Buyer / Purchasing Specialist

EFE Laboratories Inc.; Indiana; On-site; USD 52,000 - 76,000; Full time

Job summary

EFE Laboratories Inc. in Indiana is seeking a Buyer / Purchasing Specialist to procure materials, components, supplies, and services to support production and internal operations, ensuring availability, quality, and on-time delivery while managing inventory investment and total cost.

The role collaborates with Production, Planning, Engineering, and Quality to maintain supply continuity and optimize price, lead times, and supplier performance, while negotiating terms and maintaining ERP

Qualifications

• BA/BS degree or equivalent work experience.
• Inventory management knowledge required.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, especially Excel.
• Experience with ERP systems.

Responsibilities

• Review orders to determine procurement needs based on inventory levels and production schedules.
• Issue purchase orders; verify pricing, quantities, delivery dates, and specs.
• Monitor open orders; expedite critical materials and resolve late deliveries.
• Maintain appropriate inventory levels balancing availability, lead times, storage, and cost.
• Coordinate with Quality, Engineering and suppliers to resolve discrepancies and address nonconforming material.

Skills

Inventory management

Excel proficiency

ERP experience

Education

BA/BS degree in related field

Tools

ERP systems

Job description

Position Summary

The Buyer / Purchasing Specialist is responsible for procuring materials, components, supplies, and services needed to support production and internal operations. This role ensures materials are available in the right quantity, at the required quality level, and when needed, while managing inventory investment, supplier performance, and total cost.

The Buyer / Purchasing Specialist works closely with Production, Planning, Engineering, Quality, to maintain continuity of supply and support company goals related to quality, delivery, cost, and customer service.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

Other duties may be assigned.

• Review work orders to determine procurement needs including the following-inventory levels, open purchase orders, production schedules, forecasts, and lead time to determine purchasing needs.
• Issue purchase orders and ensure that pricing, quantities, delivery dates, specifications, and terms are accurate and aligned with company requirements.
• Monitor open purchase orders, confirm supplier acknowledgments, expedite critical materials, and resolve late or incomplete deliveries.
• Maintain appropriate inventory levels by balancing material availability, production requirements, lead times, storage capacity, and inventory value.
• Communicate material availability, supply risks, delivery commitments, and recovery plans to Production, Planning, and management.
• Work with suppliers to improve on-time delivery, quality, responsiveness, pricing, and overall performance.
• Obtain and evaluate supplier quotations; support sourcing decisions based on cost, quality, lead time, capacity, risk, and service.
• Communicate, negotiate and build relationships with outsourced contractors for fabricated and machine modifications.
• Assist with identifying, qualifying, and maintaining approved suppliers in accordance with company quality and purchasing requirements.
• Coordinate with Quality, Engineering, and suppliers to address nonconforming, damaged, incorrect, or otherwise discrepant material.
• Ensure accurate and timely purchasing, receiving, and inventory-related transactions in the company's ERP system.
• Review and reconcile purchase-order discrepancies, invoice variances, receiving issues, and supplier documentation as needed.
• Participate in inventory reviews, cycle counts, excess-and-obsolete inventory reduction efforts, and material disposition activities.
• Maintain purchasing records, updating lead times in ERP system to ensure accurate lead times.
• Communication, neg
• Follow company policies, ethical purchasing standards, quality-system requirements, and applicable regulatory or customer requirements.

Additional Responsibilities

• Recommend improvements to purchasing processes, inventory practices, supplier management, and production-material flow.
• Identify potential supply-chain risks, including long lead times, single-source dependencies, capacity constraints, quality concerns, and pricing volatility.
• Support supplier corrective-action activities and follow-up when supplier performance does not meet established requirements.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to resolve schedule conflicts, shortages, material substitutions, and production-priority changes.
• Maintain confidentiality of pricing, supplier agreements, product information, and other sensitive business information.

Education And/Or Experience

• BA/BS degree in related major or equivalent work experience desirable.
• Knowledge of, or experience in inventory management practices
• Must be fluent in a Microsoft Office environment, advanced skills in Excel highly desired.
• Experience with ERP systems

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position has no direct supervisory responsibility.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodation may be made.