DISTRIBUTION OPTIMIZATION MANAGER

Get to know East Penn!

At East Penn, our employees are our culture; our employees will always be the heart of the company.  We are a private, family-owned enterprise committed to cultivating an atmosphere that honors the contributions of everyone.  We want our employees to have long-term careers, and many do.  More than 38% of our workforce has over a decade of service.  Our open-door management policy, comprehensive benefits package, employee appreciation and recognition events, and career advancement opportunities are just some of the ways we show our employees how incredibly valued they are.

East Penn is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  You will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, marital status, pregnancy, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.  

EOE/VEVRAA

Overview

We are seeking an experienced Optimization Manager who will uphold our core values of integrity, respect, safety, and quality just to name a few.  The Manager will be responsible for establishing consistent best practices across the distribution network providing leadership and guidance to the team to meet distribution operation goals that align with corporate objectives in the following 5 categories:

• Safety – OSHA recordable incidents
• Quality – inventory & processing transactional accuracy (from receipt through fulfillment)
• Service – lead time adherence, on-time delivery & pick-up
• Productivity/Operational Efficiency – units processed per man hour
• Cost – cost per unit shipped

Responsibilities

1. Establish consistent best practices across the distribution network

o Develop and maintain a distribution playbook: operating methods and procedures for:

§ Receiving & putaway/storage; Picking; Late-stage manufacturing (Dryline and Hi-rate processes); Packing; Customer Shipping and Internal Replenishment

o Ensure all distribution processes and workflows are reliable, repeatable & sustainable, enabling near-flawless execution

o Collaborate with regional DCs to continuously share best practices, new ideas, and learnings

o Create and drive a culture of “best in class” operations by benchmarking capabilities and desired performance and narrowing any gaps to drive competitive advantage

2. Partner with East Penn’s Continuous Improvement/Lean Champion to deploy our operational excellence system throughout the Corporate Fulfillment Center and all regional distribution operations

o Lead Continuous Improvement efforts to support Distribution strategies and objectives (meeting/exceeding all Safety, Quality, Service and Cost performance targets)

§ Develop and perpetuate a ‘performance mindset’ culture and capabilities across all Distribution facilities

§ Implement, oversee and support daily management board reviews, KPI’s and other Lean and C.I. tools, including plan vs actual gap reviews, root cause analysis and corrective action planning

o Continuously identify and prioritize quick wins and changes to longer term strategies, and then sponsor, lead &/or support projects to deliver on those improvements

3. Develop and implement short and long-term Distribution Operations plans

o Continuously evaluate resources (time, space, labor, equipment, money) and respond quickly to constraints that will limit ability to meet corporate and/or local objectives

o Implement exception management practices to proactively identify & eliminate material flow bottlenecks, delays, cost leaks, etc.

4. Coach and develop direct report functional ‘process owners’

5. Perform other duties as requested by management

Qualifications

Experience, Skills & Qualifications

· 5 years driving change and operational excellence in a warehouse/distribution environment

· 2 years supervising others

· Deep knowledge/expertise/experience of distribution and warehousing best practices, including implementing warehousing technology (WMS, WCM), automation and robotics

· Ability to envision a world different from the status quo and create/implement a plan to get there

Education/Certification

· Bachelor’s Degree in supply chain management, logistics, industrial engineering, or a related field

Skills & Competencies

· Challenges the status quo / Drives Continuous Improvement

· Results Focused / Bias for action

· Strong investigative, analytic, critical thinking and problem-solving skills

· Outstanding project and change management capabilities

· Leadership and communication style that empowers & engages

Work Schedule

· Travel to other East Penn Distribution Centers and Plant locations as required (approx. 15-30%)

East Penn Benefits

• Competitive compensation
• Group health insurance that includes high quality medical, dental, vision and prescription coverage with a low employee premium
• Retirement Savings Plan with company match and a 3% employer contribution
• 9 paid company holidays, 2 paid personal holidays, and 10 paid vacation days annually
• Employee assistance program
• Fitness Discounts
• Promotional opportunities