan breads, buns, cookies, donuts, muffins and pastries from beloved brands like La Brea Bakery®, Otis Spunkmeyer®, and Oakrun Farm Bakery®. With 15 bakeries in North America, we are committed to driving innovation, predicting upcoming consumer trends and flavors, and exceeding our customers’ expectations. Aspire Bakeries champions the values of Integrity, Ownership, Customer Focus, Creativity and Care to help us deliver on People Safety, Food Safety, Quality and Collaboration.

The primary role of the Supply Planner Analyst is to develop a network supply plan based on sales forecasts, shipment histories, and promotional plans. The supply planner is also responsible for the efficient replenishment of product into the inventory centers. Development of the replenishment plan requires robust analytical capabilities, deep understanding of total supply chain processes and the ability to collaborate with external suppliers, transportation and distribution operations. The position is a key driver in providing industry leading fill rates to customers and managing efficient inventory levels.

The supply planner is entrusted to develop and maintain professional relationships with internal and external supply chain planning partners. This position is charged with making decisions that impact the supply plan and communicating those decisions to stakeholders. This person is a well-rounded individual who encompasses analytical, communication and leadership skills. They can quickly identify deviations from expected results and other disruptions and are able to promptly resolve any issues.

Partner with key stakeholders across Demand Planning, Material Management, the Business Units, Marketing, Customer Development, Operations, and Logistics to provide advance analytical support and planning specific to supply planning across the organization.

Responsibilities:

• Effectively communicate supply issues with customer development
• Identify present and future inventory and freshness risks and suggest mitigation strategies
• Partner with supplier to root cause operational issues and ensure action plans in place
• Lead cross functional meetings in order to effectively communicate with Demand planning, external Suppliers, Operations and customer development on supply plans to maximize fill rates and improve inbound efficiencies
• Manage production alignment meetings with operations and external vendors and prioritize production based on inventory performance
• Optimization of inventory and case fill, end to end
• Monthly inputs of short term capacity planning
• Communicate any gaps between the plans and monthly performance and future forecast
• Assess the impact of customer changes or significant variances in the demand forecast and recommend appropriate revisions and tactics to the supply plan.
• Responsible for assessing sales trends and data for incorporation into the Supply forecast and strategy for driving improved supply plan accuracy while supporting the demand plan
• Use and maintain current replenishment planning systems to create the most efficient recommended stock transfer orders using established processes
• Work with customer development leads to provide feedback on changes in inventory strategy and direction and other business events that impact inventory targets
• Determines root cause for supply issues and appropriately escalates/engages business partners to resolve issues as quickly and efficient as possible.
• Develop and lead supply chain process improvements related to replenishment activities.
• Plan, execute, monitor, and manage entire inventory related supply chain processes in order to improve key supply planning metrics
• Work with various cross functional teams on projects such as new product launches, line extensions, product discontinuations, etc
• Suggest and manage inventory targets (including safety stock levels) to ensure appropriate stock level

Qualifications:

• 1-3 years of related experience required strong analytical skills required
• SAP experience/knowledge
• High level proficiency w/PC-based applications (Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word)
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills required
• Strong decision making skills
• Ability to work on a high-performing team in collaborative environment
• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations, Engineering, Mathematics or a related field or equivalent work experience
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively
• Certification – APICS, IBP, IBF, LEAN 6 SIGMA a significant plus
• Proven organizational skills & ability to perform under pressure & manage priorities w/competing demands
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Process improvement proficiency, e.g., root cause understanding, lean methodology, etc.

• Ability to work on a high-performing team in collaborative environment
• Able to effectively present and communicate at various levels of the organization
• Quantitative/qualitative analysis, including business process metrics & measures linking to business KPI’s
• Able to navigate the organization across functions in order to influence members of other departments
• Demonstrated understanding & capability in scheduling of multiple lines/multiple planning areas

At Aspire Bakeries, the health and safety of our associates is our number one priority. In fact, CARE is one of our Core Values. That’s why all offers of employment, where legally permitted, are contingent on the candidate showing proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to pass our pre-employment requirements.

Candidates may be legally entitled to a reasonable accommodation if the vaccine is medically contraindicated for them, a medical necessity requires a delay in vaccination, or because of a disability. Candidates may also be legally entitled to a reasonable accommodation if receiving the vaccine conflicts with a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance. Requests for exemption and reasonable accommodation must be initiated by the candidate prior to date of hire.

• All medical information collected from candidates, including vaccination information and test results, obtained during the pre-employment process, will be treated in accordance with applicable laws and policies on confidentiality and privacy.

We thank each applicant for taking the time and effort to submit your resume, however, only candidates to be interviewed will be contacted. Our organization is committed to promoting the independence, dignity, integration, and equality of opportunity of persons with disabilities by ensuring the accessibility of our facilities and services. Accommodations are available for all parts of the recruitment and selection process. Applicants need to make their required accommodations known in advance.