Warehouse Manager at Decko Products, INC. in Sandusky, OH

Job description

• Receiving, put-away, material staging to production, finished goods, shipping, inventory control and cycle counting; coordination with off-site storage and third-party logistics
• Operating pattern
• Supports two production shifts and third-shift sanitation; weekend shipping and receiving as required
• Travel
• Occasional local travel to off-site storage locations
• Compensation
• Competitive base plus performance bonus; range confirmed with the final candidate
• We are hiring a warehouse manager to own the physical and transactional flow of material through our Sandusky operation — everything from the truck at the receiving door to the pallet on the outbound trailer, and every inventory record in between.
• This is a build role. Today there is no cycle counting program, receiving and purchasing responsibilities are not properly separated, and inventory records do not consistently match what is on the floor. The person in this seat builds the controls: a working cycle count program, clean receiving and shipping documentation, accurate lot traceability, and duties segregated so the person who buys material is not the person who receives it and counts it. Inventory accuracy is the foundation everything else in supply chain is built on, and it is the number this role is measured by.
• We want someone with a Lean and TPM background, because warehouse work responds to the same discipline as line work — standard work, visual management, 5S, flow, and losses attacked at root cause rather than absorbed. Food plant experience is required; material in this building is regulated, allergen-controlled and lot-traced.

Responsibilities

• Receiving and inbound
• • Own receiving end to end: appointment scheduling, unloading, count and condition verification against the purchase order and bill of lading, temperature and trailer condition checks, and same-day system receipt at the correct item, lot and quantity.
• • Reject or quarantine non-conforming, damaged or undocumented inbound material, and escalate supplier issues with the documentation needed to support a claim or chargeback.
• • Put material away to a defined location with correct lot and date capture — no material lands where it lands.
• • Segregate duties: receiving is performed and recorded by warehouse personnel physically at the plant, independent of purchasing.
• Inventory control and cycle counting
• • Build and run a cycle count program from the ground up: ABC classification, count frequency by class, count sheets, blind counts, and a documented reconciliation and approval path for adjustments.
• • Own inventory record accuracy for raw materials, packaging, work in process and finished goods, at the plants and at off-site storage.
• • Investigate every variance to root cause — receipt error, issue error, unrecorded scrap, misplaced pallet, theft — and correct the process, not just the number.
• • Run FIFO and FEFO rotation, monitor aging and short-dated stock, and drive obsolete, damaged and held inventory to disposition on a clock.
• • Own the physical inventory: plan it, run it, reconcile it, and stand behind the result with finance.
• Material flow to production
• • Stage material to the line against the production schedule so that every run starts with the right material, verified, in the right quantity, at the right time.
• • Issue and backflush material accurately so that consumption, yield and scrap reporting reflect what actually happened.
• • Return unused material to stock correctly rather than leaving it on the floor to become a variance.
• • Partner with Planning and Purchasing on shortages, substitutions and expedites with real on-hand numbers, not estimates.
• Shipping and outbound
• • Own outbound: pick accuracy, staging, load building, dock scheduling, carrier coordination and on-time departure against customer must-arrive-by dates.
• • Ensure shipping documentation is complete and accurate — bill of lading, pallet and case counts, lot detail and customer routing requirements — so that what is invoiced matches what shipped.
• • Drive on-time and in-full performance and reduce chargebacks, shortages, damages and freight claims.
• • Coordinate with third-party warehouses and logistics partners on transfers, inventory visibility and shipment execution.
• Food safety, compliance and traceability
• • Maintain GMP, sanitation, pest control and storage practice in all warehouse and storage areas, audit-ready every day.
• • Enforce allergen and gluten-free storage segregation, dedicated handling equipment where required, and correct labeling and identification of every pallet.
• • Maintain lot traceability forward and backward, and be able to execute a mock recall within the required window.
• • Own the powered industrial truck program: licensing, training, daily inspection, pedestrian safety and equipment condition.
• Lean, TPM and continuous improvement
• • Run the warehouse on standard work and daily management: shift start-up, visual boards, defined locations, 5S, and labor planned against the day's inbound, outbound and staging volume.
• • Apply TPM discipline to warehouse assets — forklifts, pallet jacks, dock equipment, scales and scanners — with operator-owned inspection and a preventive maintenance plan.
• • Attack losses at root cause using 5-why and A3, and standardize the fix.
• • Improve layout, slotting and travel distance against the real pick and staging profile.
• Capital, budget and storage capacity
• • Own the warehouse and materials handling portion of the site CAPEX master plan — racking, dock equipment, lift trucks, scanning and labeling, scales, and storage expansion — justified on quantified loss or capacity need, and see approved projects through installation and start-up.
• • Run the warehouse to budget: labor, overtime, temporary staffing, outside storage, freight accessorials, pallets and supplies, with variance explained and recovered in the month.
• • Own storage capacity planning — pallet positions, slotting, peak-season storage and the outside-storage decision made ahead of the peak rather than during it.
• • Track uptime and availability of warehouse assets the same way the plants track OEE: lift trucks, dock equipment, scales and scanners inspected, maintained and available when the shift starts.
• Commercialization, validation and training
• • Support commercialization for the site: set up new items in the warehouse before first production — locations, storage and segregation requirements, pallet and case configuration, labeling and case-code verification, and inbound requirements for new materials.
• • Support validation and verification activities: trace exercises and mock recalls, scale calibration, inventory verification and system-to-floor reconciliation for new items and new processes.
• • Ensure training is completed and documented for every warehouse employee, permanent and temporary, before they work independently — including powered industrial truck licensing, GMP, allergen handling and system transactions, with records current and audit-ready.
• People and systems
• • Lead, schedule, train and develop the materials handling team across shifts; build a skills matrix and a qualification standard for every role including temporary workers.
• • Own warehouse transactions in the plant system, keep master data clean in partnership with Purchasing, and support the rollout of improved planning and inventory tools.
• • Report daily and weekly on inventory accuracy, receipts, shipments, on-time performance and open exceptions.
• Measure
• Expectation
• Inventory record accuracy
• Sustained at or above 98% by location and item class, verified by cycle count
• Cycle count program
• Full A/B/C coverage executed on schedule, with variances reconciled and root-caused
• Inventory variance
• Unexplained variance driven down and held down; no standing variance balance carried on the books
• Receiving performance
• Same-day system receipt, accurate to item, lot and quantity; dock-to-stock within standard
• Shipping performance
• On-time to customer must-arrive-by dates; pick and documentation accuracy; chargebacks and claims reduced
• Material availability
• No production run delayed or stopped for material that was on site
• Traceability and compliance
• Mock recall executed within standard; allergen and gluten-free segregation maintained; audit-ready
• Budget and capital
• Warehouse budget delivered; warehouse capital plan current and projects delivered on scope, cost and timing
• Storage capacity
• Peak storage planned ahead; outside storage used by decision, not by surprise
• Commercialization
• New items set up in the warehouse and verified before first production
• Training
• Training and PIT licensing complete and documented for every warehouse employee, temps included
• Safety
• Zero powered industrial truck and pedestrian incidents; inspections and licensing current

