Materials Supervisor

Description

The Materials Supervisor is responsible for leading and coordinating the daily activities of the Materials department in a fast-paced manufacturing environment. This position oversees shipping, receiving, warehouse operations, inventory control, and material flow to ensure production has the right materials, in the right quantity, at the right location, at the right time.

The Materials Supervisor directly leads the Materials team, including forklift operators, tugger operators, material handlers, and other warehouse personnel. This role is responsible for maintaining a safe, organized, and efficient material flow system while supporting production schedules, customer requirements, and company goals for safety, quality, delivery, and cost.

The Materials Supervisor works closely with Production, Quality, Purchasing, Maintenance, Logistics, and Supply Chain to identify and resolve material-related issues and continuously improve manufacturing and warehouse processes.

Requirements

Materials & Production Flow

• Direct and supervise the daily activities of the Materials team to support production requirements.
• Ensure timely delivery of raw materials, components, packaging, and finished goods to and from production areas.
• Manage line-side material flow and ensure production lines remain properly supplied.
• Coordinate material replenishment using forklifts, tuggers, carts, and other material-handling equipment.
• Establish and maintain efficient material routes, delivery schedules, staging areas, and supermarkets.
• Monitor material shortages and work proactively with Production and Supply Chain to prevent line stoppages.
• Respond quickly to production-related material issues and coordinate recovery plans when disruptions occur.
• Ensure materials are properly identified, labeled, stored, and protected from damage.
• Support FIFO/FEFO requirements and proper material rotation where applicable.
• Identify opportunities to reduce material handling, excess movement, inventory, and non-value-added activities.

Warehouse Operations

• Oversee daily warehouse operations, including receiving, storage, staging, picking, replenishment, and material movement.
• Maintain an organized warehouse that supports efficient material flow and safe working conditions.
• Establish appropriate locations and storage practices for raw materials, WIP, finished goods, and production supplies.
• Monitor warehouse capacity and optimize available storage space.
• Ensure accurate movement of materials between receiving, warehouse, production, and shipping areas.
• Maintain control of WIP and finished goods to support production and customer requirements.
• Assist with warehouse layout and material-flow improvements.

Shipping & Receiving

• Supervise receiving activities to ensure incoming materials are unloaded, inspected as required, identified, and put away accurately.
• Oversee shipping activities to ensure finished goods and other shipments are properly prepared, documented, staged, and loaded.
• Ensure shipping and receiving transactions are completed accurately and in a timely manner.
• Coordinate with carriers, suppliers, and internal departments regarding delivery and shipment requirements.
• Investigate receiving discrepancies, damaged materials, shortages, and shipping errors.
• Ensure shipping and receiving areas remain organized, safe, and productive.
• Support customer delivery requirements and on-time shipment performance.

Inventory Control

• Maintain high levels of inventory accuracy throughout the warehouse and production areas.
• Monitor material transactions and ensure inventory is accurately reflected in the ERP/MRP system.
• Lead or support cycle counting, physical inventories, and inventory audits.
• Investigate inventory discrepancies and implement corrective actions.
• Ensure material is properly scanned, transacted, and moved within the system.
• Monitor excess, obsolete, damaged, and slow-moving inventory.
• Partner with Materials Planning and Supply Chain to address inventory issues that may impact production.

Team Leadership

• Directly supervise forklift operators, tugger operators, material handlers, and other Materials personnel.
• Assign daily responsibilities, establish priorities, and adjust staffing based on production and shipping/receiving requirements.
• Ensure appropriate staffing and coverage across all Materials functions.
• Train, coach, and develop employees to improve safety, quality, productivity, and job performance.
• Monitor employee attendance, performance, and adherence to company policies.
• Conduct regular team meetings and communicate production priorities, safety expectations, and department goals.
• Promote teamwork, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Address performance issues promptly and work with management and Human Resources when corrective action is required.
• Crosstrain employees to provide flexibility and adequate departmental coverage.

Safety

• Maintain a strong safety-first culture within the Materials department.
• Ensure employees follow all company safety policies, procedures, and PPE requirements.
• Ensure forklift, tugger, and material-handling equipment operators are properly trained and authorized.
• Conduct or support safety audits and identify unsafe conditions or behaviors.
• Ensure pedestrian and powered industrial truck traffic is properly controlled.
• Report and investigate accidents, near misses, equipment damage, and safety concerns.
• Take immediate action to correct unsafe conditions.
• Promote safe material storage, lifting, handling, and transportation practices.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify and implement opportunities to improve material flow, warehouse efficiency, labor utilization, and productivity.
• Support Lean Manufacturing, 5S, Kaizen, Standard Work, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Analyze material-flow issues and develop corrective and preventive actions.
• Reduce unnecessary material movement, waiting time, excess inventory, and production interruptions.
• Improve warehouse organization, visual management, and material presentation.
• Work with cross-functional teams to improve processes and eliminate waste.
• Participate in projects involving warehouse layout, material routes, supermarkets, kanban, point-of-use storage, and line-side replenishment.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

The Materials Supervisor will be responsible for monitoring and improving department performance in areas such as:

• Inventory accuracy
• On-time material delivery to production
• Production line stoppages caused by material shortages
• On-time shipping performance
• Receiving accuracy and turnaround time
• Material handling productivity
• Warehouse space utilization
• Forklift/tugger utilization
• Material damage and handling-related losses
• Shipping and receiving accuracy
• Cycle count accuracy
• Labor utilization and overtime
• Safety incidents and near misses
• 5S/warehouse organization
• Continuous improvement savings and improvements

Required Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• 3+ years of experience in manufacturing materials, warehouse operations, logistics, shipping/receiving, or supply chain.
• Previous supervisory or team-lead experience in a manufacturing environment preferred.
• Experience supervising forklift, tugger, material handler, or warehouse personnel.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing material flow and production support.
• Experience with inventory control, cycle counting, and warehouse management.
• Familiarity with ERP/MRP systems and barcode/scanning processes.
• Working knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, 5S, Kanban, or other continuous improvement methodologies preferred.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Ability to prioritize work and respond effectively to changing production requirements.
• Strong communication and leadership skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in automotive, industrial, or high-volume manufacturing.
• Experience with Just-in-Time (JIT) or Just-in-Sequence (JIS) material delivery.
• Experience with Kanban, supermarkets, point-of-use inventory, and milk-run/tugger delivery systems.
• Experience with warehouse management systems (WMS) and ERP/MRP systems.
• Forklift or powered industrial truck certification/training experience.
• Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma training.
• Experience leading warehouse or material-flow improvement projects.

Working Conditions

• Primarily works in a manufacturing and warehouse environment.
• Frequent walking throughout warehouse and production areas.
• Regular exposure to forklifts, tuggers, production equipment, and moving materials.
• Must be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with changing production priorities.
• May be required to work overtime, weekends, holidays, or alternate shifts based on production and business needs.
• Must comply with all company safety requirements and wear required PPE.