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Purchasing/Inventory Manager

Posted On: 04/10/2024

Title:  Purchasing and Inventory Manager

Budnick Converting, Inc., headquartered in Columbia, IL (in the St. Louis, MO metropolitan area), is a privately held and female owned corporation. Budnick’s primary focus is specialty converting of adhesive coated tapes and foams.  Budnick remains on the leading edge of adhesive tape converting technology; currently utilizing over 60 die-cutting, slitting, laminating, printing (including flexographic printing), label making and spooling machines to convert materials into labor saving customized parts.  For more information on Budnick, please visit our website at www.budnick.com.

SUPERVISES:  Sourcing Specialist & Purchasing Coordinators

POSITION PURPOSE:  Manages all purchasing and inventory activities. Establishes strategic purchasing and inventory control processes and procedures.  Maintains relationships with vendors or suppliers and negotiates lead times and delivery dates when necessary to help meet our customer’s needs.  Responsible for keeping Budnick material and inventory costs down, by negotiating with vendors, reducing slow moving inventory, and managing raw material pricing in the Budnick computer system. Provide support and assistance to the purchasing and estimating department employees. The purchasing department will provide estimating with raw material options, costs, and lead-time information in a fast-paced environment.   

QUANTITATIVE DATA:  Corporate office environment that will require the ability to sit/stand for a prolonged period, including as a driver or passenger in an automobile/plane.  Must be willing to travel to vendor, customer, trade shows or other Budnick locations up to an estimated 10% of the time based on demand of the business.   Must be able to occasionally move about inside the office to access file cabinets, office machinery, etc., Constantly operate a computer and other office productivity equipment, such as a calculator, copy machine and computer printer.  This position requires frequent communication with customers, vendors, and other employees; must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations.

      ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

  1. Interviewing, selecting, and training new purchasing and sourcing department employees.
  2. Assist in setting and adjusting employee’s rate of pay and hours of work. Appraising the productivity and efficiency for the purpose of recommending promotions or other changes to employee’s status.  Conducts employee performance evaluations that are timely and constructive.
  3. Appropriating the purchasing and sourcing work among the workers, directing their work, and determining the techniques to be used, working with them on difficult vendors & high priority customers, handling their complaints & grievances and disciplining when necessary.
  4. Establish regular measurable goals to assess employee’s efficiency and output.
  5. Creates and runs reports (shelf life, obsolete, slow moving, price increase, inventory levels) for management review when necessary.
  6. Develops an in-depth understanding of all systems and software related to purchasing, sourcing, and inventory. Research, develop, and implement new and innovative methods to increase the productivity of the team.
  7. Negotiate with vendors on price, lead-time, terms, price increases, and rebates. Work with the estimation department and sales teams to compile best price schedules for top customers. Develop and administer pricing spreadsheets. Manage the data storage of current raw material cost and vendor quotes. 
  8. Manage price increases with vendors. Report price increase impacts to management. Create notifications to customers for price increases, while supplying documentation of vendor increases. Communicating with the estimation department and/or sales team on accounts as necessary. Keep an annual impact spreadsheet of price increases and decreases.
  9. Create and maintain vendor/supplier scorecards by compiling data and conducting surveys. Conduct once a year vendor evaluation with top vendors; meeting with major vendors to review their performance. 
  10. Maintain the clean-up of items in the computer system. Supervise inventory of all products and ensure reconciliation of ERP system to actual product counts.  Review obsolete inventory and slow-moving inventory.
  11. Work in conjunction with sales, estimation, account managers, accounts payable, production & shipping to ensure that the customer’s business is handled accurately. Work with the VP of Operations to qualify/process projects.
  12. Assist when needed in determining the type of materials, supplies, machinery, or tools to be bought for the company, based on the customer requests and inquiries.
  13. Perform duties safely and maintain a high level of safety awareness. Provide for the safety of the workers and the property.
  14. Supervise all RoHS, REACH, CA Prop 65, SDS and other regulating documentation for each raw material. Make sure the data is stored efficiently and up to date.

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES:

  1. Develop long-term purchasing strategies & implement the plans developed.  Manage and maintain excellent working relationships with material vendors. Communicate purchasing & inventory ideas and accomplishments to the management team.
  2. Alert management to conditions that create delays or affect quality of production work in a timely manner, assisting in adjustments and changes needed to meet established deadlines.
  3. Ensures compliance with operation standards and all department policies, company directives and assists with other projects and tasks as required by management.

KEY QUALIFICATIONS: 

Skills:  Management and leadership skills required.  Good organizational and problem-solving skills a must.  Should have a working competency with all office equipment.  Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite.  Excellent verbal & written communication and customer service skills required.  Excellent time management skills with the ability to meet deadlines. 

Education:  High school diploma or equivalent required; bachelor’s degree preferred.  Course work related to general business, estimation, purchasing, inventory, or industry specific topics desired.

Ability:  A thorough understanding of the functions and issues of managing a purchasing department.  Ability to prioritize tasks and delegate them when appropriate. Experienced in negotiation techniques. Analytical acumen. Must also understand how to optimize the relationships of the vendors.  Work cooperatively with a variety of individuals.  Employ resourcefulness when problem solving to meet customer needs.

Experience:  5+ years of purchasing/inventory experience required. 1-3 years supervisory experience preferred.  ERP experience preferred.

Quantitative Data:  Office Environment

Hours:  8:00am – 4:30pm, M-F

FLSA Class:  Exempt

Reports To:  VP of Operations

BENEFITS:  We offer a full benefit package including the following that are paid 100% by the company:  vacation, holidays, $25,000 of life insurance and short term and long term disability benefits.  We also offer medical (premium cost shared with company), dental & vision insurance and a 401K retirement plan with a company match of 25% of the 1st 6% the employee contributes.

Interested Candidates should apply on-line at www.budnick.com, under About Us - Careers.

Equal Opportunity Employer

THE ABOVE STATEMENTS ARE INTENDED TO DESCRIBE THE GENERAL NATURE AND LEVEL OF WORK PERFORMED BY PEOPLE ASSIGNED TO THIS CLASSIFICATION.  THEY ARE NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF ALL JOB DUTIES PERFORMED BY THE PERSONNEL SO CLASSIFIED.

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Location:
340 Parkway Drive
Columbia, IL 62236

Hours:
M-F 8am - 4:30pm CST