Specialist, Materials Planning/Sched

Yazaki•La Vergne, TN

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Yazaki is seeking a Materials Planning/Scheduling Specialist to manage pipeline inventory and support customer requirements through analysis, planning, ordering, ongoing monitoring, and occasional intervention while minimizing extraordinary expenses. The role works with internal departments, manufacturing, and customers to maintain inventory at target levels, achieve customer delivery requirements, and manage premium freight, obsolescence, balance-outs, customer claims, and engineering changes. The position also supports production control activities, including customer and manufacturing communication, delivery issue resolution, part registration, reporting, escalation, and participation in meetings. Additional duties may include monitoring manufacturing output for trial events, supporting prototype and preproduction meetings, coordinating shipments or component consignments, and processing customer orders. Material Planner II and Senior Material Planner positions include additional leadership, mentoring, process-development, and subject-matter-expert responsibilities. Senior Material Planners also lead improvement initiatives, identify process gaps, and evaluate supply-chain economic impacts. The position is based in La Vergne, Tennessee. Domestic and international travel may be required to Yazaki facilities and customer and manufacturing sites. Candidates must reside in the Tennessee area; relocation assistance will not be offered. The position is primarily sedentary and may require availability during customer production hours, including overtime, weekends, and holidays, as well as occasional extended hours to coordinate across time zones.

Requirements

A bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, or a related field, or equivalent experience, is preferred.
Required supply-chain or related-field experience varies by level: Material Planner I requires none; Material Planner II requires 3–5 years; Senior Material Planner requires 5 or more years.
English is required for all Material Planners.
Spanish is required if the planner directly interacts with customers in Mexico.
Knowledge or use of SAP, Success Factors, and Microsoft Suite.
Candidates must reside in the Tennessee area.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally between Yazaki facilities and customer and manufacturing sites, as required.

Nice To Haves

APICS classes or certification are preferred for Senior Material Planners.
Preferred supply-chain and project-management or related-field experience varies by level: Material Planner I, 0–3 years; Material Planner II, 5 years; Senior Material Planner, 5 or more years with Yazaki experience.

Responsibilities

Manage pipeline inventory through analysis, planning, ordering, monitoring, and intervention as needed.
Issue timely manufacturing orders using approved formats and parameters, and maintain inventory at target levels to reduce costs.
Work with internal departments, manufacturing, and customers to meet delivery requirements using the lowest-cost option; initiate management-approved premium freight when essential.
Coordinate incoming timing and analyze and report delivery performance.
Use appropriate processes and systems to log and order premium freight; coordinate transportation requirements and determine cost responsibility based on agreements or negotiations.
Manage obsolescence and balance-outs by ordering to avoid obsolescence, monitoring manufacturing as customer demand changes, and processing claims and scrap promptly.
Serve as liaison between customers and manufacturing, respond to communications, assist with delivery issues, and support engineering changes.
Inform customers promptly about impacts to delivery or production builds, including support plans, commitments, recovery timing, and root cause as required.
Manage part registration in applicable systems so they are ready to receive EDI and transmit orders to manufacturing.
Manage late customer requests, represent Production Control at customer and manufacturing meetings, use customer systems as needed, and complete required reports and metrics.
Identify when escalation is required and initiate it appropriately.
May monitor manufacturing output against plans for trial events and update the carline team on order status.
May support prototype and preproduction meetings, including component procurement, shortage, and Supplier Readiness meetings.
May coordinate shipment timing and special requirements with Distribution, component consignments with manufacturing and suppliers, and customer orders in applicable systems.
Support long-range and short-term group forecasts, goals, objectives, and priorities, and perform other assigned projects and duties.
For Material Planner II and Senior Material Planner roles: act as a subject matter expert, exhibit leadership, support or direct daily activities in the Supervisor’s absence, mentor and train Material Planners, aid other carlines, and represent PCD in process development and functional group or business unit meetings and projects.
For Senior Material Planner roles: lead core activities and initiatives to improve business practices, identify process gaps and support corrective actions, apply advanced Yazaki supply-chain knowledge, and evaluate supply-chain economic impacts and expense recovery.