Demand & Materials Planning Manager

Demand & Materials Planning Manager

Position Purpose:

The Demand & Materials Planning Manager leads demand planning and raw-material forecasting across multiple manufacturing locations. This role translates customer demand, production schedules, historical usage, inventory levels, supplier lead times, and business forecasts into actionable purchasing and material plans that support uninterrupted production while optimizing inventory investment.

The ideal candidate has significant experience leading multi-site demand planning in a manufacturing environment, strong ERP/MRP capabilities, and a practical understanding of purchasing and inventory management. Metals purchasing experience is preferred, along with familiarity with CNC machining and the impact of material grades, dimensions, yields, scrap, and lead times on production requirements.

Essential Functions:

Demand Planning and Raw-Material Forecasting:

• Lead the demand-planning process across multiple manufacturing locations and establish consistent planning methods, reporting, and performance expectations.
• Develop and maintain raw-material forecasts using customer demand, production schedules, historical consumption, inventory balances, supplier lead times, and anticipated business requirements.
• Translate finished-goods demand and production plans into projected raw-material requirements by site, material type, specification, and timing.
• Analyze forecast-to-actual consumption, identify root causes of variance, and implement actions to improve planning accuracy.
• Identify anticipated shortages, excess inventory, changing demand, and material risks and communicate them proactively to Purchasing, Operations, and site leadership.
• Establish planning horizons and replenishment assumptions that reflect supplier lead times, production requirements, service expectations, and inventory objectives.
• Support capacity and production-planning decisions by providing accurate and timely material-demand projections.

Purchasing and Materials Management:

• Partner with Purchasing to convert forecasts and ERP/MRP requirements into effective raw-material purchasing plans.
• Monitor raw-material availability, supplier lead times, open purchase orders, inventory levels, safety stock, reorder points, and anticipated production needs.
• Support purchasing strategies for metals, alloys, forgings, castings, bar stock, billet, plate, and other manufacturing materials, as applicable.
• Recommend appropriate order quantities and replenishment strategies while balancing production continuity, inventory carrying cost, minimum order quantities, and supplier constraints.
• Identify potential supply constraints and develop mitigation recommendations, including alternate timing, inventory transfers, supplier escalation, or approved material substitutions.
• Analyze slow-moving, excess, and obsolete raw-material inventory and recommend disposition or consumption plans.
• Consolidate demand across sites when appropriate to improve purchasing leverage, inventory utilization, and supplier planning.

ERP/MRP Systems and Data Management:

• Use ERP/MRP systems to manage demand signals, material requirements, lead times, order policies, safety stock, purchase requirements, and planning parameters.
• Review system-generated recommendations and convert them into practical purchasing and material-planning actions.
• Maintain accurate planning master data and partner with Purchasing, Operations, Engineering, and IT to resolve data-integrity issues.
• Develop and maintain reports and dashboards that track forecast accuracy, inventory levels, material availability, shortages, purchase requirements, and excess inventory.
• Use advanced Excel and analytical tools to assess trends, model demand scenarios, and support fact-based decisions.
• Lead continuous improvement efforts related to ERP/MRP utilization, planning disciplines, data accuracy, and material visibility.

Manufacturing and CNC Support:

• Partner with Operations, Production Planning, Engineering, and machining teams to understand how schedules and process changes affect raw-material consumption.
• Incorporate material grades, specifications, sizes, yields, scrap factors, lot requirements, and production constraints into forecasts and purchasing plans.
• Anticipate changes in material requirements resulting from new programs, engineering revisions, customer demand changes, process improvements, or production transfers.
• Apply practical knowledge of CNC machining and metalworking environments when evaluating material needs, risks, and production priorities.

Multi-Site Leadership and Cross-Functional Coordination:

• Lead and standardize demand-planning practices across multiple manufacturing locations.
• Facilitate recurring demand and material-planning reviews with Purchasing, Operations, Sales, Finance, Engineering, and site leadership.
• Provide direction, coaching, and subject-matter expertise to site planning, purchasing, and materials personnel.
• Communicate material risks, inventory concerns, forecast changes, and recommended actions clearly to stakeholders and leadership.
• Drive measurable improvements in forecast accuracy, inventory performance, material availability, and cross-site planning execution.

Education and Training:

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Operations Management, Engineering, Finance, or a related field required.
• Professional supply-chain certification such as APICS CPIM or CSCP is preferred.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience leading demand planning across multiple manufacturing sites.
• Demonstrated experience in demand forecasting, raw-material planning, purchasing, supply chain, or inventory management within a manufacturing environment.
• Strong working knowledge of ERP/MRP systems and system-generated material and purchase requirements.
• Experience managing planning parameters such as lead times, safety stock, reorder points, lot sizes, order policies, and material requirements.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret large data sets and convert findings into purchasing and operational actions.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel, including pivot tables, lookup functions, data analysis, and reporting.
• Ability to lead cross-functional planning processes and influence decisions across multiple sites without relying exclusively on direct authority.
• Excellent communication, organization, problem-solving, and prioritization skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Metals purchasing experience, particularly with aluminum, steel, alloys, forgings, castings, bar stock, billet, or plate.
• Experience in a CNC machining, metalworking, forging, casting, or precision-manufacturing environment.
• Knowledge of raw-material grades, specifications, dimensions, yields, scrap considerations, and supplier lead times.
• Experience supporting Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP), demand reviews, or other formal cross-functional planning processes.
• Experience improving enterprise planning processes, ERP/MRP parameters, and inventory-management practices.

Physical Demands:

• Sitting at a computer for extended periods of time.
• Occasional travel between manufacturing locations and supplier sites may be required.
• Occasional visits to manufacturing areas requiring proper personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Ability to review raw materials, inventory, and manufacturing processes on the production floor.

Environmental Conditions:

• Office setting with frequent interaction in manufacturing and warehouse environments.

Behavioral Traits:

• Analytical and data-driven
• Highly organized
• Collaborative and influential
• Proactive and responsive
• Focused on continuous improvement and execution

Pay & Benefits

Rate: In accordance with applicable pay transparency laws, the salary range for this position is $80,000 - $120,000. Final compensation will be determined based on factors such as experience, education, qualifications, and other job-related criteria. This pay range is provided to ensure transparency and compliance with local, state, and federal regulations.

• Job Type: Full time

For a full list of benefits, please visit: www.anchorharvey.com/benefits

*This is not a comprehensive list of duties. Duties may change without notice in management’s sole discretion. Anchor Harvey is an at-will employer; each employee is free to resign at any time, just as Anchor Harvey is free to terminate employment at any time without cause or notice.

Anchor Harvey is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

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