Materials Planning & Logistics Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Position Summary

The Materials Planning & Logistics (MP&L) Manager is responsible for overseeing all aspects of production planning, inventory management, customer scheduling, shipping, receiving, warehousing, and logistics operations. This role ensures uninterrupted material flow to support production while meeting customer delivery requirements, minimizing inventory costs, and driving continuous improvement throughout the supply chain.

The MP&L Manager works closely with Production, Purchasing, Quality, Sales, Engineering, and customers to maintain world-class delivery performance and operational efficiency.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Manage all production planning and scheduling activities to meet customer demand.
• Develop and maintain master production schedules based on customer releases and forecasts.
• Monitor inventory levels and implement strategies to optimize inventory turns while preventing shortages.
• Oversee shipping, receiving, warehousing, and material handling operations.
• Ensure 100% on-time customer deliveries while maintaining inventory accuracy.
• Coordinate inbound and outbound logistics with carriers and suppliers.
• Manage customer releases through EDI and ensure schedule accuracy.
• Lead Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning (SIOP/S&OP) activities.
• Monitor key performance indicators including:
• On-Time Delivery a Inventory Accuracy
• Inventory Turns o Premium Freight o Customer Delivery Performance
• Warehouse Productivity
• Develop contingency plans for material shortages and supply chain disruptions.
• Coordinate engineering changes and inventory transitions.
• Ensure compliance with customer shipping requirements and packaging specifications.
• Lead annual physical inventories and cycle count programs.
• Manage supplier delivery performance and expedite critical materials when necessary.
• Work closely with purchasing to maintain proper raw material inventories.
• Develop departmental budgets and control logistics costs.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives using Lean Manufacturing principles.
• Analyze data to improve scheduling, transportation, warehouse efficiency, and inventory management.
• Recruit, train, mentor, and evaluate MP&L personnel.
• Maintain compliance with company safety policies and customer requirements.
• Lead digital supply chain initiatives utilizing ERP, MES, WMS, and automated warehouse systems.

Qualifications

• Equivalent manufacturing experience may be considered.
• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Operations Management, or related field preferred.

Experience

• 5+ years of Materials Planning, Supply Chain, Logistics, or Production Planning experience.
• 3+ years of supervisory or management experience.

• Automotive manufacturing experience preferred.
• Experience with injection molding, blow molding, or high-volume manufacturing is a plus.
• Experience working with OEM customer schedules and EDI systems
• Preferred experience with: WMS, ASRS, MES, ERP integration, smart warehouse, high-mix Low-volume manufacturing
• Experience participating in Greenfield factory startup 

Required Skills

• Production Planning
• Material Requirements Planning (MRP)
• ERP Systems (SAP, Plex, IQMS, Oracle, etc.)
• Inventory Management

• Supply Chain Management
• Customer Scheduling
• Logistics Coordination
• Warehouse Management
• Lean Manufacturing
• Root Cause Analysis
• Continuous Improvement
• Strong leadership and communication skills
• Advanced Microsoft Excel proficiency
• Excellent organizational and problem-solving abilities.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Customer On-Time Delivery
• Inventory Turns
• Inventory Accuracy Premium Freight Costs
• Schedule Adherence
• Supplier On-Time Delivery
• Warehouse Efficiency
• Customer Scorecard Performance
• Production Downtime Due to Material Shortages

Physical Requirements

• Ability to work in both office and manufacturing environments.
• Ability to occasionally lift up to 25 pounds.
• Ability to walk production and warehouse areas daily.
• Occasional travel to suppliers and customer locations may be required.

Leadership Expectations

The MP&L Manager is expected to foster a culture of accountability, teamwork, continuous improvement, and customer satisfaction while ensuring materials and logistics operations support safe, efficient, and profitable manufacturing.