Buyer/Planner II

At Forte Opening Solutions, we don't just manufacture doors; we create pathways to possibilities. We empower our employees to shape the future of our industry. Join a team where craftsmanship meets cutting-edge technology, and where your ideas can open new doors. Together, we build not just products, but a culture of excellence and collaboration.The Buyer/Planner II is a senior-level supply chain professional responsible for leading integrated purchasing, materials and inventory management, production planning, and logistics coordination across one or more company locations. This role ensures timely material availability, optimal inventory levels and turns, effective production capacity utilization, reliable outbound logistics, and the lowest practical total cost while maintaining required quality and customer-service expectations.The Buyer/Planner II collaborates closely with Customer Service, Inside Sales, Quality, Finance, and external suppliers and carriers. This role will use advanced supply-chain experience, ERP/MRP expertise, detailed analytics, and sound judgment to anticipate risks, resolve complex supply interruptions, improve processes, and align material, capacity, inventory, and transportation plans with short- and long-term business needs.This position reports directly to the Purchasing & Planning Manager, with a dashed-line relationship to the Plant Manager at the assigned location(s).Key Accountabilities:Purchase Order Processing and Management (35%)· Procure goods and materials based on production specifications from customer service or production.· Ensure lowest cost solution on all goods, materials, and services procured without sacrificing quality.· File and communication supplier lead times and sales acknowledgements with production, scheduling, and sales.· Complete regular, proactive vendor follow-up on purchase orders scheduled for arrival in the future.· Sustain positive relations with existing suppliers with quick escalation of issues.· Ensure alternative suppliers and supply plans exist as risk mitigation for supply chain disruptions.· Ensure adherence to spend-level thresholds and seek the appropriate approval to align with company policy.· Send and administer Request for Proposal (RFP) and Request for Quote (RFQ) processes to seek competitive bids when needed or directed.· Ensure alignment to strategic inventory programs such as Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI), consignment, or long-term agreements (LTA) for key commodities or services.· Provide value engineering solutions for purchased goods or components when available.· Initiate corrective action for supplier performance or warranty claims for purchased goods.· Offer backup support for other Buyers within company guidelines and procedures.· Initiate and manage supplier corrective actions, warranty claims, performance-improvement efforts, and issue-resolution plans for purchased goods and services.· Procure goods and materials based on production specifications from customer service or production.· Ensure lowest cost solution on all goods, materials, and services procured without sacrificing quality.· File and communication supplier lead times and sales acknowledgements with production, scheduling, and sales.· Complete regular, proactive vendor follow-up on purchase orders scheduled for arrival in the future.· Sustain positive relations with existing suppliers with quick escalation of issues.· Ensure alternative suppliers and supply plans exist as risk mitigation for supply chain disruptions.· Ensure adherence to spend-level thresholds and seek the appropriate approval to align with company policy.· Send and administer Request for Proposal (RFP) and Request for Quote (RFQ) processes to seek competitive bids when needed or directed.· Ensure alignment to strategic inventory programs such as Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI), consignment, or long-term agreements (LTA) for key commodities or services.· Provide value engineering solutions for purchased goods or components when available.· Initiate corrective action for supplier performance or warranty claims for purchased goods.· Offer backup support for other Buyers within company guidelines and procedures.Production Planning and Capacity Management (30%)· Establish, maintain, and improve standardized capacity-planning models connected to or maintained within ERP systems for assigned division locations.· Analyze production capacity, labor and machine availability, customer demand, sales bookings, quote volumes, lead times, inventory, and material constraints to support production planning decisions.· Produce and communicate capacity, lead-time, material-availability, and production-planning reports for internal customers and leaders.· Participate in SIOP activities to align sales, inventory, purchasing, production capacity, and logistics plans with short- and long-term business needs.· Coordinate with production, customer service, sales, and leadership to balance production priorities, customer commitments, inventory, and supplier capabilities.· Collaborate with Product Management to support new-product-development material forecasting and the supply/demand phaseout of cannibalized, rationalized, or discontinued products and parts.Logistics Planning and Optimization (20%)· Coordinate and schedule outbound logistics for planned routes, LTL shipments, pool routes, contract freight, and other carrier arrangements.· Work with Carrier partners and Materials Supervisor to optimize transportation plans to achieve the lowest practical cost per load/mile/unit while maintaining reliable delivery performance and customer-service expectations.· Review and monitor carrier pricing, freight costs, margins, contracts, budgets, and service performance on a daily and weekly basis.· Analyze logistics route-utilization reports to maximize dollar-per-mile performance, equipment utilization, routing efficiency, and freight-cost effectiveness.Materials and Inventory Management (15%)· Use production requirements, demand forecasts, historical usage, and supplier lead times to determine purchasing and replenishment needs for common materials.· Ensure adequate safety stock of standard components, materials, and inventory to avoid stockouts and production disruptions while controlling excess inventory. Apply materials-planning strategies, including ABC and XYZ analysis, to support inventory decisions and SIOP planning.· Conduct regular reviews of obsolete, slow-moving, and excess inventory; develop and implement alternate-use, return, resale, disposal, or other mitigation strategies.· Participate in physical inventory counts as needed. Support and maintain corporate cycle-counting strategies that achieve 96% or better inventory accuracy.· Identify opportunities to improve inventory turns, inventory accuracy, materials availability, and working-capital performance.Education and Certifications:· Associate’s or bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, logistics, business, economics, analytics, or a related discipline preferred.· APICS/ASCM CSCP and/or CPIM certification preferred.· Advanced training or demonstrated experience in strategic sourcing, inventory management, production planning, ERP/MRP systems, logistics, negotiation, or continuous improvement is preferred.Technical Knowledge, Skills, and Experience:· Minimum of 5 years of progressive supply chain experience encompassing materials and inventory management, purchasing/procurement, supplier management, production planning and logistics.· Demonstrated experience supporting manufacturing operations, including planning materials, production scheduling, and capacity planning for production.· Demonstrated experience managing purchase orders, suppliers, lead times, material availability, safety stock, inventory accuracy, and supply-chain risk.· Demonstrated experience in strategic sourcing, RFQ/RFP’s, bid analysis, supplier negotiations, supplier-performance management, and cost-reduction initiatives.· Extensive experience using ERP/MRP systems to manage purchasing, material demand, production planning, inventory, lead times, and reporting.· Strong working knowledge of SIOP processes and the relationship among sales demand, production capacity, materials, inventory, and logistics.· Demonstrated experience coordinating, analyzing, or optimizing outbound logistics, including planned routes, LTL, contract freight, carrier pricing, and route utilization.· Advanced Microsoft Office skills, including Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint.· Ability to lead through influence with cross-functional leaders and external suppliers.· Proven ability to manage multiple high-priority requirements, sites, suppliers, materials, and operational issues simultaneously. Experience using data to drive informed, thoughtful, and timely decision-making.· Strong written and verbal communication, organization, negotiation, problem-solving, and stakeholder-management skills.· Excellent proficiency in the English language in reading, writing, speaking, and comprehending.· Ability to remain in a stationary position, including sitting and standing, for extended periods of time.· Ability to visually inspect, read, and verify detailed data, documents, or equipment outputs on a screen or paper.· Ability to perceive and comprehend auditory information or verbal instructions during meetings and phone calls· Ability to document, compose, and convey clear information and accurate notes in written formats. #J-18808-Ljbffr