Buyer/Planner

The Buyer/Planner ensures an uninterrupted flow of materials on the production floor in order to meet the customer demand of the facility, as well as planning production on a daily/weekly basis, all in a Lean manufacturing environment.

Essential Duties / Responsibilities

• Inventory/Production Control
• Ensure that daily production requirements can be met, based upon customer demand and a daily review of available raw material and components using established MRS Systems including Kanban and cycle counting.
• Issue appropriate production orders for product manufactured in Trumann, track production against them, issue materials against work order and close the production order.
• Initiate cycle count process according to schedule, verify against computer count, and research and reconcile variances through the use of 5 Why process.
• Maintain ongoing integrity of the Kanban/production scheduling process.
• Review status reports on Trumann production orders weekly (or more often if necessary), update due dates on the system as necessary and notify Supervisors as appropriate.
• Work with Supply Chain Manager to review and analyze inventory levels of raw material, work-in-process, and finished goods, and make recommendations to continuously improve inventory turns.
• As appropriate, make recommendations to drive changes, improvements and use of new MRS techniques including Kanban and cycle counting.
• Purchasing
• Monitor use and issue releases against blanket orders for use in Trumann.
• Determine need and input purchase orders from local vendors.
• Track outstanding orders for materials and outside services on an ongoing basis and ensure that orders arrive according to schedule.
• As necessary, expedite purchase orders to ensure on-time production.
• Act as point of contact for suppliers and vendors for the facility.
• With Supply Chain Manager, participate in evaluation of vendors for supplier certification, including evaluation of on-time delivery, quality and price.
• Visit local vendors as requested to ensure adequacy of the supply chain from a quality, quantity and reliability point of view.
• Actively participate in the annual physical inventory count.
• Participate in the Safety Leadership program as a Leader and a Safety Champion to support attaining the Corporate safety goals.
• Collaborate to meet the 6S goals for the Trumann facility
• Act as backup for Supply Chain Manager responsibilities. Perform other related duties as assigned or warranted by conditions.

Knowledge / Skills / Abilities

• Highly driven, self-motivated, and able to work under pressure with minimal supervision.
• Energetic and friendly with excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Sound experience using Excel
• Ability to interact effectively with others, both within & outside the organization.
• Knowledge of math (Algebra level) to determine prices, etc.
• Ability to work effectively in a team and comfortable with the continuous improvement found in a Lean Manufacturing environment.

Qualifications / Prior Experience

• Degree in fields related to purchasing or materials management a plus.
• Minimum of 2 years of experience with purchasing or materials related activities.

Work Environment / Other Requirements

• Ability to sit at a desk with a computer and/or process papers for eight hours at a time, with appropriate breaks at approximately two-hour intervals.
• Ability to bend to floor level and reach 4 feet high, to retrieve and file various materials.
• Ability to move around the office and throughout the manufacturing facility to access files and obtain information from other departments.
• Ability to travel for visits to vendors as required.
• Performance Standards are to ensure that all materials are procured and available, so that established production and lead-time targets for the product line are being cost-effectively met or exceeded. Purchase orders, releases and invoices are handled accurately and in a timely manner. Interaction with local vendors done in an appropriate manner, resulting in cost-effective purchases. Cycle counts are accurate, and research of variances is done appropriately and Production orders for the facility are entered and tracked accurately.