Role Purpose
The Senior Supply Planner is responsible for translating demand signals into a feasible, prioritized supply plan. The role owns demand–supply balancing, STO creation and management, and controlled handling of demand changes, ensuring customer commitments are met while respecting capacity, material, and inventory constraints.
This is a senior, decision‑oriented role that acts as the integrator between Demand Planning, Factory Planning, Procurement, and Sales, with clear accountability for priorities, trade‑offs, and escalations.
Key Responsibilities
1. Demand–Supply Balancing (Core Accountability)
- Own the end‑to‑end demand–supply balancing process for assigned product families / regions.
- Assess demand versus available supply (capacity, material, inventory) and define feasible supply scenarios.
- Make prioritisation decisions based on agreed business rules (customer priority, revenue impact, risk).
- Identify gaps, constraints, and risks; proactively escalate issues with clear options and recommendations.
- Drive alignment with Demand Planning and Factory Planning on what can be delivered, when, and at what priority.
2. STO Creation & Management
- Own the creation, maintenance, and governance of Stock Transfer Orders (STOs) in line with the agreed supply plan.
- Translate the approved supply plan into STOs with correct quantities, request dates, and target ship dates.
- Manage STO changes (pull‑in, push‑out, quantity changes, cancellations) driven by demand changes or supply constraints.
- Ensure STO priorities reflect current business priorities and customer commitments.
- Actively monitor STO exceptions and take corrective actions in coordination with factories, procurement, and logistics.
3. Demand Change Management
- Own the assessment and impact analysis of demand changes (forecast updates, customer pull‑ins, spikes, cancellations).
- Evaluate demand changes against supply feasibility and inventory position before execution.
- Decide whether and how demand changes can be absorbed; define trade‑offs where required.
- Communicate clear outcomes and implications to Demand Planning, Sales, and Operations.
- Ensure demand changes are reflected consistently across the supply plan, STOs, and execution signals.
4. Exception & Priority Management
- Own exception management for shortages, capacity constraints, and delivery risks.
- Define and maintain priority rules for orders, STOs, and production signals.
- Drive resolution of hotlists, VIP orders, and sales escalations in a structured, transparent way.
- Ensure decisions are documented and communicated clearly to all stakeholders.
5. Cross‑Functional Coordination
- Act as the primary Supply Planning interface to:
- Demand Planning (forecast changes, assumptions, alignment)
- Factory / Production Planning (capacity, sequencing, execution feasibility)
- Procurement / Material Planning (material availability, risks)
- Sales / Customer Support (commitments, priorities, exceptions)
- Key driver to set up and run S&OE cadence with the respective Stakeholders
- Facilitate alignment rather than execution—Supply Planning decides what & when, factories decide how.
6. Process, Governance & Continuous Improvement
- Contribute to the development and standardisation of Supply Planning processes, templates, and rules.
- Support maturity improvements in demand–supply balancing and STO governance.
- Ensure data quality and planning discipline in the absence of full system automation.
- Act as a senior reference point and coach for less experienced planners.
