Senior Manager, Production & Material Control
About the job
- A bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Materials Management, Operations, Industrial Engineering, or a related discipline is required.
- At least 10 years of progressive leadership experience in materials management, production planning, demand planning, inventory control, or supply chain operations within a manufacturing environment is required.
- Experience balancing customer requirements with manufacturing capacity and operational constraints is required.
- Strong leadership experience developing managers and building high-performing teams is required.
- Experience with material requirements planning or enterprise resource planning systems focused on production planning, inventory management, and materials control is required.
- Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills are required.
- Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration abilities are required.
- Lead and direct Production Control operations, including Planning, Engineering Support, and Inventory Control functions.
- Develop and execute demand and capacity planning strategies aligned with annual business objectives.
- Represent Manufacturing in the Sales and Operations Planning process.
- Drive enterprise inventory governance, including stocking strategies, critical spare-parts programs, inventory-accuracy initiatives, and excess and obsolete inventory reduction.
- Standardize material-flow processes across manufacturing operations to improve efficiency and visibility.
- Ensure material availability to support production schedules and project execution.
- Oversee inventory-accuracy programs, including cycle counting, physical inventories, reconciliation efforts, and root-cause analysis.
- Partner with Manufacturing leadership on objectives related to quality, delivery, cost, and safety.
- Develop, monitor, and report department key performance indicators while identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.
- Use analytics and business-intelligence tools to identify risks, bottlenecks, and optimization opportunities.
- Support new-product introductions, manufacturing expansions, and strategic-sourcing initiatives.
- Oversee SAP master-data governance, including ownership of Production Planning and Extended Warehouse Management master-data processes.
- Establish and maintain controls that ensure data accuracy, completeness, and integrity.
- Drive best practices across enterprise resource planning, planning, scheduling, and inventory-management systems.
- An MBA or advanced degree.
- SAP S/4HANA experience.
- Professional certifications such as CPIM, CPM, CSCP, CIRM, or other ASCM or ISM credentials.
- Experience leading large-scale process-improvement and operational-excellence initiatives.
About the company
Daifuku is a global manufacturer and integrator of material handling systems for warehouses, factories, and distribution centers. It designs, builds, and installs end-to-end solutions that move, sort, store, and retrieve goods using conveyors, automated storage and retrieval systems, automated guided vehicles, and coordinating software. It differentiates itself through a long history, global footprint, and turnkey capabilities—from design to installation to after-sales support—tailored to the needs of large-scale logistics and manufacturing. Its goal is to improve supply chains by reducing labor, increasing throughput, and enhancing accuracy and reliability in material handling across diverse industries.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Osaka, Japan
Founded
1937
Get referred to Daifuku
See people who can refer or advise you
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- August 2026 first-half orders rose 31.6% to ¥440.2 billion.
- Daifuku raised FY2026 sales guidance to ¥735 billion and net income to ¥86.5 billion.
- May 2026 announced ¥52 billion growth investment through 2029, targeting ¥1 trillion sales.
What critics are saying
- Amazon vendor losses triggered 434 U.S. layoffs and permanent contract cancellations in 2025.
- Eisenmann integration exposes Daifuku to automotive capex volatility and European execution risk through 2027.
- Another Amazon contract loss hollows Daifuku Services America and crushes U.S. margins.
What makes Daifuku unique
- Daifuku leads baggage handling, cleanroom, and warehouse automation across 24 countries.
- July 2026 Eisenmann adds European automotive painting and surface-treatment engineering.
- April 2026 Shiga factory expands semiconductor cleanroom production capacity 30%.
Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?
Benefits
Flexible Work Hours
Company News
Daifuku raises full-year outlook after strong first half. The automation group lifted its forecasts for net income and sales after first-half profit rose 15% and it declared a 40-yen interim dividend. about 1 hour ago - 1 min What's going on here? Daifuku, a Japanese automation company, lifted its full-year sales and profit outlook after a strong first half and announced a 40-yen interim dividend. What does this mean? Daifuku said first-half net income rose 15% to 43.1 billion yen as sales grew 8.9% to 355.5 billion yen. Off the back of that, it raised its forecast for the year ending December 31st to 86.5 billion yen of net income and 735 billion yen of sales, up from 80 billion yen and 700 billion yen. It also lifted its basic earnings per share forecast to 233.55 yen and reiterated it expects to pay 90 yen per share in dividends for the year. In other words, management is signaling that the stronger... Keep reading for free. This content is free, but you must be logged in to continue reading. Already have an account?
Japanese company Daifuku has acquired 100% of shares in Eisenmann GmbH from current shareholder Nimbus Hands-on Investors. The acquisition strengthens Daifuku's manufacturing systems business for the automotive industry, particularly in painting and surface treatment. Eisenmann specialises in innovative automation technologies and sustainable solutions for painting and final assembly, primarily serving European automotive and industrial component manufacturers. Daifuku operates production and sales bases across 24 countries, with automobile production line systems forming a core business. The acquisition enables Daifuku to offer more comprehensive coverage in automotive and industrial manufacturing, from quotation through to after-sales support, tailored to European standards. Both companies expect the deal to enhance proposal capabilities, expand integrated offerings and increase customer value in automotive production line systems.
Daifuku completes new AGV factory in Japan.
ICM is teaming up with Daifuku, which will supply the baggage handling equipment such as the sorting system, conveyors and carousels.
Daifuku introduced an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (AS/RS) that included cranes for both single-deep and double-deep storage.