Analyst, Demand Planning

The Hershey Company•Lower Swatara Township, PA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Demand Planner is accountable for the management and integration of data from Marketing, Sales, Customers, and Finance which are used to develop accurate and timely forecasts supporting Operations, Sales and Financial Planning. The planner is responsible for providing guidance, analysis, and oversight for their assigned demand group to ensure alignment with business direction and consistency with market trends. Responsibilities include communicating demand forecasts and the assumptions behind them through the supply chain and via the IBM Demand process. This position is accountable for establishing and managing item level statistical forecasts for their specific areas of accountability. The planner will actively research and incorporate all sources of market intelligence pertaining to this customer base to produce the best possible operational forecast by combining statistical forecasting with customer insights and independent analysis of relevant data streams. The Demand Planner should act as a functional expert for Hershey demand planning and is responsible for continuously improving the forecast using process KPIs and diagnostics to ensure continuous improvement efforts. The Demand Planner will facilitate a collaborative and consensus approach by working closely with Marketing, Sales, and Supply Planning. If the Demand Planner is assigned the accountability of a specific customer account, he / she will focus only on that Customer base, developing customer level forecasts, incorporating insights of that customer’s unique trends, inventory strategy and service level requirements via regular interactions with the appropriate Sales Teams. If assigned to a season, he/she will focus only on the seasons assigned and forecast for all customers that have demand for that season’s items.

Requirements

Capacity to work within multiple internal and external information systems including, but not limited to, SAP, Manugistics, and customer-specific systems
Proficient in understanding of fundamental business management and supply chain principles and concepts
Thorough understanding of key internal and external order fulfillment processes
Proficient in all Microsoft Office applications, particularly Access and Excel
Ability to communicate effectively with internal and external partners at all levels
Ability to implement and execute forecasts and sales plans
Capacity to analyze customer-specific data and reporting vehicles
Strong mathematical skills
Strong interpersonal communication skills, relationship management
Ability to make effective cost vs. service decisions when ordering
Takes initiative on resolving VMI issues proactively
Adaptive to fast and continuous change
Proficient ability to identify and evaluate opportunities (increase service levels/turns, enhance logistic efficiencies) and recommend solutions internally
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Mathematics, Information Systems or equivalent experience.
At least 1-4 years of relevant experience
Prior business experience preferred

Responsibilities

Develop accurate demand forecasts of all line items for their accountable segment of the business by using a combination of statistical forecasting integrated with insights gained via partnering with Sales, Marketing, Operations and Finance departments.
Ensure consistent integration into the forecast of customer insights, base business trends, merchandising promotional plans, new item volumes, plan-o-gram changes and seasonal volume with the goal of reducing working capital and minimizing forecast error. Work cross functionally toward continuous improvement of forecast accuracy and improve the error rate below targeted levels of Weighted Mean Absolute Percentage Error (WMAPE) and Bias.
Analyze, maintain, and modify key item-level system replenishment settings such as minimum ship quantity and shipment increment.
Develop/maintain statistical safety stock strategy utilizing inventory optimization tools
Maintain forecasting system models, history, alerts, and system data integrity to ensure the publication of a 104 week operational forecast by item by distribution center in SAP APO DP / JDA Manugistics systems. Manage timely new item and version change setups. Manage customer specific systems and tools integration with the forecasting system.
As the Commercial / Supply Interface, individual will provide Sales and Operations teams with timely analysis, guidance, and decision-making to ensure that the supply chain is in the best position to execute the demand plan generated from the total operational forecast. This includes generating and publishing to key stakeholders, monthly and weekly demand forecasts, including clear identification of assumptions highlighting significant changes since release of previous report.
Planners with Key Account responsibility will maintain accountability for specific Customer focused metrics, including Customer Case Fill, Customer Service Levels, Planned Arrival Accuracy, Customer Inventory Levels, Customer Inventory Turns, and provide packtype / brand analysis for customer level forecasts to validate alignment with CSE expectations and customer retail performance.
Provide input to support monthly IBM Demand meetings and incorporate IBM feedback to improve forecasting process. Provide documented insights into forecast changes, growth rates, promotions, distribution changes, and customer insights as well as supporting points for the current brand/packtype forecasts. Perform ad hoc analyses, as required, in support of contingency planning.
Proactively develop others within the planning organization through the sharing of best demonstrated processes and knowledge transference. Provide cross functional leadership across departments to solve for demand related issues caused by forecast error, demand constraints, unplanned promotional opportunities, etc.
In addition to position-specific work, as outlined above, the Demand Planner will act as a lead on special projects, providing leadership as a functional expert to represent Demand Planning needs. The teams will include (but not be limited to): seasonal teams, new product launch teams, and continuous improvement initiatives.