Job Title: SAP Supply Planning & Co-Packing Architect – CPG (Food & Confectionery)

Location: New Jersey - Preferably local who can come to the office

Department: Supply Chain / SAP Center of Excellence

Employment Type: Part time or Full-time / Contract

Position Summary

The SAP Supply Planning & Co-Packing Specialist will drive material and production planning excellence across internal and external manufacturing sites for a leading CPG food and confectionery environment. The role ensures that Material Requirements Planning (MRP), co-packing operations, and forecasting processes within SAP are fully optimized to meet service, cost, and quality objectives.

This position bridges commercial demand, production scheduling, and third-party co-packer execution—maintaining end-to-end visibility from raw materials to finished goods such as lozenges, gums, and candies.

Key Responsibilities

1. SAP MRP & Supply Planning

• Manage and optimize MRP runs (MD01N / MRP Live) to balance raw-material availability and production capacity across multiple manufacturing and co-packing sites.
• Maintain planning parameters (lot sizes, safety stocks, lead times, procurement types) in SAP Material Master for all SKUs.
• Analyze and resolve MRP exception messages to ensure timely replenishment and eliminate shortages during seasonal peaks.
• Collaborate with Procurement and Production teams to align component deliveries with packaging schedules.

1. Co-Packing & Subcontracting Management

• Set up and maintain subcontracting processes for co-packers, including subcontract BOMs, routing, and purchase orders.
• Ensure accurate component issuance (movement type 541) and reconciliation of finished-goods receipts (543) from co-packers.
• Monitor co-packer capacity utilization, yield variances, and conversion costs.
• Support vendor onboarding and periodic audits to ensure compliance with food-grade standards (GMP, HACCP).

1. Forecasting & Demand Translation

• Partner with the Demand Planning and Sales teams to translate forecast signals into executable production plans.
• Support short- and medium-term forecasting processes to manage seasonal launches and promotional activities.
• Track forecast accuracy, bias, and service level performance by product family.

1. BOM & Master Data Management

• Build and maintain multi-level Bills of Material (BOMs) for finished goods, semi-finished goods, and packaging components.
• Coordinate with R&D and Quality teams to update ingredient compositions, flavor profiles, and regulatory data.
• Maintain version control to manage product changeovers, flavor variants, and regional packaging differences.
• Support cost roll-ups to ensure accurate COGS visibility by SKU.

1. Continuous Improvement & SAP Enablement

• Participate in S/4HANA supply chain transformation or SAP enhancement projects involving PP/MM integration, co-packing automation, and forecasting integration with IBP.
• Lead testing, documentation, and training for planning teams and co-packer users.
• Identify automation opportunities through Fiori apps, SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), and SAP BTP AI extensions to improve forecast accuracy and MRP efficiency.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Industrial Engineering, or Food Science.
• Minimum 5 years of SAP PP/MM experience in a CPG food or confectionery environment (e.g., candy, lozenges, chewing gum, nutraceuticals).
• Proven hands-on expertise in MRP, subcontracting/co-packing, and BOM configuration.
• Understanding of batch management, lot traceability, and shelf-life planning.
• Strong analytical and cross-functional collaboration skills with commercial and technical teams.

Preferred Skills

• Familiarity with SAP IBP, SAP APO DP/SNP, or advanced forecasting models.
• Knowledge of FDA, GMP, and food-safety compliance standards.
• Experience with SKU proliferation management, promotional lift modeling, and seasonal inventory builds.
• Exposure to AI-enabled demand planning or predictive replenishment within SAP BTP or Datasphere.
• Strong Excel, SQL, or analytics capabilities for ad-hoc supply diagnostics.

Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• MRP exception closure rate & forecast accuracy (>85%)
• Co-packer OTIF (On-Time In-Full) delivery rate
• BOM data accuracy & master data error reduction
• Inventory turns improvement & service level adherence
• Reduction in material write-offs and co-packing variance