Constraint & Delivery Manager

Key Responsibilities

1. Constraint Management

• Proactively identify current and future material and supplier capacity constraints.
• Own constraint management and shortage resolution at plant level.
• Coordinate with Production Planning to maintain an aligned constraint and delivery horizon.
• Analyse demand, open orders, supplier commitments and inventory coverage to identify potential shortages before production is impacted.
• Establish recovery plans for constrained materials with clear actions, owners and completion dates.
• Support inventory optimisation by highlighting excess, shortage and coverage risks to the Planning team.
• Maintain visibility and reporting of critical constraints through to closure.
• Escalate unresolved capacity, quality or delivery risks through the appropriate Procurement channels.

2. Supplier Delivery Performance & Expediting

• Manage supplier delivery performance at plant level, including OTD/OTIF, overdue orders and repeated delivery failures.
• Expedite critical materials as the first-line resolver.
• Obtain firm and realistic recovery commitments from suppliers for delayed materials.
• Prioritise expediting activities according to production requirements and line-down risk.
• Conduct root-cause analysis of delivery failures using 5-Why, 8D or equivalent methodologies.
• Agree and track supplier corrective actions through to sustainable closure.
• Identify recurring supplier delivery issues and escalate them to the relevant RCM/GCM for further supplier or commercial intervention.
• Work with Logistics, Planning and suppliers to minimise emergency freight while protecting production continuity.

3. Supplier Capacity & Production Constraints

• Assess supplier capacity against current demand, forecasts and future production requirements.
• Identify potential capacity bottlenecks before they become delivery constraints.
• Understand supplier manufacturing processes, equipment, tooling, cycle times, shift patterns, manpower and raw-material constraints.
• Challenge suppliers on capacity assumptions and validate whether available capacity can support plant requirements.
• Coordinate supplier recovery and capacity improvement plans where capacity is insufficient.
• Monitor agreed capacity actions and investments through to implementation.
• Escalate structural capacity constraints requiring sourcing, investment or commercial support to Procurement/RCM/GCM.
• Support alternate-source development where capacity or continuity risk cannot be adequately mitigated.

4. Disruption & Escalation Management

• Mitigate line-down risk and coordinate emergency supply actions before impact on production.
• Lead plant-level response to critical supplier shortages and delivery disruptions.
• Coordinate Planning, Procurement, Logistics, Quality, Engineering and suppliers to establish immediate recovery actions.
• Exhaust first-line operational recovery options before escalating commercial leverage requirements to the RCM.
• Provide clear escalation covering: 
  • Production impact
  • Material availability
  • Supplier commitment
  • Capacity position
  • Recovery actions
  • Required management support
• Ensure critical issues remain actively managed until material availability and supply stability are restored.