MAINTENANCE PROCUREMENT SPECIALIST

AMPI owns six Midwest-based manufacturing plants where 10 percent of the nation’s American-type cheese and processed cheese is produced. The cooperative’s award-winning cheese and powdered dairy products are marketed to foodservice, retail and food ingredient customers. In 2019, the co-op launched its Dinner Bell Creamery brand and accompanying Co-op Crafted promise, highlighting more than 50 years of dairy farm families partnering with skilled cheesemakers.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

This list of duties and responsibilities is not all inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties and responsibilities as management may deem necessary from time to time:

1. All AMPI employees have an obligation to report employee safety, food safety and food quality issues to personnel of authority.
2. Oversee all maintenance inventory operations including ordering, receiving, stocking, issuing, returns, and cycle counting of parts and supplies.
3. Maintain accurate inventory data in the CMMS (e.g., FIXX, SAP, Maximo) to ensure part traceability, availability, and proper costing.
4. Develop, review, and adjust min/max levels, reorder points, and safety stock values for all inventory categories, including critical spares.
5. Lead the identification, classification, and documentation of critical spare components, ensuring risk-based stocking levels, redundancy planning, and supplier lead-time alignment.
6. Proactively analyze supplier performance, lead times, quality, and pricing to ensure reliability of critical spare sourcing.
7. Negotiate pricing, terms, contracts, and delivery commitments with vendors to drive cost reductions, secure availability, and build long-term supplier relationships.
8. Manage vendor scorecards, conduct periodic business reviews, and escalate performance issues when service levels or quality fall short.
9. Coordinate with maintenance supervisors, planners, and technicians to ensure required parts availability for PMs, corrective work, shutdowns, and capital projects.
10. Collaborate with Engineering and Reliability teams to evaluate spare parts requirements for new equipment, upgrades, and obsolescence management.
11. Lead storeroom organization, labeling, safety, and layout optimization to support a clean, efficient, and audit-ready environment.
12. Ensure all inventory operations meet food safety, GMP, and regulatory requirements for storage, chemical handling, and documentation.
13. Oversee physical inventories, cycle count programs, and reconciliation of variances, ensuring >95% inventory accuracy.
14. Monitor and communicate key KPIs (inventory turns, accuracy, stockouts, critical spare coverage, purchase cycle times, supplier performance).
15. Drive continuous improvement efforts, including process standardization, 5S, waste reduction, and improved inventory flow.
16. Develop and maintain SOPs, inventory control policies, and detailed work instructions for storeroom and CMMS functions.
17. Support financial budgeting and forecasting by analyzing spend trends, obsolete inventory, and annual usage.
18. Collaborate with the purchasing/finance department to ensure proper asset tracking, invoice resolution, and cost control.
19. Serve as the main point of contact for escalations related to vendor issues, delivery failures, or critical parts emergencies.
20. Uphold and enforce company safety rules, GMPs, and 5S standards within all storeroom and maintenance support areas.
21. Other Duties as Assigned and Participate in the development and improvement of departmental processes and procedures.

An individual in this position must be able to successfully perform the essential duties and responsibilities listed above. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position. The above list reflects the general details necessary to describe the principle and essential functions of the position and shall not be construed as the only duties that may be assigned for the position

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE

•  High School Diploma or General Education Degree (GED), required.
•  Hands-on experience with CMMS systems (such as FIXX, SAP, Maximo, eMaint, or similar) required for parts management, work orders, and inventory tracking.
•  Experience establishing and managing critical spare programs, including risk-based stocking and redundancy planning, is a strong plus.
•  3–5 years of experience in inventory control, maintenance storeroom operations, or supply chain roles within manufacturing or industrial environments.

BENEFITS/REWARDS

AMPI offers competitive starting pay, PTO, 401k, short-term disability, health, dental, vision, life insurance, flexible spending accounts, employee assistance programs and more.

Associated Milk Producers Inc. (AMPI) is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

Military and veterans are encouraged to apply.