Demand Planning Analyst

The Demand Planning Analyst is responsible for forecasting customer demand, coordinating production and material requirements, and ensuring the availability of resources needed to meet customer delivery commitments. This role works closely with Sales, Customer Service, Production, Purchasing, Inventory Control, and outside processing suppliers to align demand with manufacturing capacity, material availability, and subcontract processing lead times.Key Duties & Responsibilities: Demand Planning and Forecasting * Develop, maintain, and update demand forecasts based on customer orders, historical sales, customer forecasts, and anticipated business needs. * Analyze demand trends, order patterns, seasonality, and changes in customer requirements. * Collaborate with Sales, Customer Service, Production, and Purchasing to align demand forecasts with business objectives. * Monitor changes in customer demand and proactively communicate potential impacts on production schedules, material requirements, and delivery commitments.Outside Processing and Supplier Coordination * Forecast, plan and coordinate outside processing demand and communicate anticipated volumes and timing to external service providers. * Coordinate with Purchasing and outside processors to confirm capacity, lead times, turnaround times, and delivery schedules. * Identify potential supplier capacity constraints, extended lead times, and processing delays that may affect customer delivery dates. * Work with suppliers and internal teams to develop recovery plans for delayed or constrained outside processing operations.Inventory and Material Planning * Monitor and recommend appropriate inventory levels for raw materials, purchased components and finished goods. * Review material requirements and coordinate with Purchasing to ensure materials are available to meet production demand. * Monitor inventory levels, safety stock, reorder points, and lead times to reduce the risk of shortages and excess inventory. * Identify slow-moving, obsolete, excess, and at-risk inventory and recommend corrective actions. * Balance inventory investment with customer service levels and operational needs.Cross-Functional Communication * Serve as a key point of coordination between Sales, Customer Service, Production, Purchasing, Inventory Control, and outside processing suppliers. * Communicate forecast changes, material shortages, capacity constraints, and delivery risks to the appropriate stakeholders. * Participate in production planning meetings, scheduling reviews, and Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) discussions, as applicable. * Provide timely updates regarding demand changes that may affect production priorities or customer commitments. * Collaborate with internal teams to resolve planning conflicts and improve coordination across the supply chain.ERP/MRP System Management and Reporting * Maintain accurate planning parameters, demand forecasts, lead times, and related master data within the ERP/MRP system. * Review planned orders, purchase requisitions, production orders, and rescheduling recommendations. * Analyze forecast accuracy, inventory performance, capacity utilization, and schedule adherence. * Prepare and maintain reports related to demand trends, inventory levels, material availability, and supplier performance. * Identify discrepancies between system recommendations and actual operating requirements and recommend appropriate adjustments.Risk Management and Continuous Improvement * Identify potential risks to production continuity and customer delivery, including material shortages, supplier delays, capacity limitations, and demand fluctuations. * Develop contingency plans to address supply constraints and changing customer requirements. * Recommend improvements to forecasting accuracy, inventory management and production flows * Analyze root causes of recurring shortages, scheduling disrup