What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director of Logistics position at Great Kitchens Food Company?
Job Title
Based out of Romeoville, just southwest of Chicago, Great Kitchens has been supplying private label, take & bake pizza since 2005. Recently acquired by Brynwood Partners in December 2020. We have the unique capability to innovate through recipes, toppings, crust types and baking profiles and our flexible manufacturing lines allow us to provide our customers with a premium pizza product. We pride ourselves on providing the highest quality in every aspect of the pizza process and provide solutions to both retail and foodservice customers. Our pizzas are proudly served in 11 of the top 15 food retailers in North America and 6 of the top 10 global food retailers. We serve all major channels: grocery, supercenter, limited assortment, convenience stores, warehouse clubs, QSR, and foodservice. Our flexibility sets us apart from many of our competitors and allows for quick speed to market for new products. Our pizzas have an excellent track record for quality and have been recognized by several of our customers as “Best in Class.” We also pride ourselves on safe and sustainable business practices. Both our Romeoville and Chicago Heights plants are BRC GSFS A rated and we have a global supply network of top-quality suppliers allowing us to leverage their R&D capabilities for our customers.” Our people are our strongest asset, and we proudly employ over 800 employees.
Our Company operates a crust facility in Chicago Heights and toppings facilities in Romeoville and Boston MA. Every role is vital to the growth of our organization.
Key Accountabilities
The Director of Logistics is responsible for the overall operational administration and management of Great Kitchens three warehouses and logistics. This role will develop and implement strategies for improving key performance indicators including damages, incident rates, overtime, pick rates, and accuracy. Will ensure inventory is accounted for in a safe and efficient manner to identified fulfilment partners and establish and maintain workflow processes as necessary to meet delivery goals as well as performance standards.
The candidate will oversee all aspects of the distribution network including inbound and outbound freight from all manufacturing locations and the forward distribution centers along with warehouse operations. The Director of Logistics will work to reduce costs, maintain and increase services levels and ultimately reduce disruptions to customers. Additionally, the candidate will work closely with the planning and production teams to manage inventory risks and reduce or avoid customer penalties and fines.
Responsibilities
- Director of Logistics
- Romeoville, IL
- Logistics
- President
Based out of Romeoville, just southwest of Chicago, Great Kitchens has been supplying private label, take & bake pizza since 2005. Recently acquired by Brynwood Partners in December 2020. We have the unique capability to innovate through recipes, toppings, crust types and baking profiles and our flexible manufacturing lines allow us to provide our customers with a premium pizza product. We pride ourselves on providing the highest quality in every aspect of the pizza process and provide solutions to both retail and foodservice customers. Our pizzas are proudly served in 11 of the top 15 food retailers in North America and 6 of the top 10 global food retailers. We serve all major channels: grocery, supercenter, limited assortment, convenience stores, warehouse clubs, QSR, and foodservice. Our flexibility sets us apart from many of our competitors and allows for quick speed to market for new products. Our pizzas have an excellent track record for quality and have been recognized by several of our customers as “Best in Class.” We also pride ourselves on safe and sustainable business practices. Both our Romeoville and Chicago Heights plants are BRC GSFS A rated and we have a global supply network of top-quality suppliers allowing us to leverage their R&D capabilities for our customers.” Our people are our strongest asset, and we proudly employ over 800 employees.
Our Company operates a crust facility in Chicago Heights and toppings facilities in Romeoville and Boston MA. Every role is vital to the growth of our organization.
Key Accountabilities
The Director of Logistics is responsible for the overall operational administration and management of Great Kitchens three warehouses and logistics. This role will develop and implement strategies for improving key performance indicators including damages, incident rates, overtime, pick rates, and accuracy. Will ensure inventory is accounted for in a safe and efficient manner to identified fulfilment partners and establish and maintain workflow processes as necessary to meet delivery goals as well as performance standards.
The candidate will oversee all aspects of the distribution network including inbound and outbound freight from all manufacturing locations and the forward distribution centers along with warehouse operations. The Director of Logistics will work to reduce costs, maintain and increase services levels and ultimately reduce disruptions to customers. Additionally, the candidate will work closely with the planning and production teams to manage inventory risks and reduce or avoid customer penalties and fines.
Responsibilities
- Monitor the quality, cost and efficiency of the movement and the storage of raw materials and finished goods.
- Oversees the implementation of all warehouse operations, including logistics, scheduling systems, delivery, and transportation, loading dock activity, food storage and security, warehouse temperature control, pest control, emergency action plans, and closing procedures.
- Develops and drives culture of accountability through daily assessments and operational evaluation.
- Ensures an accurate inventory of products at all times through a maintained inventory control system.
- Develops the creation of metrics to measure the performance of all areas of warehouse and logistics.
- Manage the day-to-day process of a 6,000 frozen pallet positions freezer and 1,000 refrigerated pallets along with 850 dry pallet positions.
- Review daily inbound delivery schedule and determines storage location of each item being received based on production schedule.
- Reviews daily inventory report from cycle counter to determine if there is an immediate need for materials for production.
- Manage third-party cold storage and work with the Inventory Manager to ensure correct inventory on hand.
- Review daily production schedule and determine the appropriate storage location of the products being produced based on customer demands.
- Ensure that the WMS is being managed correctly and all inventory is managed with lot codes.
- Verify and correct quantities used on daily work orders to match quantities counted by Inventory Manager. Investigates any discrepancies.
- Reconcile BOL’s to receiving reports from outside cold storage and investigate differences.
- Track pallet exchange between Great Kitchens and outside locations and CHEP.
- Record mileage on leased vehicles and send to leasing company for accurate billing.
- Manage a team of drivers, Forklift operators’ and administration staff. Manage the payroll of each area of responsibility allocate staff resources according to needs.
- Work with finance and customer service teams to track customer fines and penalties and ensure 3PL contract adherence (passing through appropriate costs to carriers, warehouse providers and freight brokers).
- Review production schedule, verify raw material and packaging locations to release as needed for production.
- Ensure adequate resources to achieve food safety and quality objectives and to support the development, implementation and maintenance and ongoing improvement of the SQF system.
- Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Operations, or related degree.
- Minimum of five years of prior management experience in operational.
- Competency with ERP, WMS and TMS systems.
- Excellent written and verbal communication and ability to work cohesively on a fast-moving motivated team.
- Demonstrated senior leadership with strategic, policy, and budget planning experience
- Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint (advanced modeling and presentation preparation will be required for the role)
- Experience with food distribution preferred.
- Other duties as may be assigned or volunteered for.
- Sit for extended periods of time.
- Push/pull heavy loads.
- Lift up to 75lbs
- Work in freezer environment of -10 degrees.
- Work in refrigerated environment of 32 to 40 degrees.
- Work flexible hours.
- Work in non-air-conditioned environments.
- Report any issues regarding food safety or quality to supervision and/or quality assurance.
- Report any risks or any evidence of unsafe or out-of-specification product, equipment, packaging or raw materials to a designated manager to enable the resolution of issues requiring immediate attention.
