Material Expeditor/Planner

Staff Solutions; Oos-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 420,000 - 580,000; Full time

Job summary

Staff Solutions in South Africa seeks a skilled Materials Planner to extend the 52-week forecast to all suppliers and align demand with production schedules.

You will work closely with Production Planners, analyse MRP reports, and send weekly releases to suppliers to keep raw materials flowing. Strong communication and organization are essential to maintain inventory at target levels.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and experience in materials planning, logistics and/or supply chain.
• Excellent computer skills and thorough knowledge of MRP, MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
• Understanding of the automotive and commercial vehicle industries is preferred.
• Proficiency in eBusiness tools and the Microsoft Office Suite.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Detail-oriented, proactive and able to anticipate requirements and work efficiently with minimal direction in a high‑pressure environment.
• Skilled in composing written correspondence and preparing presentations for senior management.
• Able to work effectively with a dispersed leadership team and colleagues across functions and sites.
• Strong organisation, planning and follow‑through skills.
• Able to solve a broad range of problems independently and take ownership of tasks.
• Willingness to work flexible hours.

Responsibilities

• Extend the 52-week forecast to all suppliers.
• Understand customer demand and forecasts.
• Collaborate with Production Planners on production-line schedules.
• Analyse MRP reports and send weekly releases to suppliers.
• Expedite raw materials from local and international suppliers.
• Ensure raw materials are available on time for production.
• Communicate daily with freight forwarders regarding imports of raw materials.
• Maintain inventory at acceptable levels.
• Improve daily utilisation of planned trucks with freight forwarders and transporters.
• Improve internal supply chain and materials flow between client plants using Value Stream Mapping.
• Work cross-functionally to optimise freight and warehouse networks, aligning forecasts with order-management logic.
• Escalate potential supply issues to the Materials Manager when required.
• Allocate parts between client plants when required.
• Send weekly purchase orders to suppliers.
• Ensure suppliers have the required parts ready for collection in line with weekly purchase orders.
• Manage all material alarms in One Network.
• Avoid stopping internal customers.
• Reduce or eliminate airfreight costs.
• Keep obsolescence to an absolute minimum.
• Maintain inventory at an acceptable level in line with the forecast.

Skills

Excellent communication

Interpersonal skills

Strong organisation

Planning and follow-through

Detail-oriented

Proactive

Work under pressure

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in materials planning, logistics and/or supply chain

Tools

MRP

MS Word

PowerPoint

Excel

Job description

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure the 52-week long-horizon forecast is extended to all suppliers.
• Understand customer demand and forecasts.
• Work closely with Production Planners to understand production-line schedules.
• Analyse MRP reports and send weekly releases to suppliers.
• Closely expedite raw materials from local and international suppliers.
• Ensure raw materials are available on time for production.
• Communicate daily with freight forwarders regarding imports of raw materials.
• Maintain inventory at acceptable levels.

Control and Reduce Logistics Costs

• Improve daily utilisation of planned trucks with freight forwarders and transporters.
• Improve internal supply chain and materials flow between client plants using Value Stream Mapping.
• Work cross-functionally to optimise freight and warehouse networks, aligning forecasts with order-management logic.

Protection of Supply

• Escalate potential supply issues to the Materials Manager when required.
• Allocate parts between client plants when required.
• Send weekly purchase orders to suppliers.
• Ensure suppliers have the required parts ready for collection in line with weekly purchase orders.
• Manage all material alarms in One Network.

Key Deliverables

• Avoid stopping internal customers.
• Reduce or eliminate airfreight costs.
• Keep obsolescence to an absolute minimum.
• Maintain inventory at an acceptable level in line with the forecast.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree and experience in materials planning, logistics and/or supply chain.
• Excellent computer skills and thorough knowledge of MRP, MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
• Understanding of the automotive and commercial vehicle industries is preferred.
• Proficiency in eBusiness tools and the Microsoft Office Suite.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Experience in assembly, machining and forging operations is preferred.
• Detail-oriented, proactive and able to anticipate requirements and work efficiently with minimal direction in a high‑pressure environment.
• Skilled in composing written correspondence and preparing presentations for senior management.
• Able to work effectively with a dispersed leadership team and colleagues across functions and sites.
• Strong organisation, planning and follow‑through skills.
• Able to solve a broad range of problems independently and take ownership of tasks.
• Willingness to work flexible hours.

Core Competencies

Strategy – Ability to think and act strategically

• Lead and act consistently with the company’s strategy and values.
• Demonstrate strategic problem-solving, sound decision-making and judgement.
• Demonstrate sound business and technical acumen.
• Show intellectual rigour during problem-solving.

Talent – Ability to build and develop talent

• Demonstrate the ability to develop oneself and others.
• Show evidence of continuous learning.
• Demonstrate performance leadership.

Approach – Ability to engage and solve problems effectively

• Build trust and engage others.
• Build or contribute to an inclusive team environment.
• Demonstrate strong interpersonal communication.
• Maintain a strong professional presence.

Results – Ability to achieve planned results

• Demonstrate customer focus through planning and actions.
• Act with initiative and urgency.
• Lead change with adaptability and continuous improvement.
• Hold oneself and others accountable for results.
• Leverage available resources to achieve results.