Senior Fabrication Material Planner

Hunter Douglas•Salt Lake, UT

7d•Onsite

About The Position

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.

Requirements

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.

Nice To Haves

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.

Responsibilities

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.