Demand Planner
Learntastic
full-time
Posted on:
Location Type: Remote
Location: United States
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About the role
- Develop, maintain, and improve short-, medium-, and long-term demand forecasts for thermoformed and extruded products using historical data, customer inputs, industry trends, and analytical tools.
- Monitor forecast accuracy (MAPE, Bias, etc.) and implement corrective actions to improve performance.
- Identify demand risks, surges, shifts in customer ordering behavior, and communicate impacts to operations and leadership.
- Support pricing evaluations and new product introductions by estimating volume, capacity requirements, and demand variability.
- Serve as the primary liaison between Sales, Customer Service, Production Scheduling, and Operations to ensure alignment between demand and supply.
- Participate in weekly and monthly S&OP meetings by presenting forecast updates, key variances, and recommendations.
- Work closely with Extrusion and Thermoforming teams to understand production capabilities, resin usage, machine constraints, and lead time requirements.
- Partner with Purchasing to plan raw material needs—especially resin and packaging materials—based on forecast and production plans.
- Translate demand forecasts into capacity requirements across multiple facilities and production lines.
- Coordinate with Production Planners and Plant Managers to balance loads, minimize changeovers, and optimize machine utilization.
- Support decisions on make-to-stock vs. make-to-order strategies, safety stock calculations, and inventory targets.
- Monitor facility-specific constraints and recommend proactive adjustments during peak seasons, customer onboarding, or production shifts.
- Analyze sales patterns, customer performance, and order history to identify opportunities for improvement.
- Generate and maintain KPI dashboards for forecast accuracy, inventory health, service levels, and production capacity.
- Provide data-driven insights to leadership to support strategic and operational decisions.
- Lead or participate in continuous improvement projects focused on forecasting accuracy, inventory optimization, planning processes, and cross-department communication.
- Identify inefficiencies in the demand planning workflow and propose standardized procedures or digital tools to enhance planning efficiency.
- Support implementation of ERP/MRP upgrades, forecasting software, or process automation.
- Promote best practices in planning, root-cause problem solving, and data integrity.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Operations, Industrial Engineering, or related field.
- 5+ years of demand planning, forecasting, production planning, or supply chain experience (manufacturing environment required).
- Strong analytical skills with proficiency in Excel, ERP/MRP systems, and forecasting tools.
- Proven ability to work cross-functionally and communicate effectively with multiple departments and facility locations.
- Understanding of manufacturing principles, preferably in plastics, thermoforming, extrusion, or related processing industries.
- Experience in thermoforming, extrusion, or plastics manufacturing.
- Knowledge of resin material planning and machine-based capacity scheduling.
- Experience leading or contributing to continuous improvement initiatives (Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, etc.).
- Familiarity with advanced analytics tools (Power BI, Tableau, forecasting software).
- APICS/ASCM certification (CPIM, CSCP) or similar credentials.
- Fluency in the English language; written and verbal proficiency (B2 level minimum on CEFR scale).
Benefits
- Minimal or no travel
Applicant Tracking System Keywords
Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.
Hard Skills & Tools
demand forecastingproduction planningsupply chain managementanalytical skillscapacity requirementssafety stock calculationsinventory optimizationKPI dashboardsdata-driven insightscontinuous improvement
Soft Skills
cross-functional communicationleadershipproblem solvingorganizational skillscollaboration
Certifications
APICS certificationCPIMCSCP