The Purchasing Expeditor supports the Purchasing Department by actively following up with suppliers on open purchase orders, late deliveries, past-due commitments, return material authorizations, supplier documentation, and other supplier-related issues that impact customer orders, production schedules, inventory availability, and compliance requirements. This role serves as a key communication link between suppliers, Purchasing, Customer Service, Sales, Warehouse, Quality, Sales, and Accounting to ensure accurate delivery information, timely issue resolution, strong supplier accountability, and support for customer and regulatory documentation requests.
Key Responsibilities:
- Proactively follow up with suppliers on open purchase orders to confirm acknowledgements, promised ship dates, delivery status, and changes to previously committed dates.
- Monitor late, past-due, and at-risk purchase orders; escalate supplier delays to buyers, planners, supervisor, and other internal stakeholders as needed.
- Maintain accurate purchase order delivery dates and supplier status updates in the ERP system so internal teams have reliable information for customer commitments and production planning.
- Communicate supplier updates to Customer Service, Sales, Warehouse, Production, and other departments regarding backorders, expedited orders, late deliveries, partial shipments, and revised availability dates.
- Coordinate expediting efforts with suppliers to improve delivery performance and reduce the impact of material shortages, customer delays, and production interruptions.
- Support RMA processing by coordinating with suppliers, Quality, Warehouse, and Purchasing on return authorizations, replacement material, credits, corrective action follow-up, and shipment status.
- Follow up with suppliers to obtain, update, and maintain required environmental and regulatory documentation needed to support customer requests and compliance requirements, including RoHS, REACH, PFAS, conflict minerals, material declarations, certificates of compliance, and other supplier compliance documentation as needed.
- Assist the Engineering team with supplier quote requests for components and materials by contacting suppliers, gathering pricing, lead times, availability, minimum order quantities, and other required quote information to support new product development, cost reviews, and sourcing decisions.
- Track and document supplier responses, commitments, and follow-up activity to ensure visibility, accountability, and timely closure of open issues.
- Assist buyers with purchase order changes, supplier communication, order confirmations, shortage resolution, and administrative purchasing support.
- Identify recurring supplier delivery or communication issues and share trends with Purchasing leadership to support supplier performance improvement.
- Maintain professional, timely, and accurate communication with suppliers and internal stakeholders while balancing multiple priorities and urgent requests.
