Materials Manager

Description

Position Summary:

The Materials Manager will provide oversight, management, and leadership of all Material responsibilities within the plant.  The Materials Manager will provide technical knowledge and support for the materials management and manufacturing organizations. They will be responsible for owning and driving improvements in inventory accuracy, scheduling, ERP implementation and simplification as well as physical material flow and storage throughout the plant.

The Materials Manager must demonstrate industry leading knowledge and expertise in materials concepts, processes, and systems including lean and six sigma manufacturing principles, departmental strategy development and execution. The Materials Manager is responsible for driving improvements in their realm of influence to help the company achieves its annual and long-range targets for safety, quality, delivery, and cost. The Materials Manager must have the ability to develop expertise throughout their departments.

The position requires excellent focus, attention to detail and accuracy, high energy, enthusiasm, forward thinking, strong analytical capability, excellent problem solving, ability to manage change, solid execution, and a commitment to help the company meet financial objectives and exceed customer expectations.

This position reports to the Plant Director.

About The Carlstar Group

With approximately $700 million in revenue, The Carlstar Group, LLC (“Carlstar” or the “Company”) is a leading producer of specialty tires, wheels, and assemblies for diverse end markets including: lawn & garden, construction, power sports (primarily all-terrain vehicle tires), trailers, and agriculture.  

Carlstar (and its predecessor) have been in the engineered rubber products business for over 100 years and sells its products under many of the most recognized brand names in their respective market segments including Carlisle, ITP, and Cragar, among others.  In addition, the Company has one of the broadest distribution channels and the largest installed bases within its served North American markets.  The Company is a strategic supplier to leading OEMs such as John Deere, Polaris, Husqvarna, MTD, and BRP, and is sole sourced on a number of their leading platforms.  Approximately 59% of Carlstar’s revenue is derived from higher margin aftermarket sales, leveraging the Company’s large installed base of OEM products.  Carlstar has approximately 3,400 employees and operates four manufacturing facilities in both North America and China and twelve distribution centers.

Carlstar is engaged in serving lower volume, higher mix business where the Company must economically manage thousands of SKUs with low individual order quantities through a complex distribution network in a marketplace that highly values timely and accurate order fulfillment.

Through the implementation of efficient operational (enhanced SIOP, lean manufacturing, inventory planning, optimization of the distribution network, redesign and value engineering of compounds and products, improved process control, activity based costing, etc.) and intelligent commercial (dynamic pricing and material margin management, new product development, refined channel management, new account conquests, etc.) strategies, the company is targeting improving performance to over 12% EBITDA margins on substantially higher revenue over time. The company is on a very strong performance trajectory today.

To learn more about The Carlstar Group, please visit the company’s web site: https://www.carlstargroup.com/.

Pivotal Experience and Expertise:

Carlstar seeks an action-oriented, self-driven, hands-on Materials Manager with experience leading high performing, cross functional teams.  A proven track record of leading change and implementing best practices in Materials and inventory management.

• Develop and implement a robust cycle counting plan throughout the facility
• Simplify Kanban bin locations and assist in organizing all bins to include only like inventory and potentially the same SKU
• Assist in implementing Carlstar MES/CES system throughout each value stream 
• Provide direction to the Scheduling and Customer Relations Manager s to streamline scheduling and set inventory targets 
• Work closely with the Procurement Organization to develop proper stocking levels and ordering triggers for purchasing of high volume usage materials
• Work with the Corporate buying team to develop proper stocking levels and ordering triggers for purchasing of high volume usage materials
• Organize and prioritize work to meet customer deadlines.
• Ability to connect key manufacturing and demand concepts.  Implement best practices changes where necessary.
• Problem analysis and resolution, ability to manage multiple priorities and projects simultaneously

Qualifications:

• 4-year degree, or equivalent experience, in materials management, logistics, purchasing and/or production control.  MBA Preferred
• 3-5 years in a progressive management responsibility in a manufacturing/distribution setting and/or 6-10 years materials or logistics experience
• Practical knowledge and proven track record in implementing, driving, and managing   continuous improvement within an organization utilizing lean and six-sigma concepts
• Ability to deal with and manage multiple projects
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with prior leadership experience

Leadership Capabilities & Culture Fit:

• Hands on leader capable of working alongside employees to create a culture of engagement.
• Entrepreneurial mindset capable of working with an ambiguity and autonomy/Creator vs presider.
• Transparent and consistent.
• Growth mindset personally and professionally.
• Skilled communicator across all levels, from the CEO to warehouse employees.
• Owning and accepting accountability for your distribution center.