Africa Supply Chain and Inventory Planner

Job Title    Regional Supply Chain and Inventory Planner, Africa 

Function   Supply Chain 

GJL   

Location   Please feel free to apply from any location

ABOUT UPL:  

UPL is focused on emerging as a premier global provider of total crop solutions designed to secure the world’s long-term food supply. Winning farmer's hearts across the globe, while leading the way with innovative products and services that make agriculture sustainable, UPL is the fastest-growing company in the industry. Our successes in the field add up to powerful financials. UPL delivers results from protecting crops that translate into attractive investor value. Based on the recognition that humankind is one community, UPL’s overarching commitment is to improve areas of its presence, workplace, and customer engagement.  

Our purpose is ‘OpenAg’. An agriculture network that feeds sustainable growth for all. No limits, no borders.  

We are one team, for maximum impact. One team with shared goals. We have a laser-like focus on what our customers need and want, on anticipating their future needs, and on how we can create innovative solutions and experiences for them. We think outside the box and go beyond our comfort zone. We believe in agility, we mix the power of speed, with structure from process. And wherever we can, we always believe in having fun 

Role Summary 

Head both the supply and inventory work streams in the region, with a hands-on aggregation and disaggregation of supply, inventory and purchase planning data.as appropriate to ensure planning is accurate, reflects the business plan and that the associated inventory is optimal to minimize NWC. Ensuring common process is aligned inside the region and outside globally including building competence and capacity to deal with fast moving changes 

Accountable to provide the needed budgeted and LE estimates as required for different forums 

Lead discussions and decisions for the placement of new products or more efficient placement of current  products in UPL network plants, contracted manufacturers and other third parties.  

Ensure all planning master data is clean and supply solutions proposed is compliant to regulatory requirements.  

Manage and approve Capex for supply related changes to dossiers and work closely with regulatory teams to ensure all supply is complaint. 

Lead, prepare and present Inventory actions as required in the monthly regional inventory review plus driving solutions hands-on for excesses liquidation, Non-conforming inventories and Ageing inventories. Monitor and review inventory handling process at all storage locations 

Planning tool master user in regard to improve planning accuracy and super users for new tools to be evaluated and implemented. Lead implementation from this perspective 

Review demand and supply shortfalls, and propose/flag solutions to expected gaps, collect and drive weekly Sales risk and opportunity process and communication of last estimate landing for the month/quarter as required. Propose possible solutions for approval 

Data collection and preparation of working data files for collaboration during the S&OP process, lead inventory and supply planning sections regional S&OP. Responsible for the tools that help local country planners to prepare information consistently either in SAP or Excel to have linked and consistent planning information from forecast to production, purchase planning and shipment planning. Driving implementation of standard way of working across sub-regions for each applicable legal entity to supply validated information in local S&OP process. Control Supply planning to support Sub-regional supply chain managers effectively to identify risks and opportunities. Control budgets and tracking against to ensure optimal use of manufacturing resources and increase overhead recovery efforts into Costs as a result of increased volumes vs plan 

Role Responsibilities 

Financial 

• Impacts of supply and inventory plan on financial performance - Supply risks and opportunities managed 

• Impacts of inventory levels being managed on Net working capital targets - process in place to manage inventory levels efficiently and reduce excesses in time 

• Work closely with the SC finance manager to create visibility of actions/changes needed to maintain portfolio profitability for cost reduction and avoidance activities 

• Oversight of cross regional MD updates to ensure alignment in supply planning - SAP ECC and SNP, impacting the costing of products 

Inventory 

• Align regional inventory process with that of global ensuring regular reviews of set safety stocks, forward covers and status of expired stocks. Pro-actively manage the phase out of products as required in combination with procurement and supply planning departments. 

• Lead Africa inventory review forum and detail activities that contribute to actions for reducing inventory, excesses, aged stocks and block for sales stocks. 

• Assist and drive the implementation of technology to improve accuracy and control - e.g. WMS, Bar coding etc. 

• Ensure replenishment processes are present and working in distribution networks 

• Ensure cycle counting processes are implemented and lead audited counts and resolution of variances as required. Level 1 approver for variances 

• Drive solutions to remove slow moving and dead stocks pro-actively with commercial and Supply Chain Heads, subsequent tracking actions agreed until completion. Report back in monthly MBR and RSOP forums as to progress and blocks. Take approvals as needed to get actions done. 

• Drive S&OP supply planning reviews and derive aggregate inventory plans, purchase plans and productions plans and then coordinate with SC finance to make inventory projections as compared to the budgeted projection. 

