Demand Planner - Gaston - IFABCORP

Description

IFAB Corp. is a leading metal fabrication and assembly manufacturer serving transportation and industrial customers. Our state-of-the-art plant includes lasers, press brakes, stamping, welding, machining, and advanced coating capabilities, supporting both high-volume production and custom programs in a fast-paced environment. We focus on safety, quality, on-time delivery, and continuous improvement in everything we do.

Position Summary

The Demand Planner is responsible for developing and maintaining accurate demand forecasts for IFAB's metal fabrication and assembly operations. This role uses customer orders, historical data, market trends, and input from Sales and Operations to create a rolling demand plan by customer, program, and product family. The Demand Planner translates this demand into requirements that support capacity planning, inventory targets, and S&OP, ensuring the plant has the right volume and mix planned across value streams. This person will be responsible for forecasting customer demand over the medium to long term. The Demand Planner translates business expectations into volume requirements, enabling capacity, material, and financial planning.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Build and maintain rolling demand forecasts by customer, program, and product family using historical shipments, open orders, and customer forecast data.
• Lead the monthly demand review as part of S&OP, presenting forecast changes, key assumptions, risks, and opportunities to Operations, Sales, and Supply Chain leadership.
• Translate the demand plan into required volume by work center and value stream to support capacity and staffing planning, and to feed the Production Scheduler's finite schedule.
• Monitor demand changes (new awards, pull‑ins, push‑outs, cancellations) daily and proactively communicate impacts on capacity, lead times, and inventory to Operations, Materials, and Customer Service.
• Maintain and improve planning master data in the ERP/MRP system (safety stock, min/max, lead times, planning parameters) so system output reflects the demand plan.
• Support inventory strategy for raw materials, WIP, and finished goods by balancing service levels, inventory turns, and risk of scrap or obsolescence.
• Support new product launches, engineering changes, and customer ramps by modeling demand scenarios and communicating material and capacity requirements.
• Track and report key demand planning KPIs, including forecast accuracy, forecast bias, service level versus plan, and inventory versus target, and drive corrective actions where needed.
• Partner closely with Buyers / Material Planners to ensure materials are positioned to meet the demand plan with minimal premium freight and disruptions.
• Continuously improve forecasting processes, tools, and data quality; recommend and implement changes that improve forecast accuracy and responsiveness.

Qualifications

• 3–5+ years of experience in demand planning, supply planning, or materials planning, preferably in metal fabrication or discrete manufacturing.
• Strong analytical skills with solid Excel capability (lookups, pivot tables, basic modeling) and experience with ERP/MRP systems.
• Working knowledge of forecasting concepts, inventory management, and basic capacity planning.
• Experience collaborating with Sales, Operations, and Supply Chain and communicating clearly about demand changes and assumptions.
• Exposure to S&OP / SIOP processes and a continuous improvement mindset.

Competencies

• Data analysis and problem solving
• Attention to detail and accuracy
• Communication and cross‑functional collaboration
• Planning and organizational skills
• Ability to work in a fast‑paced, changing customer environment