Manufacturing MRP Planner

Who We Are:
Challenge’s mission is to manufacture with operational excellence by empowering our employee-owners. As a leading tier 1 supplier of complex metal assemblies for the global automotive industry, we drive innovative solutions for future mobility. We believe the best ideas come from individual unique perspectives. These ideas combined with the teamwork of industry leaders allow us to accomplish any challenge. Our team members take pride in the work we do and embody our core values of safety, ownership, and teamwork every day; they are the true driving force in our operations.

Challenge is proud to be one of the largest employee-owned automotive companies in North America. One of the many benefits of joining the Challenge team is the ESOP program. This program allows Challenge to give shares of the Company to all employee-owners annually. These shares are an additional retirement benefit that will continue to grow during your time at Challenge. Being part of an ESOP means our employee-owners share in Challenge’s success!

Together we own Safety! Challenge is #QualityDriven and #PeoplePowered!

Who We Want:

The Manufacturing MRP Planner responsibilities include forecast demand planning, manage suppliers to achieve 100% on time delivery, address supply chain disruptions, and work cross functionally with other Challenge departments. They will plan material receipts to meet delivery expectations of forecasted and actual sales while minimizing inventory levels; Utilizing MRP systems to calculate exact quantities of raw materials required based on production schedules. This position will work one-on-one with suppliers to ensure no disruptions to Challenge manufacturing supply chain. The Manufacturing MRP Planner will work with suppliers on maintaining accurate subcontract material inventory and investigating all discrepancies.

What You'll Do:

• Participate with Material Requirement Planning improvements/implementation team
• Monitor inventory levels against agreed target levels
• Ensure integrity of Data Entry
• Estimate materials required for production
• Coordinate activities with warehouse and production teams
• Compile worksheets and specifications of orders
• Prepare and maintain progress and other reports
• Review long-term forecasts to identify and mitigate possible capacity/material issues and recommend appropriate action
• Ensuring the consistent and adequate supply of materials necessary for production
• Tracking production volume and monitoring customer demand patterns and purchasing trends
• Participate in launch meetings to plan out activities in future time periods
• Perform ongoing analysis of weekly, monthly and future capacity to optimize product level loading and achieve manufacturing continuity during low and high-volume months.
• Review demand and supply to understand bottleneck and propose alternative capacity or areas needing capacity improvement to meet demand
• Participate in business planning meetings to plan out activities in future time periods
• Constantly look for improvements and help implement solutions. Recommend components to stock to support a pull system for products and to reduce lead-times
• Read and analyze charts, work orders, production schedules and other records/reports to determine production requirements and to evaluate current production estimates and outputs
• Team attitude; eager to cooperate with others with exceptional interpersonal communication skills.
• Willing to put in extra effort and hours as needed.
• Competent with computer software such as, Microsoft office (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, MS Project).
• Knowledge of MRP/ERP systems (Plex is a strong plus).

When and Where:
This will be a 1st Shift / 7AM-4PM M-F position located at our Plant in Walker, MI. 
Occasionally, this may require you to arrive early, stay late, or work on weekends, outside of our regular hours, to ensure we successfully meet customer needs, deadlines, or urgent requests.

What You Need to Have:

• Bachelor’s degree preferred (major or concentration in Supply Chain Management/Logistics is a strong plus).
• 2+ years of experience in material planning, inventory management, purchasing, or a related position.
• Experience with Plex Systems ERP strongly preferred.
• Previous experience in automotive industry preferred.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Detail oriented and a high-level of organization.
• Computer literacy required, including MS Office (Excel) and ERP/MRP experience
• Personal attributes must include integrity and ability to conduct self in a firm, fai