Materials Manager

Materials Manager

Reliant Systems, Inc. is located in a new, modern, climate controlled 40,000 sq ft building in Zimmerman, MN. Reliant Systems, Inc. (RSI) is a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of high precision linear and rotary positioning stages. We specialize in custom, easy to integrate OEM motion assemblies that have been designed for a customer’s specific application.

Our positioning stages are found in metrology, inspection, and production tools used in the semiconductor, medical device, additive manufacturing, and laser machining industries.

Besides manufacturing products of our own design, we also offer build-to-print manufacturing for customers who have their own design and want to outsource production. Our expertise and experience building precision motion hardware, along with our ability to measure performance, ensures that what we build will meet all specifications.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Materials Manager is responsible to support the complete cycle of material flow—from the purchase & control of materials to the planning & control of work in process and the finished product to the packaging & delivery of the finished product. The Materials Manager ensures that a RSI’s available products satisfy the demands of customers. The Materials Manager focuses on efforts to minimize waste, manage inventory levels, and ensure that output is in line with the company’s financial goals, budget, and balance sheet. Additionally, the Materials Manager provides the guidance and direction for the Scheduling, Supply Chain, and Shipping / Receiving / Inventory teams.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Education and Experience Requirements:

• Master’s degree in logistics or related field and 3 years’ experience in logistics / procurement in a manufacturing environment, or
• Bachelor’s degree in logistics or related field and 5 years’ experience in logistics / procurement in a manufacturing environment, or
• Associate’s degree in logistics or related field and 7 years’ experience in logistics / procurement in a manufacturing environment, or
• Certificate in Supply Chain or Materials Management (alternatively considered certifications: Purchasing Manager, Production & Inventory Management, Practice Manager) and 8 years' experience in logistics / procurement in a manufacturing environment, or
• A minimum of High School diploma or GED and 12 years’ experience in logistics / procurement in a manufacturing environment.

Other Requirements:

• High level of business acumen

• Excellent MS Office skills, specifically Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Excel

• Must have good knowledge of an industry standard Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) systems

• Demonstrated Leadership Ability

• Interpersonal Skills

• Problem Solving

• Professionalism

• Project Management

• Self-Management

• Successfully complete a criminal background check.

Preferred / Positives:

• At least 4 years' experience in a supervisory position.

• Certification in lean manufacturing or Six Sigma.
• Experience with ISO requirements.
• Working knowledge of SAP is preferred and a positive.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Department operations functions:

• Ensure that subordinates have all the resources and training needed to accomplish their job properly.
• Lead department in planning, developing, implementing, monitoring, and modifying Work Instructions/Internal Procedures (IP) pertinent to the effective and efficient operations of all areas of responsibility.
• Ensure cross training of employees.
• Continuous monitoring of all areas of responsibility to ensure awareness of all workflow issues both positively and negatively.
• When necessary, assist production control in developing work orders, work order sequencing and routing support.
• Assure that drawings and BOM’s are properly marked up to reflect changes and are processed and stored in accordance with our ECO standards.
• Manage multiple projects as assigned.
• Perform administrative activities associated with the effective management of the responsible area, including compiling, storing, and retrieving data for reports.
• Ensure compliance with company and OSHA safety rules and standards.
• Address safety issues for the department as they occur.
• Practice good customer relations management and maintain a customer relations program.
• Demonstrate ability to balance the needs of the organization and the needs of the customer.

Financial functions:

• Operate and maintain an organized, cost-effective department.
• Utilize resources in an effective and efficient manner.
• Find the best operating level (level of capacity) a process was designed for.
• Understand and present calculations for efficiency, utilization, and productivity and their relationships to financial performance.
• Understand and present calculations of the elements of inventory decision costs such as fixed, variable, direct, and overhead costs.
• Understand and present calculations regarding inventory carrying costs.
• Understand and present data regarding forecasting in the following techniques: judgmental (qualitative) forecasts, quantitative (time-series) forecasts, and causal (extrinsic) forecasting.
• Assemble and report on master schedule regarding performance to the business plan, the shipment plan, the inventory plan, and the production plan as related to financial performance.

Inventory management and warehousing functions:

• Configure warehouses to have formal storage locations that identify the row, rack section, level, and shelf location.

• Effectively manage surplus and obsolete inventories.

• Manage the five functions of inventory: cycle inventory, safety inventory, anticipation inventory, transportation inventory, and hedge inventory.

• Maintain high inventory accuracy through various techniques including inventory audits, annual physical inventory, and cycle counting.

