Vi-Jon is one of the nation's oldest brand and private label Health and Beauty Care companies, serving retailers in all 50 states and Canada. For over 100 years, the Vi-Jon name has come to represent some of the highest standards in the manufacturing of quality products in the Health and Beauty Care industry. The Vi-Jon corporate headquarters are in St. Louis, Missouri, and we operate manufacturing and distribution centers in Missouri and Tennessee 24 hours a day.   

Vi-Jon is a company of tradition and commitment to our associates and our customers, and our company culture reflects that. By joining Vi-Jon, you will become part of a team-oriented and entrepreneurial culture that allows associates to grow both personally and professionally. We recognize that a company is not a building, production line, equipment or products, but people. Our company is not made up of just people, but individuals who together make up a team - the Vi-Jon team  

Vi-Jon is one of the nation's oldest brand and private label Health and Beauty Care companies, serving retailers in all 50 states and Canada. For over 100 years, the Vi-Jon name has come to represent some of the highest standards in the manufacturing of quality products in the Health and Beauty Care industry. The Vi-Jon corporate headquarters are in St. Louis, Missouri, and we operate manufacturing and distribution centers in Missouri and Tennessee 24 hours a day.   

Vi-Jon is a company of tradition and commitment to our associates and our customers, and our company culture reflects that. By joining Vi-Jon, you will become part of a team-oriented and entrepreneurial culture that allows associates to grow both personally and professionally. We recognize that a company is not a building, production line, equipment or products, but people. Our company is not made up of just people, but individuals who together make up a team - the Vi-Jon team  

Vi-Jon is one of the nation's oldest brand and private label Health and Beauty Care companies, serving retailers in all 50 states and Canada. For over 100 years, the Vi-Jon name has come to represent some of the highest standards in the manufacturing of quality products in the Health and Beauty Care industry. The Vi-Jon corporate headquarters are in St. Louis, Missouri, and we operate manufacturing and distribution centers in Missouri and Tennessee 24 hours a day.   

Vi-Jon is a company of tradition and commitment to our associates and our customers, and our company culture reflects that. By joining Vi-Jon, you will become part of a team-oriented and entrepreneurial culture that allows associates to grow both personally and professionally. We recognize that a company is not a building, production line, equipment or products, but people. Our company is not made up of just people, but individuals who together make up a team - the Vi-Jon team  

Job Title: Planning Specialist   

POSITION SUMMARY: The Planning Specialist is responsible for the acquisition of components for on-site, high speed production lines and multiple contract packaging locations. The candidate will maintain adequate levels of inventories and ensure proper flow of materials for production requirements based upon customer demand at Vi-Jon and at Vi-Jon's sub-contractors. The candidate must also maintain inventory within set goals at both Vi-Jon warehouses and supplier warehouses, and be able to explain valuation increases and decreases to management. The candidate will be expected to perform all job functions and make necessary decisions through the use of SAP, MRP, or similar system, use critical thinking, and data analysis.  

Essential Functions:   

1. Behavior: Exhibit team player qualities of cooperation and coordination; professional interaction in all business contact, all day, and every day.  

2. Attendance: Present for work when scheduled is a mandatory function.  

3. Safety: Compliance to all company safety rules, procedures and guidelines is essential. Reporting of safety issues is mandatory.  

4. Display and perform critical thinking and problem solving techniques to Vi-Jon’s operations and processes that are both within and not within your scope of responsibility.  

5. Acquire Components and/or Bulk Raw Materials to support the production plan, OTC, conversions, new products, and production efficiency initiatives, at all Vi-Jon production facilities and subcontractors.  

6. Manage inventory levels at V-Jon facilities and at suppliers in compliance with department goals. This includes inventory dollar value, inventory quantity, inventory turns, and space constraints.  

7. Validates minimum order quantities and pricing tiers in comparison to business needs.  

8. Proficiently uses the SAP ERP system to perform all necessary job functions. This includes purchasing functions, exception messages, date maintenance, data extraction, data analysis, and continuous learning and advancement of skills.  

9. Confers/coordinates with vendors to determine material availability, service, and delivery date/time. Serves as liaison with vendors to assure timely delivery (by expediting if necessary) and changes priority of components as needed for customer demand.  

10. Meet with vendors to discuss and solve issues and to maintain open communications and positive relations.  

11. Assist vendors with their capacity planning. Must be able to communicate Vi-Jon’s needed timelines and quantities to vendors and help them plan their line time around the delivery of their materials and equipment and the required delivery date at Vi-Jon. This will be done both proactively and reactively depending on the situation. 

12. Responsible for solving invoice issues and vendor returns, and communicates the resolutions to the supplier and the Accounting and Sourcing departments. Also notifies the Accounting Department of any pricing and/or volume changes to ensure system costs and margins are correct.  

13. Reviews MRP and communicates all possible material shortages to the necessary parties. Communicates information early; no surprises.  

14. Maintain intra-departmental communication to ensure awareness of changes in bill of material specifications, quality, inventory, availability, substitutions, etc. This includes planning and implementing all component transitions and cross-functional conversion strategies.  

15. Responsible for data maintenance in relation to open purchase orders, SAP master data, safety stocks, and status code maintenance. This also includes validating accuracy of purchasing information records and source lists.  

16. Validate bill of material accuracy, process order accuracy, and integrity of forecast and demand management information.  

17. Assists the New Product Coordinators and Conversions Coordinators with information regarding component availability and knowledge of production line-time and run length restrictions. This includes proactively notifying all necessary parties of unforeseen delays.  

18. Give feedback to the Sourcing Department. This includes vendor performance, component quality, forecast adjustments, and pricing changes.  

19. Support corporate objectives, including assisting with Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP). 

20. Additional duties as assigned.  

Qualifications:  

Knowledge/Education: Bachelor’s degree required. Minimum of 1-3 years of experience in Scheduling, Purchasing, Manufacturing, Material Management, Expediting or Contract Packaging related functions. Excellent written and oral communications skills are a must. Experience using ERP systems (SAP) is preferred. Intermediate to advanced Excel skills are strongly preferred. A combination of demonstrated successful experience and training may offset education requirement.  

Physical Demands / Visual Acuity: Walking, talking, hearing, balancing, reaching, grasping, standing, and stooping and excellent communication skills. Job sedentary in nature, however, employee may be required to exert force to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects. Clarity of vision at 20 feet or more and 20 inches or less with the ability to judge distance and space relationships and bring objects into sharp focus. Requires continuous visual and mental attention.  

Environmental/Atmospheric Conditions: Worker exposed to normal office environment, worker occasionally exposed to warehouse and production environment, including noise and varied temperatures.  

Machines, Tools, Equipment and Work Aids: PC, Microsoft Excel, SAP, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Word, Calculator, BI Reports, Specification data, Standard office equipment.  

License(s)/Certification(s) Required: APICS Certification is a plus.  

An essential element of the Vi-Jon culture is our commitment to diversity. Vi-Jon is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We consider applicants, and make all employment decisions, without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital or veteran status, or any other legally protected status. We are committed to recruiting and retaining the best talent in the health and beauty care industry.  

An essential element of the Vi-Jon culture is our commitment to diversity. Vi-Jon is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We consider applicants, and make all employment decisions, without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital or veteran status, or any other legally protected status. We are committed to recruiting and retaining the best talent in the health and beauty care industry.