Inventory & SIOP Manager (Manufacturing )
Reports to: Plant Manager
About Armstrong Fluid Technology
Join a global leader in fluid-flow technology with over 1,400 employees across eight manufacturing facilities on four continents. At Armstrong, we engineer innovative solutions that improve performance, reduce energy consumption, and help protect our planet. We offer a collaborative environment where learning, innovation, and continuous improvement are part of everyday work.
The Role
We are seeking an experienced and proactive SIOP & Inventory Manager to lead inventory control activities within our manufacturing facility. This role is responsible for ensuring the efficient management of raw materials, components, work-in-progress (WIP), and finished goods to support production schedules, customer delivery commitments, and business objectives.
Working closely with Procurement, Production Planning, Manufacturing, Quality, Logistics, and Sales, you will play a key role in the company's Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning (SIOP) process, ensuring inventory strategies align with customer demand, production capacity, supplier capability, and business objectives. You will develop and maintain robust inventory processes that optimise stock availability, improve inventory accuracy, reduce excess inventory, and minimise operational risk while supporting operational excellence across the business.
Key Responsibilities
Inventory Management
- Manage inventory levels for raw materials, purchased components, consumables, WIP, and finished products.
- Ensure optimum inventory levels are maintained to support production while minimising excess stock and working capital.
- Develop and execute inventory optimisation plans to improve inventory accuracy, increase stock turns, reduce excess and obsolete inventory, and systematically identify, disposition, and remove legacy and non-moving items from inventory while maintaining material availability to support production and customer demand.
- Develop inventory strategies aligned with production plans, customer demand, supplier lead times, and SIOP objectives.
Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning (SIOP)
- Lead the monthly SIOP cycle, including demand review, supply review, inventory review, and executive SIOP meetings.
- Develop integrated demand, supply, production, and inventory plans.
- Facilitate cross-functional collaboration between Sales, Operations, Manufacturing, Procurement, Finance, and Logistics.
- Analyse demand trends, capacity constraints, and supply risks, and recommend mitigation strategies.
- Prepare executive dashboards and reports to support business decisions.
- Drive continuous improvement of forecasting and planning processes.
Planning & Operations
- Work collaboratively with Production Planning to ensure material availability for manufacturing schedules.
- Support demand planning and forecasting activities through inventory analysis and supplier capacity reviews.
- Coordinate inventory replenishment in line with production requirements and customer demand.
- Monitor supplier performance and lead times to minimise supply chain disruption.
- Coordinate inventory movements between stores, production, and external suppliers where required.
Continuous Improvement
- Identify opportunities to improve inventory accuracy, warehouse efficiency, and material flow.
- Develop and implement best practice inventory management procedures.
- Support Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement initiatives aimed at reducing waste and improving productivity.
- Review warehouse layouts and storage methods to maximise efficiency, safety, and inventory control.
Skills
Essential:
- Minimum 3–5 years' experience in inventory management within a manufacturing environment.
- Experience participating in or supporting a Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning (SIOP/S&OP) process.
- Experience managing inventory across raw materials, WIP, and finished goods.
- Strong understanding of ERP/MRP systems (SAP, Oracle, Epicor, NetSuite, or equivalent).
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with strong attention to detail.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills with the ability to analyse and present inventory and forecasting data.
- Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise multiple activities.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills across multiple departments.
Desirable:
- Experience within the pump, rotating equipment, HVAC, or industrial manufacturing sector.
- Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, Kanban, 5S, or Continuous Improvement methodologies.
- CIPS qualification (or working towards) or equivalent Supply Chain qualification.
- Understanding of inventory optimisation techniques, including ABC analysis, safety stock modelling, reorder point planning, and demand forecasting.
- Knowledge of ISO 9001 quality management systems.
Why Armstrong Fluid Technology?
Join a global organisation committed to engineering excellence, sustainability and innovation. We offer opportunities to develop your career while helping deliver reliable, high-quality fluid-flow solutions for customers around the world.