What are the responsibilities and job description for the Demand Planner position at MTD Products Inc?
At MTD Products, we do more than just design, manufacture, market, and sell outdoor power equipment. We are an industry leader driven by a greater purpose to inspire people to care for and enjoy the outdoors. As employees, we foster collaboration and teamwork, drive for results, champion change, and inspire and motivate others to high performance. We value stewardship, passion, respect, integrity, and gratitude. And, every day we build upon the strong corporate culture that makes MTD a great place to build a career.
Founded in 1932 and headquartered in Valley City, Ohio, MTD is a global company known for innovation and award-winning lawn mowers, snow blowers and other equipment for both residential and professional markets. Our family of brands includes Cub Cadet®, Troy-Bilt®, Robomow®, Rover®, and WOLF-Garten® – all backed by our strong network of MTD support focused on uncompromising quality, service and value through advanced manufacturing.
Purpose:
The Demand Planner will be responsible for developing and managing the monthly demand plan for their respective forecast categories. The qualified candidate should be very familiar with JDA Demand/Blue Yonder as this role will be critical for all solution design changes. This role will also analyze historical shipment patterns, point of sale data, promotional plans, as well as other market trends to develop the most accurate demand plan possible. The Demand Planner will work closely with the sales, production, and finance team to ensure that the demand plan is understood and executed.
Essential Duties:
- Set up and maintain all necessary planning parameters in JDA/ Blue Yonder (planning IDs, consumption logic, integration errors)
- Primary focus on A,B,C,D classification of items to ensure proper prioritization
- Build a solid understanding of all available data streams and their relationship to the forecast (historical demand, promotional plans, expected lift, point of sale, new product introductions, out-of-stocks, etc.)
- Maintain a 24 month rolling forecast in JDA/ Blue Yonder
- Reconcile TotDmd and AllocTotFcst differences
- Manage all SKUdemandparam settings
- Collaborate with the Director of Customer Supply Chain and Supply Planning team to allocate production due to capacity constraints
- Work with supply team to maintain inventory levels at or below budget
- Communicate the demand plan to all functional areas of the business
- Continuously analyze and improve forecast performance by analyzing major variances determining root causes and making appropriate forecast adjustments
- Demonstrate consistent improvement to KPIs (Forecast Error/Forecast Bias/On time shipments)
- Support all demand related functions of the IBP process
- Work to improve, standardize, and document all demand processes
- Compare the demand plan to actual performance in order to identify improvements to the sales forecasting process
- Demonstrate initiative and the ability to work independently and be self-directed in completing tasks
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills in addition to effective decision-making skills and excellent attention to detail
- Ability to develop high quality working relationships
- Strong sense of urgency and results orientation
- Strong planning and organizational skills as well as a demonstrated ability to manage multiple tasks and priorities simultaneously in a fast-paced work environment
- Demonstrated interest in forecasting, supply planning, inventory management, or other related fields
- Bachelor’s degree
- Strong analytical skills are a must
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Power BI)
- APICS/IBF certification a plus
- Experience with JDA/ Blue Yonder or other advanced supply chain optimization tool a plus
Work Environment: Mostly remote/Work-from-home with possibility for on-site team meetings in Valley City, Ohio or Chandler, Arizona
MTD offers a competitive salary and benefit package that includes 401k, Defined Contribution Plan, Health and Dental Insurance, Vision Insurance, Tuition Reimbursement, paid vacation, and paid holidays.
MTD is an equal opportunity employer M/F/D/V.