ZEISS in India

ZEISS in India is headquartered in Bengaluru and present in the fields of Industrial Quality Solutions, Research Microscopy Solutions, Medical Technology, Vision Care and Sports & Cine Optics.

ZEISS India has 3 production facilities, R&D center, Global IT services and about 40 Sales & Service offices in almost all Tier I and Tier II cities in India. With 2200+ employees and continued investments over 25 years in India, ZEISS’ success story in India is continuing at a rapid pace. 

Further information at ZEISS India.

Job purpose

The main objectives a Material Planner ensure timely and efficient material flow for production by managing inventory, forecasting supply needs, coordinating with suppliers, and developing material plans to align with production schedules. Key responsibilities include calculating material requirements, creating purchase orders, monitoring inventory levels, resolving supply chain disruptions, and collaborating with internal departments to maintain production efficiency and prevent shortages.  

Main Accountabilities

• Ensure Material Availability: 
  Guarantee that raw materials, components, and finished products are available when needed for production and customer delivery. Develop and maintain material requirement plans (MRPs) based on production schedules and forecasts to ensure timely availability of all needed materials. 
• Optimize Inventory Levels: 
  Maintain an ideal balance of inventory, minimizing both costly overstocking and potentially damaging shortages. Monitor inventory levels, determine safety stock, and implement systems to avoid shortages or overstocking, optimize inventory turnover. Set and maintain safety stock, reorder points, lot sizes, lead times, and MOQ. Optimize inventory to prevent stockouts while minimizing excess and obsolescence. Track inbound receipts, WIP, and on-hand stock; coordinate with warehouse on put-away and cycle counts. Identify and reduce excess, slow-moving, and Excess & Obsolete inventory. Maintain lot/serial traceability where required.
• Minimize Costs: 
  Reduce overall inventory costs by managing stock levels efficiently and eliminating unused or slow-moving items. 
• Support Production Schedules:
  Align material supply with the overall production schedule to ensure smooth and uninterrupted operations. Work with production and other departments to align material availability with daily and weekly production needs, ensuring uninterrupted operations. Align material availability with the production schedule and engineering needs. Resolve material shortages, quality holds, and ECO impacts quickly. Plan phase-in/phase-out for new products and engineering changes (last-time buys).
• Coordinate with Suppliers: 
  Collaborate with suppliers to manage agreements, monitor supply, and ensure the timely delivery of required materials, and ensure materials meet quality specifications. Collaborate with procurement to place, reschedule, expedite, or cancel orders. Confirm supplier capacity and lead times; manage exceptions and shortages. Monitor supplier on-time delivery and quality; escalate risks.

• Demand Forecasting: 
  Analyze customer and internal demand trends, along with production volumes, to forecast material needs. Adjust inventory and supply plans to effectively meet fluctuating market demands and sales orders.
  Review forecasts, customer orders, and production schedules.
  Run MRP and convert planned orders to purchase requisitions/orders.
  Balance demand, lead times, and capacity constraints to ensure availability.
• Purchase Order Management: 
  Issue purchase orders, track their status in the ERP system, and coordinate with the logistics team for efficient delivery to the plant. 
• Risk Management: 
  Identify and mitigate risks within the supply chain, including developing contingency plans for disruptions, and communicating solutions. 
• Data Analysis and Reporting: 
  Analyze supply and demand plans, prepare reports on material flow performance, and maintain accurate records. 
• Process Improvement: 
  Identify opportunities to improve material planning processes, optimize supplier performance, and contribute to continuous improvement initiatives. 
  Monitor KPIs (service level, OTIF, schedule adherence, inventory turns, DOH, Excess & Obsolete).
  Analyze root causes of shortages/excess and implement corrective actions.
  Drive process improvements in planning, data accuracy, and supplier performance.
• Documentation: 
  Handle complex documentation related to material handling, including import and export paperwork, such as bills of lading, invoices, and packaging lists. 

• Maintain Master Data: 
  Keep accurate records for bills of material (BOMs), routings, and inventory planning parameters (minimums, maximums, reorder points). 
  Maintain item masters, BOMs, routings, and sourcing lists.
  Ensure planning attributes (MRP type, planning time fence, coverage profile) are correct. 

• Logistics and inbound planning:
  Schedule deliveries to align with dock capacity and production dates.
  Coordinate transportation, customs documentation, and priority freight as needed.
• S&OP and cross-functional alignment:
  Participate in S&OP, capacity reviews, and scenario planning.
  Communicate material status and risks to production, engineering, sales, and finance.
• Compliance and controls:
  Follow internal controls (e.g., SOX), quality standards, and regulatory requirements.
  Maintain audit-ready documentation for material planning decisions and changes.

Typical daily/weekly activities
 

• Daily:
  Review MRP/ERP exception messages; expedite/de-expedite/reschedule orders.
  Check shortage lists and critical parts; align with production priorities.
  Track inbound shipments and receipts; clear blocking issues (QA holds, data mismatches).
  Attend production and tier meetings, update stakeholders on risks and recovery plans.
• Weekly:
  Update planning parameters if demand or lead times change.
  Supplier calls for commit dates and capacity; resolve open action items.
  Inventory health reviews; initiate disposition or rebalancing for slow/excess stock.
  Prepare materials status reports for S&OP or production review.
• Monthly/quarterly:
  KPI review and improvement projects (forecast accuracy, inventory optimization).
  Phase-in/phase-out planning for New Product Introduction (NPI)/ Engineering Change Order (ECO); last time buy decisions.
  Risk assessments for critical parts; dual sourcing or buffer strategies.
• Tools commonly used:
  ERP/MRP systems: SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, IFS, Epicor, Infor.
  Analytics and collaboration: Excel, Power BI/Tableau, SQL basics, planning dashboards.
  Communication: Supplier portals, EDI, email, Teams/Slack, shared trackers.
• Key skills and competencies:
  Strong analytical and data accuracy skills; comfort with ERP/MRP logic.
  Prioritization and quick decision-making under changing demand.
  Clear communication and negotiation with suppliers and internal teams.
  Process discipline, documentation, and attention to detail.
  Continuous improvement mindset (Lean/Six Sigma is a plus).

• Common KPIs owned or influenced:
  Material availability and service level to production/customer orders.
  OTIF (On-Time In-Full) and schedule adherence.
  Inventory turns, days of inventory on hand, and Excess & Obsolete value.
  Supplier on-time delivery and lead-time adherence.
  Forecast accuracy and planning parameter effectiveness

List of Key jobs by title to be supervised by the incumbent:

• Requirement processing
• Materials management
• Stakeholder management
• Demand & supply planning
• Shipment Tracking
• Management reporting (MIS)

Key relationship/customers:

Internal- Labs, Plant, Sales, Suppliers, MSP operations, production, Logistics, warehousing, marketing, Quality & commercial

External- Customer, Vendor

Job Specifications

• Education – Graduate/ PG any stream
• Experience – 3-5 years inventory management & material planning

Your ZEISS Recruiting Team:

Manoj Badaik