Materials Manager: Planning, Inventory & KPI Excellence

cvgrp; Michigan City (IN); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

cvgrp's Michigan City, IN plant is seeking a Materials Manager to lead planning, scheduling, inventory control, and supplier coordination. You will drive material readiness for launches, manage a materials team, and optimize replenishment strategies to balance cost and delivery performance.

The role requires a Bachelor's in a related field and 5+ years of leadership in materials or operations, with strong ERP/MRP proficiency and a track record of KPI-driven improvements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in related field required.
• 5+ years leadership in materials or operations.
• Strong ERP/MRP experience and data-driven decisions.
• Experience with inventory controls and scheduling.

Responsibilities

• Lead materials planning, scheduling, and production support to meet customer and plant requirements.
• Manage planners, schedulers, and related materials team members to maintain production flow.
• Review forecasts, EDI, demand changes, and schedules to identify risks and recovery actions.
• Coordinate material readiness for launches, engineering changes, line moves, and production changes.
• Set replenishment strategies that balance availability, inventory, space, and delivery needs.
• Improve inventory accuracy through audits, transaction discipline, root cause analysis, and follow-up.
• Improve turns, reduce excess and obsolete inventory, and support working capital goals.
• Use Kanban, pull systems, min/max levels, supermarkets, and visual controls where appropriate.
• Analyze slow, obsolete, excess, and high-risk inventory and lead reduction actions.
• Collaborate with the Shipping and Receiving Manger to
• Partner with Sourcing, Purchasing, Supplier Quality, and Supply Chain to resolve supplier issues.
• Monitor supplier delivery and lead escalation, recovery plans, and corrective actions.
• Ensure vendor releases, schedules, and purchase orders support production and delivery needs.
• Develop contingency plans for high-risk suppliers, constrained materials, and supply interruptions.
• Support supplier development focused on delivery, responsiveness, quality, and cost-effective supply.
• Collaborate with the Shipping and Receiving Manger to partner on inventory levels and turns.
• Champion Operational Excellence, lean practices, standard work, and daily management.
• Lead improvement projects in inventory, flow, productivity, and delivery.
• Use root cause analysis, PDCA, A3, Kaizen, 5S, value stream mapping, and visual management.
• Eliminate waste in planning, picking, staging, and reporting.
• Partner with Operations and Engineering to improve line-side presentation, flow, replenishment, and handling productivity.
• Own materials KPIs, including inventory accuracy, turns, supplier and customer delivery, schedule adherence, premium freight, shortages, productivity, obsolete inventory, and variances.
• Set KPI targets and lead daily, weekly, and monthly performance reviews.
• Create KPI action plans with owners, due dates, and verified corrective actions.
• Use dashboards, accountability meetings, and visual management to drive focus.
• Convert KPI trends into actions that improve plant financial and operational performance.
• Use ERP/MRP for planning, inventory, procurement, receiving, shipping, and reporting.
• Drive transaction accuracy and master data discipline.
• Develop standard work and training for consistent ERP/MRP execution.

Skills

Leadership

Inventory control

ERP/MRP

Lean / continuous improvement

KPI management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, Logistics, Engineering, or related field

APICS/ASCM CPIM/CSCP certification

Tools

ERP/MRP systems

Job description

cvgrp's Michigan City, IN plant is seeking a Materials Manager to lead planning, scheduling, inventory control, and supplier coordination. You will drive material readiness for launches, manage a materials team, and optimize replenishment strategies to balance cost and delivery performance.

The role requires a Bachelor's in a related field and 5+ years of leadership in materials or operations, with strong ERP/MRP proficiency and a track record of KPI-driven improvements.