• Develop and facilitate kaizen event teams to remove inventory and process wastes and speed inventory throughput.

Leadership functions:

• Create and maintains a high-quality teamwork environment so team members are motivated to perform at their highest level.

• Promote teamwork and cooperation between areas of responsibility and other departments.
• Recruit, train, supervise and evaluate department staff.
• Effectively orient and provide on the job training (OJT) in order to ensure the best quality staff member with the lowest possibility of turnover, while growing employee careers.

• Conduct on time employee appraisals per company policy and ensure all departmental appraisals are completed on time.

• Assess training needs and identify means (ex. classes, mentoring, written materials) to fill skill gaps.

• Maintain and catalog employee training.

• Provide on-going professional development activities and opportunities for staff to encourage the development of skills that increase personal and departmental productivities.

• Prioritize, schedule, assign, plan, and monitor the work of department personnel.

• Assign work tasks to support the overall departmental strategic plan and task responsibilities.

• Ensure completion of work tasks to assigned completion timeframes.

• Ensure that staff enter respective data into SAP system and verifies the data for quality.
• Ensure that staff are aware they will be accountable for achieving the desired results through supervision of established tasks and projects for completion and individual performance appraisal processes.
• Respond to and resolve employee relations’ issues. Address disciplinary and/or performance problems according to company policy in coordination with site Executive management and HR partners.

• Attend meetings as required and/or requested by Executive Management. Ensure that appropriate information is gathered and distributed at meetings.

• Conduct routine staff meetings.

• Represent or provide a representative who participates in company’s Safety Committee.

• Whether verbally or written, communicate with staff and peers in an effective, efficient, and professional manner. Make certain that communication is expressed clearly and that messages received are understood.

Materials management functions:

• Convert and communicate demand requirements for products and service into detailed plans and schedules for inventory acquisition.
• Calculate key inventory performance metrics such as turnover ratios, cost-benefit tradeoffs, days of inventory on hand, labor productivity, production lead times, and inventory valuation.
• Calculate and apply the various costing and valuation methods to inventory management.
• Have detailed knowledge of manufacturing planning, master production scheduling, product definition, inventory control, materials requirements planning, capacity requirements planning shop floor control, warehousing, transportation, and purchasing business functions.
• Incorporate methods and techniques involved in lean and Just-in-Time (JIT) management.
• Ensure the alignment of the materials management strategy with the business strategies driving marketing, sales, finance, and manufacturing.
• Develop inventory and asset management strategy supportive of company investment and capital management plans.
• Demonstrate ability to consistently deliver products and services to meet customer needs.
• Develop strategic objectives that focus on areas of quality, cost, flexibility, productivity, and speed.
• Consistently search for methods to develop an agile and committed departmental workforce.
• Demonstrate ability to manage the network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers.
• Hold gains in process improvements by establishing key performance measurements, benchmarking metrics, and continuous process improvement initiatives to improve process quality on a continual basis.
• Determine the need for material and capacity to address expected demand, execute the resulting plans, and update planning and financial information to reflect the results.
• Control and check errors, taking any corrective action so that deviations from standards are minimized and stated goals of the organization are achieved in a desired manner.
• Ensure efficient use of transportation resources while meeting the needs of the customer.
• Accurately identify risks affecting supply, transformation, delivery, and customer demand.
• Develop strategies such as dual sourcing, buffering, and forward buying that minimize financial impact uncertainties such as yields, timing, pricing, and catastrophic events.
• Effectively analyze the probability, control, and impact of risks identified.

Strategic functions:

• Create and implement strategic initiatives to ensure a high functioning department.

• Determine responsibilities of assigned organization and staff positions to accomplish business objectives.

• Participate in strategic planning and control development with Executive Management.

• Assist manufacturing with process improvement and lean initiatives to support strategic plans and initiatives.

• Perform and report on the company’s current materials management strategy by examining the company’s quantitative and other performance measures such as through the use of SWOT analysis.

Other duties as assigned by members of Executive Management.

REPORTING STRUCTURE:

This position reports to the Director of Operations of Reliant Systems, Inc. or as assigned by the President.

BENEFITS:

• Health Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• 401K with up to 4% company match
• Paid Time Off
• Bi-weekly pay

Benefit Conditions:

• Only full-time employees eligible

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: From $85,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• Day shift
• Monday to Friday

COVID-19 considerations:
Reliant Systems, Inc. adheres to all State and Federal COVID-19 guidelines and has a preparedness plan in place.

Work Location: One location