Purchasing Agent

LED FastStart•Lafayette, LA

21d

About The Position

The Purchasing Agent manages centralized purchasing for the company’s manufacturing facilities in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Los Angeles, California. The role purchases raw materials, manufacturing supplies, outside processing services, and other production-related requirements to support production schedules while maintaining competitive pricing, supplier performance, purchasing accuracy, and compliance with customer, regulatory, and AS9100 quality requirements. The position works closely with Production, Planning, Engineering, Quality Assurance, Accounting, and Management to coordinate purchasing needs and address material and supplier issues. It manages purchasing activities across both facilities, including raw material sourcing, supplier relationships, purchase orders in Epicor Kinetic ERP, inventory and cost management, and purchasing records and reporting.

Requirements

At least 3 years of purchasing experience in a manufacturing environment.
Experience purchasing raw materials, production supplies, or manufacturing-related services.
Working knowledge of purchase orders, supplier quotations, purchasing negotiations, and inventory management.
Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, material specifications, and bills of material.
Experience working with ERP/MRP systems.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel.
Strong organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and support production requirements.
Strong attention to detail and purchasing accuracy.

Nice To Haves

Aerospace or defense manufacturing purchasing experience.
Experience purchasing aluminum, stainless steel, and specialty alloys.
Familiarity with AS9100 requirements.
Knowledge of material certifications and traceability requirements.
Familiarity with DFARS requirements.
Experience using Epicor Kinetic ERP.
Experience supporting multiple manufacturing locations.
Familiarity with outside processing, including heat treatment, plating, anodizing, coating, and other special processes.
Experience in precision machining or CNC manufacturing environments.

Responsibilities

Manage purchasing requirements for both manufacturing facilities and serve as the primary purchasing contact for raw materials, production supplies, and outside services.
Review production requirements and coordinate purchasing priorities across both locations; monitor open purchase orders, material requirements, shortages, and supplier delivery schedules.
Coordinate material transfers between Lafayette and Los Angeles when necessary, establish consistent purchasing practices and documentation, and consolidate purchases when practical.
Purchase aerospace-grade aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, specialty alloys, and other manufacturing materials.
Review purchase requirements, bills of material, engineering drawings, and material specifications; obtain and evaluate supplier quotations based on price, availability, quality, lead time, and delivery performance.
Negotiate pricing, delivery schedules, payment terms, and other purchasing conditions; ensure purchase orders accurately state specifications, quantities, dimensions, certifications, and applicable requirements.
Monitor material availability and market conditions to identify purchasing opportunities and supply risks.
Perform purchasing in accordance with applicable AS9100 requirements and company procedures, and purchase from approved suppliers.
Ensure purchase orders include applicable quality, certification, specification, and customer flow-down requirements; coordinate with Quality Assurance to obtain certifications, test reports, and traceability documentation.
Support compliance with applicable DFARS, domestic sourcing, and contractual requirements; assist with supplier evaluations and corrective actions as needed.
Maintain purchasing records for internal, customer, and third-party audits, and coordinate with Quality Assurance regarding nonconforming materials and supplier discrepancies.
Develop and maintain relationships with suppliers, distributors, outside processors, and manufacturing service providers; obtain quotations and evaluate potential suppliers.
Monitor supplier delivery and quality performance, communicate proactively about delays that may affect production, and work with Quality Assurance to address supplier performance issues.
Create, issue, maintain, and monitor purchase orders using Epicor Kinetic ERP; review requirements generated through production planning and inventory requirements.
Maintain accurate supplier, pricing, purchasing, and delivery information; monitor expected delivery dates and follow up on outstanding purchase orders.
Coordinate with Receiving on quantity discrepancies, damaged materials, and missing documentation; assist Accounting with purchase order and invoice discrepancies.
Prepare purchasing reports and material status updates for management.
Coordinate raw material inventory levels across both facilities, monitor material usage and purchasing trends, identify opportunities to reduce excess inventory and expenditures, and assist with establishing reorder points and safety stock levels.
Support cost-reduction initiatives while maintaining quality and customer requirements.