Description
Plan, direct, and optimize the procurement, inventory, and flow of raw materials, components, and supplies from receipt through production and distribution. Oversee purchasing, material requirements planning, warehousing, and kitting to minimize cost, ensure availability, and meet quality and safety standards. Analyze and streamline material handling and inventory control processes to improve accuracy, turns, and service.
- • Select inbound transportation routes or delivery cadences for raw materials to optimize cost and on-time supply.
- • Map end-to-end material flow and storage points to facilitate cross-functional planning.
- • Negotiate prices, terms, and consignment or VMI agreements for materials and components.
- • Meet with suppliers to review delivery performance, quality, capacity, and forecast changes.
- • Document material control processes, including receipts, put-away, kitting, line-side delivery, and cycle counts.
- • Develop and apply supplier evaluation and onboarding criteria for direct and indirect materials.
- • Design and manage plant warehousing, bin locations, and line-side supermarkets for materials.
- • Collaborate with demand and production planners to generate MRP signals and supply plans.
- • Define KPIs for materials, such as inventory accuracy, turns, days on hand, fill rate, and supplier on-time delivery.
- • Analyze stock levels and usage to reduce excess, prevent stockouts, and optimize reorder policies.
- • Track supplier scorecards and take corrective actions for delivery or quality issues.
- • Coordinate engineering changes and BOM updates to phase in or out material without obsolescence.
- • Align materials management procedures with sales, production, finance, and quality requirements.
- • Design replenishment strategies (Kanban, PFEP, min/max) to support changing demand and cost goals.
- • Lead materials-related sustainability initiatives, including waste reduction and packaging optimization.
- • Implement return, repair, or recycling processes for defective or excess materials and packaging.
- • Select and deploy ERP/MRP, barcode, and WMS tools to improve materials tracking and reporting.
- • Identify reuse opportunities, returnable packaging, and scrap-to-byproduct programs.
- • Assess third-party warehouses and 3PLs for environmental and performance standards.
- • Source lower-impact, compliant materials and packaging where feasible.
- • Update materials policies to meet new regulations, standards, and customer compliance requirements.
- • Determine equipment and staffing needs for receiving, put-away, picking, kitting, and delivery.
- • Oversee purchasing, MRP execution, inventory control, receiving, and warehouse operations.
- • Implement process improvements for material flow, handling safety, and data accuracy.
- • Monitor supplier on-time delivery and quality to ensure materials meet specifications and schedules.
- • Review sales forecasts, production schedules, and consumption to adjust buy plans and safety stocks.
- • Identify and qualify new material suppliers in partnership with engineering and quality.
- • Build and maintain standard costs and material cost forecasts for budgeting and S&OP.
- • Audit supplier capacity and process capability through site visits and qualification assessments.
- • Lead periodic physical inventories and cycle count programs to achieve target accuracy.
- • Maintain material master, BOM, and planning parameters to ensure ERP data integrity.
- • Ensure compliance with ISO, OSHA, and company policies for materials storage and handling.
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Supply Chain & Transportation
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O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