Requirements

• • Five or more years leading warehouse, distribution or materials operations, including direct responsibility for inventory accuracy and a cycle count program.
• • Food plant manufacturing experience is required — GMPs, allergen segregation, lot traceability, recall readiness and audit expectations.
• • Demonstrated Lean and TPM background applied to warehouse or materials operations: standard work, 5S, visual management, flow improvement and structured problem solving. Be ready to describe a specific loss you found and closed.
• • Strong command of inventory control fundamentals: ABC classification, FIFO/FEFO, receipt and issue accuracy, reconciliation and physical inventory.
• • Working knowledge of an ERP, MRP or warehouse management system, and enough comfort with data to reconcile a variance in a spreadsheet rather than guess at it.
• • Experience leading an hourly team across shifts, including training, scheduling and performance management, and accountability for training completion and records.
• • Experience owning a warehouse operating budget and building capital justifications for racking, equipment or storage capacity.
• • Willing and able to flex hours to the needs of the business, including weekends, early starts and off-shift coverage when receiving, shipping or inventory work requires it.
• • Powered industrial truck certified, or able to certify; able to train and evaluate operators.
• • Experience standing up a cycle count program or inventory controls where none existed.
• • Experience through an ERP, MRP or WMS implementation as a user, tester and trainer.
• • Managing third-party warehouses and logistics providers, including inventory reconciliation across locations.
• • Unionized environment experience.
• • Retail customer compliance experience — routing guides, must-arrive-by dates, EDI and chargeback management.
• • Bilingual English/Spanish.

Skills

Required

• Lean and TPM background
• Working knowledge of ERP, MRP or WMS

Preferred

• Unionized environment experience
• Bilingual English/Spanish