Supply Chain Manager

Company Description

Unifab Corporation specializes in precision sheet metal fabrications, focusing on aluminum, stainless steel, and mild steel components for a variety of industries. Our comprehensive services include engineering and prototyping, laser cutting, formed metal fabricating, and welding. With in-house powder coating, assembly, and packaging, we function as a single-source operation. Originating as Kalamazoo Coaches, Inc. in the 1940s, the company rebranded to Unifab Corporation in 1952, continuing a legacy of innovation and expertise in Kalamazoo, MI.

Role Description

The Production Scheduling & Supply Chain Manager supports Unifab by coordinating production schedules, material flow, inventory accuracy, and communication across departments. This role ensures that fabrication, welding, finishing, and assembly operations are properly loaded and sequenced to meet customer deadlines. The position focuses on planning and scheduling—not purchasing—and works closely with the production team, shipping/receiving, and management. As a growing, smaller company, Unifab offers broad roles where you'll wear multiple hats and help bridge gaps across functions — ideal if you thrive in versatile, hands-on environments.

This position reports directly to the General Manager.

Key Responsibilities

Production Scheduling & Planning

• Create and maintain daily and weekly production schedules for metal fabrication work centers such as:
• Laser cutting
• Sawing
• Press brake/forming
• Welding
• Grinding/finishing
• Powder coating or painting
• Assembly
• Issue work orders and ensure routing, job documentation, and revision control are accurate before release.
• Monitor progress on the shop floor and adjust schedules due to machine downtime, staffing changes, or rework needs.
• Track lead times and communicate realistic delivery dates to customer service or management.

Customer Communication Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary contact for customers regarding order status, lead times, and delivery updates.
• Provide proactive communication about delays, material issues, schedule changes, and recovery plans.
• Coordinate with Production, Engineering, Quality, and Shipping to gather accurate job status information.
• Review customer forecasts, blanket orders, and demand changes to ensure internal alignment.
• Build strong customer relationships through clear, reliable communication and follow-through.

Material & Inventory Coordination

• Collaborate with warehouse and material handlers to ensure staged material (e.g., sheet, plate, tube, hardware assemblies) is available when needed.
• Monitor in-process inventory, WIP movement, material shortages, and job status through ERP/MRP systems.
• Support inventory accuracy efforts including cycle counts, physical audits, and root cause investigations for discrepancies.
• Ensure fabrication remnants, drop, and scrap are accounted for correctly to reduce waste.

Logistics & Order Flow

• Coordinate workflow from raw material receipt through fabrication, welding, finishing, and final assembly/shipment.
• Work with shipping to confirm that completed jobs are packaged and shipped on time.
• Help schedule outbound freight pickups and inbound deliveries in alignment with production needs (without handling purchasing responsibilities).

Communication & Leadership

• Act as the main planning link between Operations, Shop Supervisors, Engineering, Quality, and Shipping.
• Participate in daily production meetings to review:
• Job status
• Bottlenecks
• Priority changes
• Late or at-risk orders
• Communicate capacity issues and help management make informed staffing, or overtime, decisions.

Systems, Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain accurate schedule, routing, and WIP data within ERP/MRP systems.
• Identify and help remove production bottlenecks to improve throughput, changeover time, and machine utilization.
• Develop & Track KPIs such as:
• Schedule attainment
• On-time delivery
• Machine utilization
• Operator efficiency
• Support lean manufacturing initiatives within the shop - such as standard work, 5S, and visual production tracking.

Qualifications

• 2–6 years of experience in production planning, scheduling, supply chain coordination, or shop operations—preferably in metal fabrication.
• Understanding of fabrication processes such as laser cutting, CNC forming, welding, powder coating, and assembly.
• Strong ERP/MRP experience for job tracking, capacity planning, and scheduling.
• Ability to translate production data into real-world priorities on the shop floor.
• Excellent communication and ability to coordinate with multiple shifts and personnel.
• Lean/continuous improvement experience is a plus.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office (Excel primarily).

Key Competencies

• Strong problem-solving and prioritization
• Understanding of shop workflows and sequencing
• Ability to balance fast-changing priorities
• Data-driven decision-making
• Clear and consistent communication