KEY PURPOSE

Generate short- and medium-term packaging and raw materials plans to ensure sufficient materials are available to meet packaging and manufacturing demand and generate short to medium term production plans to ensure that customer service levels are met. Concurrently ensuring that cost to serve with respect to working capital, production and raw materials is appropriately contained.

KEY OUTPUTS/ACCOUNTABILITY

The main responsibilities/accountabilities are:

Packaging and Raw Materials Planning:

• Strategic Supplier interactions and optimisation of materials production and management across Ascendis’ first tier suppliers in order to
manage Working capital without compromising customer service levels, production requirements and systems cost (cost associated with
write offs) under the guidance of;
o Inbound Planning Manager;
o Procurement;
• Short-term raw & packaging materials forecast to all key suppliers;
• Long term raw & packaging materials forecast to all suppliers at aggregate level;
• Ensure production planning has the flexibility to change the production plan within the tolerance of safety stock;
• Ensuring that business enablers (process, systems and tools) are aligned to achieving current business objectives;
• Conduct and manage strategic/tactical planning cycles with suppliers;
• Maintain targeted stock levels by material;
• Maintain working capital within the budget;
• Minimise factory planned production sequence and volume changes due to lack of raw and packaging materials;
• Reduce write-off cost by managing material discontinuation;
• Monitor supplier performances against stock management, production and factory service;
• Increase supply flexibility, by increasing supplier’s flexibility by supporting opportunities to reduce supplier lead time;
• Maintain and improve customer service levels to production planning and factory in Wynberg (Sandton);
• Adhere to Innovation/NPD timelines;
• Perform materials management by using effective ERP system (Syspro MRP)
• Maintaining accurate Master Data;
• ERP systems management to maintain effective materials management function;
• Holding suppliers accountable to contracts and SLAs;
• Mitigate risk to the business by ensuring continuous supply through;
o Quality issues;
o Allocation (between different suppliers) change management
o Innovation Management;
o Potential strike action;
o Commodity supply issues (natural disasters, delayed shipments etc);
o Systems changes.
• Management of Wynberg Planning team to ensure;
o A good understanding of Wynberg planning and broader business functions resides in team;
o Good inter and intra communication;
o Positive attitude and continues improvement;
o Successful supplier collaboration;
o Succession planning (pipe line) is in place.

Production Planning:

• Continuous review of and input to optimisation of production capacity and stocks in order to drive lowest production cost, distribution cost
and Working Capital cost without compromising customer service levels, quality and shelf-life;
• Minimisation of cost due to write-offs (NPD discontinuations and shelf-life/expiry);
• Planning and optimisation of finished goods production capacity (horizon 6 months) as well as short term (17 weeks) to maintain targeted
stock levels for finished product, maintain and improve Working capital targets of finished product and WIP
• Minimise overtime and idle time cost;
• Reduce shift costs through active driving to lowest shift pattern through engagement with factory;
• Identify and reduce system waste;
• Ensuring that business enablers (process, systems and tools) are aligned to achieving current business objectives;
• Manage interface between manufacturing and planning;
• Generation of daily adjusted production plans within the context of resource constraints and expediting requirements;
• Daily/weekly communication to planning and wider business stakeholders of:
o Prod plans, areas of potential unreliability and resolution of possible stock pressure violation
o Specific activities related to the production of NPD products
• Strategic/tactical accountability to:
o Production at lowest cost
o Stock availability at a lower cost;
• Management of Wynberg Planning team to ensure;
o A good understanding of Wynberg planning and broader business functions resides in team;
o Good inter and intra communication;
o Positive attitude and continues improvement;
o Successful supplier collaboration;
o Succession planning (pipe line) is in place.