Purchasing & Purchase Order Management
· Create, release, manage, and close purchase orders and, where appropriate, blanket purchase agreements in accordance with approved requirements and company policies.
· Determine and confirm export and import documents meet requirements (e,g, HTC and product descriptions) for international shipments.
· Obtain and evaluate supplier quotations, pricing, availability, lead times, minimum order quantities, payment terms, freight terms, and other commercial conditions.
· Negotiate pricing, delivery, quality, and terms within established authority to achieve the best total value including the impact of import duties and tariffs.
· Manage open orders from placement through receipt; expedite, defer, pull in, reschedule, or cancel orders as business requirements change.
· Resolve order, receiving, pricing, invoice, quantity, and specification discrepancies with suppliers and internal stakeholders.
· Maintain complete and accurate procurement records, supplier correspondence, acknowledgments, and supporting documentation.
Material Planning, MRP & Inventory Control
· Analyze internal demand forecasts, production schedules, external OEM customer requirements, historical usage, lead times, and inventory positions to determine material requirements.
· Use ERP and MRP tools, including exception messages and purchase suggestions, to identify shortages, excess inventory, late supply, and required planning actions.
· Define and maintain planning parameters such as lead time, order quantity, safety stock, reorder points, and stocking policies (e.g. stock, non-stock, drop-ship and cross-dock) for assigned items.
· Balance service, production continuity, cash requirements, and obsolescence risk when making replenishment decisions.
· Coordinate material availability for production schedules, non-stock requirements, ready-to-fly production, MRO needs, R&D activity, and new product launches.
· Manage backorders, substitutions, allocations, and supply constraints; communicate risks and recovery plans promptly.
Supplier Management & Sourcing
· Identify, evaluate, select, qualify, and onboard suppliers in coordination with Category Management, Quality and other functional stakeholders.
· Develop productive supplier relationships and serve as the day-to-day commercial contact for assigned suppliers and categories.
· Monitor supplier delivery, quality, responsiveness, cost, and service performance; address deficiencies and support corrective actions.
· Source alternate suppliers and equivalent materials to reduce supply risk, improve lead time, and support cost-reduction objectives.
· Support supplier agreements, vendor-managed inventory, economic order quantity, and replenishment programs when beneficial.
Cross-Functional Execution
· Partner with Engineering and suppliers on specifications, bills of material, engineering changes, product lifecycle transitions, and new product introductions.
· Collaborate with Production, Scheduling, Quality, Warehouse, Inventory Control, Customer Service, Business Development, and Finance to resolve supply and order issues.
· Provide timely responses to questions involving product availability, shipment status, returns, backorders, substitutes, and expected delivery dates.
· Coordinate non-stock purchasing and support quoting and order management activities as assigned.
Reporting & Continuous Improvement
· Track and communicate inventory status, shortages, open-order risk, supplier performance, purchase price variance, lead-time improvement, and cost-saving opportunities.
· Analyze data and recommend practical actions to improve forecast accuracy, inventory effectiveness, procurement efficiency, and supplier performance.
· Support standard-cost updates, budgeting, cash-flow planning, payment-term improvements, and other cross-functional business reviews as requested.
· Participate in continuous improvement initiatives involving purchasing processes, material flow, ERP/MRP utilization, reporting, and internal controls.
· Maintain awareness of market conditions, supplier capacity, business-practice changes, and new or alternative materials relevant to assigned categories.