SUMMARY: The Materials Planner position is responsible for the procurement of production parts, monitoring production schedules, the on-time delivery performance of suppliers, and controlling inventory levels, as well as effectively using established processes to ensure the optimal flow of parts from the supplier’s facility through delivery and to assist in directing the activities of production parts flow and the inventory control functions JOB RESPONSIBILITIES: • Manage assigned parts and their respective suppliers, including all problem resolutions • Develop suppliers to ensure improved delivery performance and inventory control • Coordinate engineering changes and build schedules with suppliers and production to meet customer expectations while minimizing surplus exposure • Analyze MRP daily and weekly to produce supplier releases • Launch, schedule, defer, expedite, and cancel purchase orders to maintain inventory levels while supporting production material requirements • Monitor and update supplier lead-times for system accuracy • Verify suppliers receive weekly reports and understand expectations including part quantities and required delivery timing • Proactively confirm delivery/schedules against purchase orders and act if necessary • Monitors shortage reports and collect firm tracking and expected delivery timing • Obtain realistic delivery dates on shortages, follow-up as appropriate • Validate and perform root cause analysis for missed deliveries • Assist with processing material requisitions from internal personnel for part(s), repair of part(s), equipment, or special engineering projects • Proactively identify parts shortages and implement appropriate actions internally and externally to mitigate the risk of potentially disrupting production • Work with Purchasing, Operations, Finance, and the vendor(s) to determine and implement appropriate inventory levels, minimum order requirements, economic order quantities, delivery offsets, and supplier lead times • Assist in supporting packaging projects and implementing returnable packaging programs • Help monitor and manage freight/logistics costs • Assist in all activities pertaining to inventory accuracy and inventory reduction including VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) Kanban cards or Min/Max systems, where applicable • Follow established procedures; initiate and implement improvements • Other tasks as assigne d