At Highlands Drinks Limited, a Demand Planner plays a crucial role in ensuring that a company's supply chain meets customer demands efficiently. The role is pivotal in enabling we optimize our operations, minimize costs, and meet customer demands effectively

The role includes the following duties and responsibilities:

1. Forecasting: Using historical data, market trends, and other relevant information to predict future demand for products or services accurately.
2. Running the weekly Sales & Operations Process (S&OP): Planning, organizing and running the S&OP process from demand determination, through supply planning (working with supply chain planner) and production to finished goods availability. Working closely with sales, marketing, production, and finance teams to gather data and insights, ensuring alignment between forecasts and business goals.
3. Demand Analysis: Analyzing demand patterns, seasonality, and other factors influencing customer demand to refine forecasts and improve accuracy.
4. Inventory Management: Optimizing inventory levels to balance customer service levels and minimize excess or obsolete inventory through effective demand forecasting.
5. Risk Assessment: Identifying potential risks and opportunities related to demand fluctuations, supply chain disruptions, or market changes and developing mitigation strategies.
6. Continuous Improvement: Implementing and improving demand planning processes, methodologies, and systems to enhance forecast accuracy and efficiency.
7. Performance Monitoring: Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) related to demand planning, such as forecast accuracy, inventory turns, and service levels.
8. Communication: Presenting forecasts, analysis, and business insights to management and other stakeholders to support decision-making processes.
9. Promotion analysis – Build insights around promotions management.
10. Product strategy – Own the process of product offering rationalization. Review the performance of our SKUs, come up with recommendations of actions to be taken such as, promote, discontinue, reposition etc.
11. Waste management – Review the end-to-end process from factory to cash and raise areas of waste and come up with strategies to plug the holes.

KPI'S

• Forecast Accuracy
• DIO (Days of Inventory Outstanding)
• Service Levels
• Continuous improvement projects
• Cost savings – improve cost of sales through waste management

Core Competencies and Traits

• Analytical skills to interpret data and trends accurately.
• Strong understanding of supply chain dynamics.
• Proficiency in demand planning software, SAP and Excel
• Communication and presentation skills.
• Attention to detail and accuracy in forecasting.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

Education and Experience Level

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, business, economics, statistics, operations research, or any other related field
• Minimum 4 years of experience with proven experience in demand planning, forecasting, supply chain management, and/or data analysis