Buyer/Planner

Department: Supply Chain Reports To: Process Engineer Location: Fuquay-Varina, NC

Position Summary

The Buyer/Planner is responsible for coordinating and managing the procurement of materials, inventory levels, and production scheduling to ensure the timely availability of materials and resources needed to meet customer demand. This position serves as a key link between suppliers, production, customer service, shipping, and other internal departments to align purchasing activities with production requirements.

The Purchaser/Scheduler will develop and maintain production schedules, manage supplier relationships, issue and monitor purchase orders, and proactively address material shortages, scheduling conflicts, and changing business priorities. This role requires strong organizational, analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills to balance material availability, inventory investment, production efficiency, and on-time delivery performance.

Key Responsibilities:

Purchasing, Procurement & Supplier Management

• Plan, source, negotiate, and purchase raw materials, components, and supplies based on production requirements, customer demand, and inventory needs.
• Create, issue, and manage purchase orders, ensuring accuracy of pricing, quantities, specifications, and delivery dates.
• Coordinate purchasing activities with production schedules to ensure materials are available when needed and production interruptions are minimized.
• Monitor open purchase orders and supplier commitments, following up on late deliveries and proactively resolving potential material shortages.
• Establish and maintain strong supplier relationships to ensure dependable supply, competitive pricing, quality, and delivery performance.
• Evaluate supplier performance and address issues related to quality, pricing, lead times, and delivery reliability.
• Identify opportunities for cost savings, improved purchasing practices, and supplier development.
• Maintain appropriate inventory levels by balancing production requirements, supplier lead times, minimum order quantities, and carrying costs.
• Monitor material usage, inventory availability, and reorder points to support current and future production needs.
• Maintain accurate purchasing records, supplier information, pricing, and inventory data within the company's ERP system.

Production Planning & Scheduling

• Develop, coordinate, and maintain daily and weekly production schedules based on customer orders, production capacity, material availability, and delivery commitments.
• Align purchasing activities and material procurement with production schedules to ensure materials are available to support planned production.
• Review customer demand, inventory levels, open purchase orders, and production requirements to identify potential scheduling or material constraints.
• Coordinate with production, shipping, customer service, and other departments to establish priorities and maintain an efficient production workflow.
• Monitor production progress and order status to ensure schedules, customer priorities, and delivery deadlines are achieved.
• Proactively adjust production schedules in response to changes in customer demand, material shortages, supplier delays, equipment downtime, or capacity constraints.
• Communicate production schedule changes, material concerns, and potential delivery impacts to the appropriate departments.
• Identify scheduling conflicts, production bottlenecks, and capacity limitations, and work with department personnel to develop solutions.
• Monitor production lead times and material requirements to improve scheduling accuracy and overall operational efficiency.
• Coordinate with customer service and production teams regarding order priorities, schedule changes, and expected completion dates.

Inventory & Cross-Functional Coordination

• Maintain visibility of raw materials, components, and inventory to ensure alignment between purchasing decisions and production requirements.
• Review inventory levels and material consumption trends to anticipate future purchasing and production needs.
• Investigate and resolve discrepancies between physical inventory and ERP system records.
• Work closely with production personnel to understand material requirements, production priorities, and scheduling challenges.
• Collaborate with customer service to understand order demand, customer priorities, and delivery expectations.
• Coordinate with shipping and logistics to support production completion and timely shipment of customer orders.
• Identify opportunities to improve purchasing, inventory control, production planning, and scheduling processes.
• Maintain accurate and timely information in the ERP system to support purchasing, inventory management, and production planning activities.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

Candidates must meet one of the following education and experience requirements:

• Associate's degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, or a related field, with a minimum of 5 years of experience in purchasing, procurement, scheduling, production planning, or supply chain operations.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, or a related field, with a minimum of 3 years of experience in purchasing, procurement, scheduling, production planning, or supply chain operations.

Manufacturing or distribution experience is strongly preferred.

• Proficiency with ERP systems and Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel, Outlook, and Word.
• Experience coordinating supplier deliveries, inventory requirements, and production schedules.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with attention to detail.
• Ability to coordinate purchasing and production scheduling activities simultaneously.
• Knowledge of purchasing practices, inventory control, material requirements, and production planning principles.
• Ability to anticipate material shortages, scheduling conflicts, and potential disruptions and take proactive corrective action.
• Strong time management skills and the ability to work independently.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with suppliers and cross-functional internal teams.
• Adaptability and sound decision-making in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Work Environment

• Primarily office-based, with regular interaction and coordination with production and warehouse personnel.
• Frequent communication with suppliers and internal departments.
• May require occasional travel to suppliers or other company locations.
• Work environment requires the ability to manage changing priorities and respond to time-sensitive production and material needs.

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods of sitting and working at a computer.
• Ability to move throughout the production and warehouse areas as needed.
• Occasional lifting of materials or supplies weighing up to 25 pounds.

Overall Position Expectations

The Purchaser/Scheduler is expected to take ownership of the coordination between purchasing, inventory management, and production scheduling. Success in this position requires anticipating material and scheduling needs, maintaining supplier accountability, communicating effectively across departments, and ensuring purchasing decisions support production priorities.

The ultimate objective of this role is to ensure the right materials are available at the right time, production schedules are maintained, inventory is controlled, and customer delivery commitments are consistently met.