Buyer/Planner

Imagine yourself… doing meaningful work that makes a vibrant impact on the world around you.

X-Rite Pantone, a Veralto company, provides complete end-to-end color management solutions for clients in every industry where color matters. At X-Rite Pantone, you’ll deftly blend the art and science of color to help customers inspire, select, measure, formulate, communicate, and match color so that users get color right the first time, every time. Along the way, you’ll build a vibrant career through rich skill-building opportunities, on-the-job learning, and coaching and training that supports your continued development and growth.

Your Role:

As a Buyer/Planner, you play a crucial role in ensuring smooth production operations by securing the necessary materials to meet daily customer and production demands. Your main responsibilities include utilizing and monitoring material planning procedures to maintain optimal inventory levels. This involves direct communication with external suppliers, transportation carriers, Customer Service, Engineering, Marketing, and Operations teams to ensure all current and future customer and production requirements are met efficiently.

This role is based at our global headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and requires onsite presence five days a week. You will report to the Direct Materials Supervisor.

In this role, a typical day will look like:

• Utilize and monitor material planning procedures to ensure consistent quality, delivery, and cost, focusing on optimal inventory levels.

• Maintain direct contact with outside suppliers, transportation carriers, customer service, and operations staff to meet/exceed customer requirements and ensure material availability.

• Review Materials Requirements Plans (MRP) diligently to identify, communicate, and close potential production gaps, and manage other tactical activities based on MRP suggestions.

• Oversee the Kanban system for purchased components, including auditing and assisting with visual management and parts presentation in physical production cells.

• Forecast monthly material requirements to vendors based on historical data and forward-looking demand to ensure material availability.

• Play a crucial role in hitting both short-term and long-term team performance targets, such as On-Time Delivery, Net Inventory, Inventory Turns, Inventory Accuracy, and Material Flows.

• Suggest and implement appropriate procurement methods (JIT, Reorder Point, Consignment, Spot Purchasing, Kanban, or Scheduled Releases) based on part characteristics, supplier, and demand to optimize material inventory levels.

• Participate in continuous improvement workshops (kaizens) to enhance safety, quality, delivery, inventory, and productivity metrics throughout the business.

The essential requirements of the job include:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, or a related field preferred; relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.

• 3-5 years of experience in purchasing/sourcing preferred.

• Lean manufacturing experience, including Kanban planning, inventory optimization, and a strong process-oriented mindset.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and strong skills in data mining, manipulation, and analysis.

• Experience with ERP systems (Oracle, SAP, Excel or similar) preferred.

Our Benefits:

• Comprehensive benefits package (medical, dental, vision & more) eligible on day 1 of employment

• Permissive paid time off policy emphasizing flexibility and trust

• Training and development opportunities

• 401K savings plan company match

• Tuition reimbursement

• Paid maternity & paternity leave

• Veralto Wellbeing Program with rewards • Employee Assistance Program (legal, financial, and counseling resources)

At X-Rite Pantone, a Veralto Company, we are the leader in color science and technology, offering end-to-end solutions for the selection, communication, formulation, and production of consistent and achievable color.

X-Rite Pantone is proud to be a Product Quality & Innovation company in Veralto (NYSE: VLTO). Imagine a world where everyone has access to clean water, safe food and medicine, and trusted essential goods. That is the tomorrow Veralto is creating today. Veralto is a $5B global leader in essential technology solutions made up of over 16,000 associates across our Water Quality and Product Identification segments—all united by a powerful purpose: Safeguarding the World’s Most Vital Resources.