Demand Planner I

Job Overview:

The Demand Planner I plans, schedules, and coordinates the efficient movement of material through the production cycle, creates and manages work orders, and is responsible for materials data input and integrity to effectively manage delivery performance and inventory costs. The role supports demand planning, supply planning, production scheduling, inventory management, and Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) for assigned OEM accounts. This role has also been expanded to incorporate customer account, forecast, quoting, and order-support duties previously performed by the Account Specialist position, making the Demand Planner I the primary operational point of contact for assigned OEM customer accounts.

Primary Responsibilities:

1. Demand Planning & Forecasting

• Collect forecasts from Sales and customers; compare forecast against actual customer orders
• Identify demand increases, decreases, and unusual demand changes; maintain forecast files and demand assumptions
• Prepare forecast accuracy and bias reports
• Confirm that CRM demand agrees with ERP planning demand
• Track new-product ramp and end-of-life demand
• Manage and communicate customer forecast; reconcile forecast against orders; download customer forecast for supply chain (buyer/planner) to manage material planning

2. Supply Planning & Material Management

• Manage project Material Requirements Planning (MRP); review MRP/ASCP exception messages
• Load and create demand into ERP; align, prioritize, and allocate material to meet actual demand (customer build plan/forecast, Sales Order, and Plan Order)
• Track component shortages and supplier commit dates; compare required dates with purchase-order dates; maintain shortage reports
• Identify long-lead and single-source items; coordinate updates with buyers and suppliers
• Support material-risk and recovery meetings
• Provide information to Program Manager, Supply Chain Management, and Buyers on constraint materials and/or manufacturing issues
• Review shortages clearance and set work order start dates accordingly; review MRP and notify buyers of urgent material issues and drop-in demands; update work order schedule when impacted by material delay

3. Production & Operations Scheduling

• Manage the Master Production Schedule (MPS) from demand to ship; maintain and plan work orders to meet On-Time-Delivery (OTD) objectives
• Compare demand with available production capacity; support the master production schedule
• Track work-order release and completion; report schedule attainment
• Identify material, equipment, or capacity constraints; prepare production-priority lists
• Perform material What-If Analysis (WIA) for demand loading
• Coordinate the efficient movement of material through the production cycle; determine progress of work against the production schedule
• Support coordination between Planning, Production, Engineering, and Quality
• Generate Sales Orders, issue Work Orders, release Sales Orders, on product availability and leadtime; book and update sales orders based on material status; manage component allocation
• Coordinate and resolve material issues for work orders, rework work orders, pilot builds, or qualification builds; maintain work order and sales order aging to ensure proper MRP notifications
• Communicate and secure commitment for drop-in or within-leadtime work orders; follow up on build status/timeline and determine sample product build

4. Inventory Management

• Review excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory; analyze inventory against demand
• Identify material with no current demand
• Support safety-stock and reorder-point reviews
• Track inventory turns and days of inventory; monitor inventory levels to ensure alignment with Unigen's inventory-turns goals
• Support disposition and end-of-life planning
• Work to obtain cost reductions through optimizing production flow, resource utilization, and inventory utilization

5. S&OP Support

• Consolidate demand, supply, inventory, revenue, and capacity information
• Prepare monthly S&OP reports; maintain action logs and decision records
• Follow up with functional owners; highlight data inconsistencies and unresolved risks
• Support scenario analysis

6. Customer Account, Order & Quote Support

• Collect customer information and set up/maintain customer accounts in Unigen systems, ensuring data is accurate and up to date
• Serve as a primary point of contact for OEM customers, providing clear, effective, and timely communication in both directions; manage and maintain account records and documents, respond to account inquiries, and report on account activity
• Measure and report on customer satisfaction; understand customer requirements to carry out business model mapping (e.g., shipping methods, ship-to address, third-party procurement/CM portals)
• Maintain and update quote pricing by customer and part number to enable incoming PO verification; verify accuracy of customer PO related to pricing and part number on AVL; communicate PO, accounting, T&C, and warranty discrepancies to customers/sales representatives
• Manage sample orders and delivery to customer; communicate with sales to track sample qualifying status
• Facilitate completion of compliance requests from customers; interface with internal compliance group on product compliance status; notify customers of related Product Change Notices (PCN)
• Maintain, update, and escalate finished goods requests; provide direction to Planning for backlog priority of component allocations
• Work with internal team to update customers on RMA or order status; follow up on sales order closure or delivery
• Interface with internal parties to resolve customer issues

7. Systems, Data Integrity & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain materials data input and integrity, including Unigen part numbering system and BOM structure
• Resolve Oracle transaction errors, template set-up issues, and UPLM importing issues
• Perform other tasks and responsibilities related to Purchasing and Warehouse/Logistics functions as assigned
• Perform other duties as assigned by Manager

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Operations, or a related field, or equivalent combined experience
• Minimum 2-3 years of experience in production planning, materials/supply chain planning, or OEM account/order management, preferably within an EMS or electronics manufacturing environment
• Proficiency with ERP systems (Oracle preferred), MRP/ASCP planning tools, and BOM structures
• Strong Excel and data-analysis skills; experience with demand forecasting and forecast accuracy/bias reporting
• Familiarity with CRM and quoting/pricing systems
• Working knowledge of product compliance requirements (e.g., RoHS, IPC labeling) is a plus
• Strong cross-functional communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills; ability to coordinate across Planning, Production, Engineering, Quality, Sales, and customers
• Experience supporting Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes is a plus