Production Materials Planner

Summary

Trace3 is a transformative IT authority providing technology solutions and consulting services. The Production Materials Planner translates sales pipeline, customer orders, vendor lead times, and inventory into executable material and shipment plans, coordinating across internal teams and vendors to support on-time delivery while minimizing excess inventory and supply risks.

Responsibilities

• Analyze sales pipeline, booked orders, expected close dates, customer requested dates, historical demand, current inventory, and vendor lead times to forecast equipment requirements and create time-phased material plans
• Determine when equipment should be ordered, released, expedited, delayed, or de-expedited to support on-time customer delivery while minimizing excess inventory and unnecessary warehouse dwell time
• Monitor inventory by SKU, manufacturer, project, and customer commitment; identify shortages, excess, slow-moving, aging, or potentially obsolete inventory and recommend corrective action
• Coordinate with vendors and distributors on order acknowledgements, committed ship dates, partial shipments, allocation constraints, lead-time changes, staged releases, and other supply exceptions
• Evaluate and coordinate vendor-direct / drop-ship opportunities when appropriate to reduce handling, freight, warehouse touches, and cycle time while ensuring customer and project requirements are met
• Maintain visibility to open purchase orders and customer orders; proactively resolve past-due, at-risk, or mismatched dates and communicate recovery plans to affected stakeholders
• Partner closely with Sales and delivery teams to validate forecast timing and distinguish likely demand from committed demand so purchasing actions are aligned to business risk and customer need
• Collaborate with Warehouse and Operations to plan inbound volume, receiving timing, staging requirements, and outbound shipment priorities based on warehouse capacity and customer schedules
• Partner with Finance and Procurement to monitor inventory exposure, excess and obsolete inventory, returns, cancellations, and restocking impacts while supporting inventory performance objectives
• Maintain accurate planning data in ERP/MRP and related systems, including lead times, promised dates, reorder or safety-stock parameters where applicable, order quantities, and relevant supplier information
• Develop and maintain reporting on inventory, material availability, open purchase orders, delivery risks, and supplier performance
• Perform root-cause analysis on shortages, delivery misses, and planning issues and recommend corrective actions to improve planning effectiveness
• Maintain professional, proactive communication with vendors and internal stakeholders, escalating material risks early with clear options, business impact, and recommended actions

Skills

• 3-5+ years of experience in materials planning, inventory planning, supply planning, procurement, purchasing, supply chain, or a related field
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret demand, inventory, lead-time, and order data to make sound planning decisions
• Demonstrated ability to forecast material requirements, identify supply risks, and balance customer delivery needs with inventory and operational objectives
• Experience working in ERP, MRP, order management, or supply chain planning systems, including maintaining accurate planning data and using system outputs to support decision-making
• Intermediate to advanced Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, formulas, filtering, and analysis of large data sets

Qualifications

Must Haves

• 3-5+ years of experience in materials planning, inventory planning, supply planning, procurement, purchasing, supply chain, or a related field
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret demand, inventory, lead-time, and order data to make sound planning decisions
• Demonstrated ability to forecast material requirements, identify supply risks, and balance customer delivery needs with inventory and operational objectives
• Experience working in ERP, MRP, order management, or supply chain planning systems, including maintaining accurate planning data and using system outputs to support decision-making
• Intermediate to advanced Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, formulas, filtering, and analysis of large data sets

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans for you and your dependents
• 401(k) Retirement Plan with Employer Match
• 529 College Savings Plan
• Health Savings Account
• Life Insurance
• Long-Term Disability
• Training and development programs
• Major offices stocked with snacks and beverages
• Collaborative and cool culture
• Work-life balance and generous paid time off