Material Expeditor

Abantu Staffing Solutions (Pty) Ltd; Oos-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 320,000 - 520,000; Full time

Job summary

Abantu Staffing Solutions (Pty) Ltd is seeking a materials planner to manage manufacturing components, logistics costs, and 52-week supplier forecasts. The role prioritises on-time material availability and cost-efficient supply.

You will work with production planners, analyse MRP data, and expedite/raw materials with both local and international suppliers. Flexibility and strong organisation are essential.

Qualifications

• National Diploma or Bachelor’s degree in materials planning, logistics, or supply chain.
• Proficient with MRP and MS Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Automotive and commercial vehicle industry knowledge preferred.
• Experience in assembly, machining, and forging operations preferred.
• Detail-oriented and proactive with ability to work under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Plan and arrange manufacturing components, logistics costs, and protection of supply.
• Ensure 52-week forecast is extended to all suppliers.
• Understand customer demand and forecast.
• Coordinate with production planners for scheduling.
• Analyse MRP reports and issue weekly releases to suppliers.
• Expedite raw materials with local and international suppliers.
• Ensure raw materials are on time for production.
• Communicate daily with freight forwarders regarding imports.
• Maintain inventory at an acceptable level.
• Control and reduce logistics costs and optimise freight/warehouse networks.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Communication

Problem solving

Detail orientation

Planning & organising

Education

National Diploma or Bachelor’s degree

Tools

MRP

MS Word

MS PowerPoint

MS Excel

Job description

REQUIREMENTS

• National Diploma or a Bachelor's degree and experience in materials planning, logistics, and/ or supply chain
• Must have excellent computer skills and thorough knowledge of MRP, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, and MS Excel
• Understanding of both the automotive and commercial vehicle industry preferred
• Must be proficient in the use of eBusiness tools and Microsoft Office Suite
• Possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Experience in assembly, machining, and forging operations preferred
• Must be detail-oriented, proactive in anticipating requirements and able to work efficiently with minimal direction in a sometimes high-pressure environment
• Skilled in composing written correspondence and preparing presentations for senior management
• Successfully interacts with a dispersed leadership team and others across functions and sites
• Must be proactive, detail-oriented, and have excellent organization, planning and follow-through skills
• Committed to tasks and skilled at identifying and solving a variety of problems of broad scope and complexity with little to no supervision
• Must be able to work flexible hours
• Core competencies
  • Strategy: ability to think and act in a strategic way
  • Talent: ability to build and develop talent
  • Approach: ability to demonstrate an effective approach to engagement and problem-solving
  • Results: ability to achieve planned results

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Plan and arrange manufacturing components, logistics costs, and protection of supply
• Ensure long-horizon forecast is extended to all suppliers (52-week forecast)
• Understand customer demand and forecast
• Work closely with production planners to understand the scheduling of the production lines
• Analyse MRP reports and send weekly releases to the supplier base
• Micro-manage expediting of raw materials from local and international suppliers
• Make sure the raw materials are on time for production
• Communicate daily with freight forwarders regarding the import of raw materials
• Maintain inventory at an acceptable level
• Control and reduce logistics costs
  • Improve the utilisation of planned trucks daily with freight forwarders and transporters
  • Improve internal supply chain and materials flow between the company's plants (utilise value stream mapping)
  • Work in a cross-functional team to optimise the company's freight and warehouse network, tying in forecast and order management logic
• Protection of supply
  • Escalate potential supply issues to the material manager if required
  • Allocate parts between the company's plants if required
  • Send out weekly purchase orders to suppliers
  • Ensure suppliers have the required parts ready for collection as per the purchase orders sent out weekly
  • Manage all material alarms in One Network
• Deliverable
  • Avoid stopping internal customers
  • Reduce/ eliminate any airfreight costs
  • Keep obsolescence at an absolute minimum
  • Maintain inventory at an acceptable level as per the forecast