Production Material Support (Water Spider)

The Production Material Support serves as the dedicated link between warehouse operations and the production floor, ensuring that all materials required for manufacturing are delivered accurately, on time, and in alignment with true demand. This role is responsible for proactively staging, replenishing, and returning materials while maintaining accuracy. The Production Material Support prevents production delays by ensuring shortages are addressed before impact and by executing material movement with a full understanding of demand signals, BOM requirements, and inventory integrity.

This position requires strong communication skills, attention to detail, and a commitment to maintaining a smooth and efficient material flow that supports uninterrupted production operations.

Key Responsibilities

Material Delivery & Replenishment

• Serve as the primary support contact for production regarding urgent material needs, shortages, substitutions, and demand-driven changes.
• Execute all material pulls-standard and shortage-based-using demand data to ensure actions do not create downstream impacts.
• Proactively stage materials for upcoming jobs/work orders based on pick lists, production schedules, and consumption patterns.
• Coordinate emergency replenishments to prevent production downtime.

Shortages, Discrepancies & Issue Resolution

• Investigate missing, short, or misallocated materials and resolve issues before they affect production flow.
• Communicate root causes of recurring shortages or material flow problems to warehouse and production leadership.
• Ensure that all shortage or expedited picks are aligned with true system demand before issuing material.

• Perform all material movements (issues, returns, adjustments, staging transactions) accurately.
• Inspect unused, excess, or returned materials for damage, labeling accuracy, and lot traceability before reintroducing them into inventory.
• Support inventory accuracy initiatives including cycle counts, reconciliation, aisle audits, and work-in-progress verification.
• Maintain strict adherence to inventory management best practices to prevent ghost inventory and system variances.

Material Flow Organization & Efficiency

• Maintain clean, organized staging areas, return zones, and kitting locations to support efficient and visual material flow.
• Collaborate with warehouse, purchasing, and production teams to improve material delivery methods, reduce handling, and eliminate waste in the process.
• Identify and recommend improvements to flow, replenishment timing, and transactions to enhance overall efficiency.

Skills & Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Previous warehouse, inventory, material handling, or manufacturing experience preferred.
• SAP knowledge or the ability to complete SAP inventory management training
• Strong understanding of material flow, BOM structures, and demand-driven replenishment.
• Ability to troubleshoot shortages and discrepancies under time-sensitive conditions.
• Effective communication skills with both warehouse and production teams.
• High attention to detail with commitment to transactional accuracy.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced production environment while maintaining organization and prioritization.
• Basic computer skills preferred.

Physical Requirements

• Regularly lift, carry, push, and pull up to 30 pounds.
• Ability to stand, walk, bend, stoop, reach, and perform repetitive motions throughout the workday.
• Ability to work in a warehouse and manufacturing environment with exposure to varying temperatures, noise, and moving equipment.
• Ability to work up to 10-hour shifts and weekends as business needs require.