Senior Material Planner

Task Force Tips•Valparaiso, IN

19h

About The Position

Task Force Tips, LLC. is an established manufacturer of firefighting equipment based in Valparaiso, IN. Our continuous improvement process ensures we help first responders save lives and protect property more safely and effectively than the day before.  TFT is part of Madison Industries, one of the largest and most successful privately held companies in the world. We are seeking a Senior Material Planner who is responsible for leading material planning activities including scheduling to ensure timely availability of raw materials, components, and TFT-manufactured parts. This position plays a key role in driving inventory optimization, supporting production scheduling, improving material flow, and implementing Lean principles throughout the supply chain. Our desired team member should be goal-driven with integrity, have grit and a passion for putting lifesaving equipment in the hands of our first responders.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Industrial Engineering, Business, or related field; or Associate’s degree in combination with relevant work experience.
Minimum 2–4 years of experience in material planning, production control, or related supply chain functions in a manufacturing environment.
An ability to query and analyze large amounts of data on inventory, sales, etc. to make long-range forecasts of material requirements.
Must have basic to advanced excel skills such V-lookup, Pivot Tables, Power-Query, “If” logic and “Index Match” logic, etc.
Must be detail oriented, professional, responsive, resourceful, flexible, and well-organized.
Must have a strong bias for action and self-motivated with superior time management skills.
Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across departments and lead through influence.
Ability to resolve conflicts professionally and promote team alignment.
Ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing with other company personnel, including being sensitive to professional ethics, gender, cultural diversities, and disabilities.
Must be local - relocation is not offered for this position.

Nice To Haves

The ideal candidate has experience with data visualization tools like Tableau/Power BI.
Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing concepts like Kanban, Heijunka, JIT is a plus.

Responsibilities

Lead and manage the material planning process across multiple manufacturing areas to meet customer delivery commitments.
Monitor material availability using Reorder Advice, Deficit, and Exception reports; release work orders and initiate corrective actions to prevent shortages.
Collaborate with purchasing, production, engineering, and sales to resolve material constraints and expedite critical orders as needed.
Develop and implement planning strategies for long-lead items and critical components, aligning with production and sales forecasts.
Analyze BOMs and inventory to determine realistic ship dates for custom or spike orders.
Support capacity planning by identifying material-driven bottlenecks and recommending solutions.
Champion continuous improvement in planning processes, including implementation of Kanban systems and reorder point strategies.
Conduct routine Kanban audits, lead root cause investigations, and reinforce best practices across departments.
Mentor and provide guidance to junior planners on scheduling methods, system usage, and Lean practices.
Ensure data integrity in planning systems (item master, BOM, lead times, reorder points, safety stocks, Kanban batch sizes etc.).
Runs the Manufacturing Report (Reorder Advice Report) to identify items that have reached reorder points to release work orders to upstream work centers in a timely manner.
Runs the deficit report every morning to proactively identify part shortages for upcoming orders in CNC, Anodizing and Special Operations areas and communicates with concerned managers to help reprioritize their daily schedule.
Works with order entry to provide custom ship dates on spike orders by referencing bill of materials to identify long lead time items, reviewing on hand inventory and available capacity.
Schedules Assembly Work Cells and CNC jobs as required.
Identifies opportunities for efficiency improvements in planning and scheduling processes through automation and works with IT to have them implemented.
Performs other related duties as assigned.