Buyer/Planner (Production Planning, Purchasing, Materials)

Job description

ABOUT US

Smith & Nephew is a diversified advanced medical technology business that supports healthcare professionals in more than 100 countries to improve the quality of life for their patients.

We have leadership positions in Orthopedic Reconstruction, Advanced Wound Management, Sports Medicine and Trauma:

• Orthopedics Reconstruction - joint replacement systems for knees, hips and shoulders

• Advanced Wound Management - wound care treatment and prevention products used to treat hard-to-heal wounds

• Sports Medicine - minimally invasive surgery of the joint

• Trauma & Extremities - products that help repair broken bones

We have over 15,000 employees around the world. Annual sales in 2015 were more than $4.6 billion.

We are a constituent of the UK's FTSE100.

SUMMARY: Primary responsibilities include establishing and controlling production schedules to include placing and expediting orders from raw materials to finished goods inventory. Plans orders to support Master Production Schedule. Interacts with Marketing, Engineering, Supply Chain Mgmt, GIS, and suppliers to maximize labor & material utilization. Also coordinates inventory management activities.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following:

Production Planning

• Establishes and maintains production, material, inventory and purchase plan to support master schedule

• Perform finite capacity scheduling, including level load and takt time

• Maintains product availability dates for customer service order promising

• Reviews and maintains master data (item master, BOMs, kanban quantities, etc.) integrity of assigned product line(s)

Purchasing

• Provides input to Strategic Purchasing for long and short term contracts

• Executes replenishment orders and changes based on MRP/schedule or kanban signals

• Maintains open line of communication with suppliers to ensure on time delivery

• Maintain current supplier delivery schedule in SAP

• Provide monthly purchase forecast to suppliers

Production Execution

• Releases shop orders based on MRP/schedule or kanban signals

• Monitors WIP queues and analyzes feedback from the shop floor and takes corrective action as required

• Maintains and communicates schedule priorities and status to shop floor and master planners

• Monitor and take corrective action on aging production orders

Inventory Management

• Maintains timely resolution/rework of returned goods

• Monitors discrepant inventory and takes corrective action as required

• Reference 0005834 “Specification for Managing Product from Hold-It Notices, Stock Corrections, and Recalls”

• Establishes and maintains a plan for every part (includes kanban calculators, loop sizes, etc)

• Ensures availability of purchased materials necessary to support the production plan while maintaining the inventory within budget

• Develop and maintain inventory projections and supplier forecasts for assigned materials

• Perform kanban audits, bin sizing, rounds, etc…

Project-related Activities

• Assists and/or executes the production scheduler activities related to new product launches

• Participates in improvement projects and/or Kaizen events aimed at reducing costs, inventory reduction, lead-time reduction, etc

• Assists in the development of Production and Inventory Control (PIC) programs, policies, and plans, and assists in the implementation of approved systems

• Assists in ECR process and initiates production/purchase order changes as required.

Desired profile

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor's Degree in Business or related field

• OR Associate's Degree and two years of experience

• OR equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Some MRP experience preferred

• Lean experience preferred

• Tier 1 ERP system experience (SAP, Oracle, JDE, etc.) preferred

• CPIM/CPM certification preferred

SKILLS:

• Able to consider large amounts of information quickly and identifies key issues

• Good written and oral communication skills to all levels in an organization

• Have the capability of working with short deadlines in a fast-paced environment

• Ability to function in a matrix organization

• Good project management skills

• Strong knowledge of the MS Office suite (Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access)