Materials Supervisor

Company / Location Information

A.O. Smith is a global leader applying innovative technologies and energy-efficient solutions to products manufactured and marketed worldwide. The company is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of residential and commercial water heating equipment and boilers, as well as a manufacturer of water treatment products for residential and light commercial applications. A. O. Smith is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with approximately 12,000 employees at operations in the United States, Canada, China, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Primary Function

Lead material planning and purchasing activities for an assigned plant or location, ensuring material availability, supplier delivery performance, inventory optimization, and consistent execution of SAP planning processes through direct supervision of the material planning team.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop material planners responsible for assigned materials, suppliers, and purchase orders.
• Establish clear performance expectations and hold the team accountable for material availability, supplier delivery, inventory, and purchasing results.
• Ensure materials are available to support production schedules, service requirements, and customer commitments.
• Oversee daily MRP execution, purchase order management, supplier follow-up, shortage resolution, and inventory replenishment activities.
• Monitor material availability and lead the escalation and resolution of shortages, past-due purchase orders, and supplier delivery risks.
• Maintain direct purchasing responsibility for selected materials or suppliers based on plant needs and workload requirements.
• Ensure SAP material master and purchasing data, including lead times, lot sizes, safety stock, source information, and replenishment settings, are accurate and maintained.
• Review and manage plant-level material planning KPIs, including inventory health, supplier on-time delivery, days on hand, production stockouts, purchase order automation, purchase order rework, and process adherence.
• Develop and execute corrective action plans when KPI performance is below target.
• Partner with plant operations, sourcing, quality, engineering, logistics, finance, and other stakeholders to resolve material and supplier issues.
• Manage inventory levels to balance material availability, customer service, operational risk, working capital, storage requirements, and total cost.
• Lead efforts to reduce excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory while minimizing risk to production and service.
• Oversee material planning activities associated with engineering changes, product launches, supplier transitions, and material phase-ins or phase-outs.
• Standardize planning practices, reinforce documented procedures, and identify opportunities for process improvement, automation, and elimination of manual work.
• Provide regular performance updates, risk assessments, and escalation support to plant leadership and material planning management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Operations, Engineering, or a related field preferred; equivalent relevant experience considered.
• 5+ years of experience in material planning, purchasing, inventory management, or supply chain operations.
• Prior experience leading employees, project teams, or complex cross-functional supply chain activities; direct supervisory experience highly preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of SAP, including MRP, purchase order management, inventory planning, and material master data.
• Demonstrated knowledge of inventory management principles, safety stock, lead-time management, Kanban, min/max replenishment, and excess and obsolete inventory reduction.
• Proven ability to analyze KPIs, determine root causes, develop corrective actions, and drive performance attainment.
• Strong supplier management, problem-solving, decision-making, and escalation management skills.
• APICS/ASCM CPIM, CSCP, or related supply chain certification preferred.

We Offer

Competitive compensation package and comprehensive benefits plans which include medical and dental insurance, company-sponsored life insurance, retirement security savings plan, short- and long-term disability programs and tuition assistance.

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ADA Statement & EEO Statement

In developing this job description care was taken to include all competencies needed to successfully perform in this position. However, for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) purposes, the essential functions of the job may or may not have been described for purposes of ADA reasonable accommodation. All reasonable accommodation requests will be reviewed and evaluated on a case-by-case basis. We consider all applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, gender identity and expression, marital or military status.

We also provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and applicable state and local law.