The Purchasing Specialist / Production Scheduling Coordinator is responsible for the procurement and management of Maintenance, Repair & Operations (MRO) materials, production supplies, inks, chemicals, office supplies, and other plant-related products to support efficient manufacturing operations. This position ensures cost-effective purchasing, supplier performance, inventory optimization, and material availability while maintaining compliance with company policies and quality standards.
In addition to procurement responsibilities, this role will be cross-trained in production planning and scheduling to provide vacation coverage, business continuity support, and succession planning for the Production Scheduler position. The incumbent will assist in maintaining production schedules, coordinating material availability, and supporting on-time delivery objectives across manufacturing operations.
Essential Job Functions and Responsibilities:
Procurement & Supply Chain Management
- Purchase materials, commodities, and services in accordance with company procurement policies and procedures.
- Analyze purchase requirements and review requests for completeness and accuracy.
- Collaborate with Operations, Maintenance, Production, Quality, and other departments to clarify requirements and improve purchasing specifications.
- Obtain proper approvals and authorizations for purchases according to company guidelines.
- Source, evaluate, and develop relationships with new and existing suppliers.
- Solicit quotations, negotiate pricing, and evaluate suppliers based on quality, service, delivery, and cost.
- Place and monitor purchase orders to ensure timely receipt of goods and services.
- Resolve purchasing, invoicing, and supplier-performance issues in a timely manner.
- Support supplier approval programs and supplier performance reviews.
- Take an active role in purchasing inks, chemicals, packaging materials, and plant supplies while adhering to food safety and quality requirements.
- Maintain accurate purchasing records, pricing databases, contracts, and supplier documentation.
- Generate purchasing reports and supply chain metrics as required.
- Maintain appropriate inventory levels of MRO items, production consumables, and operating supplies.
- Collaborate with warehouse and operations teams to monitor inventory usage and consumption trends.
- Support inventory control initiatives, cycle counts, and annual physical inventories.
- Identify opportunities to reduce inventory costs while maintaining operational continuity.
- Assist with material planning activities to ensure adequate support of production schedules.
- Participate in inventory variance investigations and corrective actions.
Production Planning and Scheduling Support
- Cross-train with the Production Planner to develop a working knowledge of production scheduling processes.
- Provide scheduling coverage during vacations, absences, and peak workload periods.
- Assist in creating and maintaining daily and weekly production schedules.
- Support the release and management of production work orders.
- Coordinate material availability to support production requirements and customer commitments.
- Participate in daily production meetings and communicate production priorities and constraints.
- Monitor schedule adherence and assist in identifying bottlenecks or capacity issues.
- Support on-time, in-full (OTIF) delivery objectives through effective coordination of materials and production plans.
- Contribute to long-term succession planning by developing the skills necessary to assume increased production planning responsibilities.
- Complies with all general Company-wide standard operating procedures (SOP’s) and any job or department specific SOP’s.
- SOP’s may cover the areas of (but are not limited to)
- Employee Health and Safety
- GFSI (Safe Quality Food packaging) and GMP (good manufacturing procedures) focused on eliminating contaminates in all packaging manufactured.
- SGP (Sustainable Green Printer) environmental regulatory procedures and SOP’s
- Must work within productivity standards and completes work in a timely manner.
- Special Projects & other duties as necessary
Skills and Knowledge:
- Strong purchasing and supplier management skills.
- Understanding of inventory control and materials management principles.
- Working knowledge of production planning and scheduling concepts.
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities.
- Strong organizational skills with exceptional attention to detail.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
- Effective verbal and written communication skills.
- Ability to build collaborative relationships across departments.
- Proficiency with ERP systems and Microsoft Office applications.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment
Physical Demands:
- Primarily sedentary office work requiring extended periods of computer use.
- Frequent walking through manufacturing and warehouse areas.
- Occasional lifting of up to 20 lbs.
- Regular use of office equipment and computer systems.
