Fabrication Material Planner

Position Overview

The Senior Fabrication Planner serves as the site leader for fabrication planning and material availability, ensuring the uninterrupted flow of materials required to support manufacturing while optimizing inventory investment and schedule stability. This role bridges Supply Planning, Manufacturing, Warehouse, Procurement, Logistics, Engineering, and Customer Service to proactively identify risks, resolve material constraints, and drive execution against customer commitments.

The Senior Fabrication Planner owns the planning and readiness of materials, fabrication work orders, inventory health, and planning processes that enable successful manufacturing operations. The role is expected to provide technical expertise, operational leadership, and continuous improvement to ensure a stable and scalable planning function.

What you'll do

Material Planning & Execution

• Own site fabrication planning activities to ensure material availability in support of customer demand and production schedules.
• Review and coordinate SAP MRP exception messages with respective planners to maintain planning accuracy and minimize shortages.
• Collaborate with production assistants to prioritize fabrication orders based on customer commitments, business priorities, and operational constraints.
• Monitor material flow from suppliers through warehouse operations into manufacturing, ensuring timely availability of all required components.
• Coordinate recovery plans for material shortages, late deliveries, and fabrication delays.

Material Availability & Shortage Management

• Serve as the site owner for daily material availability.
• Lead cross-functional shortage reviews and establish recovery actions to minimize customer impact.
• Maintain accurate material ETAs and communicate changing supply conditions to Manufacturing, Customer Service, and Supply Planning.
• Identify potential stockouts before they impact production through proactive analysis of demand, supply, and inventory.
• Escalate critical shortages and coordinate expedited material movement when required.
• Maintain visibility to all customer-impacting material constraints and ensure timely communication across the organization.

Inventory Management

• Maintain optimal inventory levels by balancing customer service, working capital, and operational stability.
• Monitor safety stock health and recommend adjustments based on demand variability and supplier performance.
• Reduce excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory through proactive planning strategies.
• Audit inventory accuracy and investigate discrepancies impacting material availability.
• Partner with Inventory Control to ensure transaction accuracy and inventory integrity.

Planning Systems & Master Data

• Ensure planning data accurately reflects manufacturing capabilities and supplier performance, including lead times, MOQs, lot sizes, safety stock levels, and other planning parameters
• Validate planning outputs and continuously improve MRP effectiveness.
• Drive improvements to planning parameters that enhance schedule stability and inventory performance.

Cross Functional Leadership

• Coordinate daily priorities across Supply Planning, Manufacturing, Fabrication, Warehouse, Logistics, Procurement, and Customer Service.
• Lead daily material availability meetings and communicate site risks, recovery actions, and expected material ETAs.
• Serve as the primary site expert for material planning and planning execution.
• Partner with Production Planning to ensure material readiness supports execution of the production schedule.
• Collaborate with Engineering on new product introductions, engineering changes, and material transitions.

Operational Excellence

• Audit planning processes to ensure daily, weekly, and monthly planning activities are completed accurately and on time.
• Analyze inventory adjustments, material usage variance (MUV), and transactional discrepancies to identify root causes and implement corrective actions.
• Develop and maintain standardized planning processes and work instructions.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives that improve planning efficiency, inventory performance, and service levels.
• Support Lean Manufacturing, Kaizen events, and operational excellence initiatives.

Analytics & Reporting

• Monitor and report key planning performance indicators.
• Maintain accurate reporting for stockouts, shortages, aged orders, and material availability.
• Provide root cause analysis for service failures and inventory variances.
• Develop actionable recovery plans based on planning metrics and operational trends.

Key Performance Indicators

The Senior Fabrication Planner is accountable for improving performance in the following areas:

• Material Availability
• Customer On-Time Delivery (OTD)
• Percent of Backorders (BKO)
• Fabrication Schedule Readiness
• Aged Orders
• Safety Stock Health
• Inventory Turns
• Excess & Obsolete Inventory
• Material Usage Variance (MUV)
• Planning Parameter Accuracy
• Inventory Accuracy
• Planning Process Compliance

Who you are
Required Qualification

• 5+ years of experience in manufacturing planning, materials management, or supply chain.
• Advanced SAP planning experience including MRP execution and inventory management.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret complex planning and inventory data.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams without direct authority.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel and reporting tools.
• Ability to confidently lead meetings and articulately speak to the ongoing problems and action items being taken by the plant

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations Management, Business, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• APICS CPIM or CSCP certification.
• Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma experience.
• Experience supporting multiple manufacturing departments within a high-volume manufacturing environment.
• Experience with SAP planning master data and inventory optimization strategies.

Leadership Expectations

The Senior Fabrication Planner is expected to influence across functions, proactively identify risks before they impact customers, and drive disciplined execution of planning processes. Success in this role is measured not only by maintaining material availability but by continuously improving planning systems, inventory health, operational stability, and cross-functional collaboration while serving as the site's planning subject matter expert.

What's in it for you?

• Annual base salary range: $78,000 - $100,000
• Bonus target range: 10% - 20%
• Generous benefits package including medical, dental, vision, life, disability
• A company culture that prioritizes internal development and professional growth
• Time off with pay 
• 401(k) plan with a degree of employer matching
• Paid parental leave
• Wellness programs and product discounts

Please note, all offers presented to candidates are carefully crafted to ensure market competitiveness, equity, and reflect the individual candidate’s education, experience, skills and potential.
Hunter Douglas is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with applicable employment laws. EOE/M/F/Vet/Disabled are encouraged to apply.

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