NPI Inventory Manager

NPI Inventory Manager Location Chicago, IL (New Eastside area) :

James Hardie Building Products Inc. is the North American leader in fiber cement home siding and exterior design solutions. Hardie® products offer long lasting beauty and endless design possibilities with trusted protection and low maintenance. The company pioneered modern fiber cement building products and continues to invest in innovation to transform the industry. James Hardie is a high-performance organization, with an unwavering commitment to Zero Harm. The company proudly employs a diverse workforce of over 3,000 employees across operations in North America.

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The NPI/Inventory Manager works within the supply chain team and is responsible for leading a variety of short-medium term projects to help support our product strategies and leading the center of excellence around inventory management. This role works closely with the Commercial Sales Team, R&D, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Customer ops, Pricing, Products and Segments, in addition to the European business partners. The role will be split into two major functions - New Product Introductions and Inventory Management.

The NPI Manager will run varies types of projects that include, but are not limited to: Product Launches, Product Development, in-market strategy implementation, 3rd party vendor transitions, and internal cost or supply chain optimization. The role will work cross-functionally to guide products from conception through launch by connecting the technical, commercial, manufacturing, supply chain and order management sides of the business. Inventory Management will run varies improvement projects to help establish a center of excellence in supply chain around how we measure and report on our inventory. The role will work cross-functionally with Sales, Manufacturing, Planning, Finance, Products and Segments and others to manage out dead stock and execute SKU rationalization.

What You'll Do:

Project Management:

• Manage the NPI gated process through feasibility, development, implementation, and post-implementation
• Participate with planning sessions and ensuring that cross-functional team has a shared and aligned view of project plan
• Provide Supply Chain expertise & Order Management know-how in planning and execution of Implementation plan; to ensure minimal disruption to current operations while protecting service of project products.
• Critical review of key work product from other groups to ensure the details of the Supply Chain planning is sound; and that accurate information is being circulated to Supply Chain decision-makers during execution phase
• Deal with and effectively communicate exceptions & issues
• Monitor all launched projects until a project is commercialized
• Continuous improvement of NPI processes for supply chain

Planning & Update Sessions with Project Owners & Stakeholders:

• Lead cross-functional weekly meetings to manage progress to goal: set agenda, provide updates, seek and confirm decisions, and follow-up action items
• Provide supply chain expertise on 100% service to customer in order to implement a successful product launch
• Create scenario plans to establish future forward risk mitigation & contingencies to schedule/service

Data Analysis:

• Integrate demand forecasts, R&D trial load to network capacity limits to determine optimal production sequence as well as production targets.
• Provide Sensitivity and knock-on effect analysis on service & schedule based on expected risk profile
• Create planning tools using Excel with data from SAP while waiting for short term NPI forecast
• Validate and publish weekly sales and inventory reports

Inventory Management Responsibilities:

Develop and Maintain network inventory controls/targets:

• Establish and maintain best practices for inventory management controls all planning functions in North Amercia.
• Lead working capital projects and drive the execution of management processes to hit company working capital targets.
• Report out and summarize inventory health, providing insights and actions to drive continued improvement in turns.
• Collaborate with Warehouse and Shipping team to facilitate site level inventory plans and winter build strategies
• Partner with Planning and Capacity teams to establish processes for consistent inventory targets in a dynamic supply network

Develop and execute Excess & Obsolete inventory management processes:

• Partner with Finance to develop E&O inventory management process
• Create alerts to prevent potential E&O Production for our Planning Operations Resources.
• Provide status updates to leadership on E&O actions and progress vs. plan.
• Manage any fire sale with commercial and quality teams

Standardize and Lead our SKU Rationalization process:

• Develop the cadence with collaboration with Product Management of our SKU Rationalization management process
• Provide analysis and inventory data inputs to support decision making of SKU rationalization recommendations
• Manage inventory removal plan for identified SKUs to remove from network offering

What You'll Bring:

• Bachelor's Degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, or a related field.
• 5 or more years of experience within supply chain, logistics, transportation, or product management groups
• Cross-Functional planning background strongly desired - with multiple roles held across the various areas listed above
• Experience analyzing large data sets and explaining insights to senior leadership teams.
• Ability to create processes, execute process improvements and lead cross functional project teams
• Strong analytical skills using Microsoft Excel.
• SAP experience preferred.
• Outstanding Project Management skills required
  • Able to successfully manage multiple tasks and prioritize workload while paying attention to detail
  • Able to take a complex series of constraints and task interactions to establish optimal path forward for project
  • Able to establish meaningful metrics to provide focus, clarity, alignment and transparency for cross-functional team to gauge its progress to goal
• Strong understanding of supply chain & manufacturing networks
• Proven ability to communicate at all levels; excellent negotiation skills
• Self-directed problem solver with a high sense of urgency; acting independently upon information to make decisions that achieve optimal results.
• Highly analytical with proven skills in utilizing the various features of spreadsheet and basic software to create tools and track results (SAP, Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and other proprietary software).
• Demonstrated leadership skills and guiding indirect reports to effectively accomplish performance goals.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across an organization; building strategic working relationships while holding both others and themselves accountable for deliverables.

What You'll Receive

• At James Hardie, we recognize that our success depends on our people. We've worked hard to build a generous and competitive benefits program that demonstrates our commitment to our employees.
• Comprehensive low-cost co-pay Health Insurance; medical, dental, prescription, and vision insurance benefits for every 30+ hour full-time employee. Insurance starts on day one!
• 401(k) Retirement plan that will match 100% of employees saved dollars up to the first 6% of your salary
• Paid holidays, paid vacation including Jury Duty and bereavement leave
• Wellness Program
• Employee Assistance Program
• Parental Leave
• Community Involvement & Sustainable Solutions - Fire Resistant Siding to Help Rebuild the Grizzly Flats Community | James Hardie
• And more

Apply now and come “home” to Hardie!

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James Hardie Building Products Inc. is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, gender, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, genetic information, veteran's status, marital status, pregnancy, disability, or any other basis protected by law.