Provide business-wide leadership over production planning, scheduling, materials management, S&OE, and inventory control processes across multiple manufacturing plants. Set the strategy, frameworks, and standards that plant-level teams use to translate demand into level-loaded production plans, schedules, and material replenishment methods aligned with capacity and customer commitments. Partner with Plant Material Managers, Procurement, Operations, and suppliers to improve communication of demand signals, supplier performance, and ERP/MRP planning effectiveness. Own the business-wide PFEP (Plan for Every Part) strategy, determining replenishment method, part segmentation, and min/max or pull-signal parameters by part and by plant to reduce lead-time risk and working capital exposure, with execution carried out by plant-level teams. Set inventory strategies that balance working capital objectives with production continuity and establish the standards and controls that govern perpetual inventory accuracy, standard costing, and the reduction of excess, obsolete, and inaccurate inventory. Own the governance of the business-wide Excess & Obsolete (E&O) inventory process, setting the standards for identification, root cause analysis, disposition planning, corrective actions, and financial reporting that plant and functional teams execute against, while leveraging data-driven dashboards and cross-functional collaboration to improve inventory accuracy, working capital performance, and overall supply chain effectiveness. Establish and drive accountability for key planning and fulfillment metrics, including schedule attainment, production downtime, inventory turns, days on hand, cycle count accuracy, and supplier performance.
What you'll do:
- Set the enterprise strategy and governance model for master production planning, establishing the level-loading disciplines that Plant Material Managers and plant planning teams apply to balance manufacturing capacity against demand variability.
- Define the framework and standards for a rolling production schedule that accounts for customer orders, available capacity, and material availability across all plant locations; establish the publication cadence and accountability structure that plant operations teams follow and hold plants accountable for measurable schedule attainment.
- Set the demand signaling framework and standards that guide supplier forecast plans developed at the plant and functional level.
- Establish business-wide line-of-balance and clear-to-build reporting and standards that give visibility across plants, enabling plant and operations teams to proactively flag at-risk orders and prevent customer delivery failures.
- Set the methodology for inventory targets and purchase planning based on past usage and projections by part and by plant, providing the framework Plant Material Managers use to support production plans.
- Partner with Plant Material Managers to establish safety stock policy, planning parameters, lead-time standards, ordering cadence guidelines, and standards for inventory adjustments, the DOA process, cycle counting, and scrap; drive policy and procedure consistency across all locations.
- Own the business-wide PFEP (Plan for Every Part) strategy and pull-replenishment (kanban) policy, defining part-level segmentation, replenishment triggers, and min/max or pull-signal parameters, with Plant Material Managers executing against the policy at the plant level.
- Partner with Plant Material Managers to build development plans for production planning, scheduling, and inventory controls personnel; identify capability gaps and direct the design of technical training programs.
- Establish and hold plants accountable for key performance metrics, including but not limited to S&OE performance, perpetual inventory (PI) accuracy by location, supplier on-time delivery, schedule attainment, cycle count (CC) adherence, PFEP part coverage %, and kanban/pull-signal adherence.
What we're looking for:
- 10+ years' experience in manufacturing, materials, and supply chain management (including 3+ years in leadership roles).
- Ability to develop future leaders through process ownership and accountability.
- Strong command of ERP/MRP systems (AS/400 – Macpac and Mapics) and bolt-on systems (MES and Powerlink).
- Experience designing and scaling planning and fulfillment best practices in a multi-plant manufacturing environment.
- Proven ability to drive alignment and change across multiple plants and stakeholders.
- 50% travel supporting regional plants and cross-functional collaboration.
- Strong communication skills.
- Strong troubleshooting skills.
- Understanding of configured products.
- Bilingual is a plus.