• Communication of aggregate plans to UPL network and global planning or to mainline vendors as required 

• Key KPI accountable for:$Value NCM inventory, $Value Ageing >12months, $Absolute inventory value, $Value 12 month rolling excesses, $Value write-off/losses 

Regulatory & Quality 

• Ensure the creation and maintenance of procurement database to contain information that drives quality control and regulatory compliance regarding Specifications, MSDS and SDS in the correct formats as required by law at the same time information is readily available for use for those that qualify to have access 

• Assist regulatory team in update and renewal of registrations as it pertains to sources of materials and production 

• Drive full compliance to only engage registered sources as it relates to purchasing decisions 

• Develop new sources based in changes of business required and/or risk management 

• Manage supplier SPM and ensure transparent procurement best practice is followed in sourcing decisions 

• Onboarding of new vendors in full legal compliance with UPL operational values as listed company. Active managing of vendor master to ensure clean data is available in planning and finance 

Rapid investigation and resolution of vendor related claims from third parties. Assist where vendor is through an affiliate or an affiliate 

Supply Planning 

• SNP super user trainer and support for Africa 

• Collect and aggregate supply plan for Africa - analyse against demand and highlight supply constraints 

• Accountable for the full Supply planning process and metrics by site, measure, engage, standardize and improve as needed. 

• Coordinate Supply reviews for all production sites and attend those for affiliates to consolidate information related to supply 

• Facilitate and manage the budget collection process of supply plans against budgeted demand, ensuring that planning closely mimic actual execution (e.g. campaign plans) 

• Business processes owner for Africa region for SAP PTS and APO-SNP 

• Highlight supply constraints and find solutions internally and externally and then take approval for implementation based on the level of business impact and costs. 

• Single point of contact for new product placement in Africa plants and management of current products placements in the same way. 

• Ensure robust process into final production and the live tracking of performance to plan, gaps and changes to plan on a daily basis. First point of escalation for any planning related issues. 

• Drive customer OTIF with flexible and agile planning methodologies to ensure inventory is available based on service level agreement with customers at the point of sale. 

• Ensure process for ATP is implemented and that DCRs can be captured, analysed and reviewed quickly and accurately with fast response time to customers 

• Develop and analyse vendor performance to commitments for both internal and external supply (Vendor OTIF) 

Individual/Team 

• Implement and Monitor execution of agreed objectives of team as aligned with sub-regional and functional expectations in areas of responsibility 

• Drive implementation of key assigned projects, as either project leader or significant contributor 

• Align regional Supply planning processes to global standard and contribute to the common process evolution and standardization 

• Lead/Significantly contribute to the implementation of new digital tools in the region  

• Review and build competence and trust in people and tools as it relates to execution in a timely and visible manner 

Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required 

Technical Requirements: 

• Certification or Super USER status will be advantageous for APO-DP, APO-SNP and SAP Hana or any appropriate tools 

• Advanced Supply chain systems understanding and capability, including APO-DP, APO-SNP, working knowledge of SAP (R/3) or similar ERP platform 

• Solid background in leading edge manufacturing and materials management processes, including an understanding of MRP logic  

• Strategic thinking and problem-solving methodologies, Management of Change, and the ability to understand the practical implications of changes in data 

• Practical experience using Supply Chain Planning systems (Logility, JDA, Manugistics or similar). 

• Communication and collaboration at multiple levels in the organization and departments. Strong English communication and presentation skills needed, French or Portuguese will be an advantage 

• Strong working knowledge of best practices in planning and inventory management systems. 

• Advanced Excel and data management experience essential - Ability to convert outputs of data into sensible management information 

• Variance analysis to explain and understand how changes in the supply environment impacts business KPI 

• Strong French speaking person will be a major advantage to manage the WECA inputs/justifications and discussion forums for inventory and supply 

Behavioural Requirements 

• Attention to detail and capable to grasp context and impact of demand/supply/finance information 

• Conscientious and diligent 

• Ability to deal with adversity (Resilience), Agility to define new solutions 

• Low/No tolerance for mediocrity drive delivery of results & process optimization in continuous improvement mindset. 

• Persuasion and good listening skills. 

• Customer centric focus, completing tasks under pressure accurately 

• Ability to come up with solutions to resolve supply constraints using wide collaboration in the global UPL community 

UPL Competencies  

• Adaptability & Resilience 

            Recognizes and is open to changing circumstances and alters behavior and scales up as necessary; increases personal awareness and appreciation of individual and cultural differences to create an open, inclusive, and accepting workplace 

• Entrepreneurial Mindset  

           Has a creative mindset and ability to think holistically, takes calculated risks and maximizes opportunities 

• Results Orientations 

           Acts, pursues goals with persistence and achieves results; communicates goals and vision to the team to drive enthusiasm and ambition 

• Execution Excellence 

           Enhances the speed of execution and builds efficiency in processes, systems, and people; has sharp focus on quality-orientation 

• Strategic Orientation 

           Demonstrates knowledge of the social, economic, and environmental factors and how they impact the business. Identifies key issues that could impact the business and develops strategy through an analytical lens / design thinking 

• Building Teams and Talent 

            Empowers colleagues through knowledge sharing and delegation, quickly establishing rapport; provides recognition for achievements and accomplishments 

• Customer Centricity 

            Understands the customer needs and pain points, fulfills the needs and expectations by focusing on creating value for customers.