Company Overview

Young Innovations is a growing mid-sized manufacturer and marketer of high quality dental equipment and supplies. We have an outstanding reputation for quality and customer service. Our company has a broad portfolio of market leading products across a variety of categories.

Position Overview

We are looking for a broadly experienced Director of Distribution and Warehouse Operations who thrives in a dynamic and fast-paced role. The Director of Distribution and Warehouse Operations is responsible for managing and leading warehousing, freight, distribution, planning, procurement, and logistics.  This role will also drive continuous process improvement activities and capital expenditure projects. The role will oversee the operations of a diverse product portfolio of medical devices and ensuring the organization is running as well as it possibly can, with a scalable and efficient process that meets the expectations and needs of customers.

Responsibilities:

• Warehousing & Order Fulfillment
  • Direct all material warehousing and order fulfillment activities with the goal of meeting world class service levels
  • Examine existing procedures or opportunities for streamlining activities to meet product distribution needs.
  • Direct the movement, storage, or processing of inventory
  • Implement and manage efficient transportation & distribution practices leveraging existing Young Innovations Routing Guide
  • Monitor all distribution services including receiving, delivery, processed returns and administrative activities to ensure customer requirements and DC goals are met
  • Set up new locations or 3PL warehouses as needed.
• Inventory & Materials Management
  • Direct material handling operations and improve procedures
  • Responsible for cost, quality, and availability of components and materials
  • Proper management of all inventory assets including raw material, work-in-process, sub-contract, and finished goods
• Forecasting & Planning
  • Ensures coordination and fosters a strong working relationship between sales and operations to maintain a forecast and associated supply to meet customer demand
  • Directs the team ensuring availability of materials in the supply chain, as required per production schedules and forecasts, and the maintenance of inventory at minimum acceptable levels leveraging MRP system
  • Demand Forecasting: Guide supply/demand trends in order to strategically forecast future needs and maintain minimum acceptable inventory levels
  • Capacity planning: Supervise all planning activities such as reviewing warehouse process flow, capacity planning, and productivity measurement tools.
  • Direct and clearly communicate demand forecasting and warehouse requirements cross functionally with Sales, Customer Service, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, and Finance 
• Freight and Logistics
  • Actively manage inbound, outbound, and transfer freight spend to ensure competitive cost and service, from supplier selection and contracting through execution.
  • Lead improvement projects such as shipment consolidation and mode optimization.
  • Collaborate with other locations to ensure compliance with corporate freight programs.
  • Develop and maintain metrics to quantify performance.
• Strategic Leadership - leading, coaching and developing a diverse group of exempt and non-exempt team members
  • Developing and setting budgets/business plans and managing cost in meeting the organization’s goals and objectives
  • Driving the assessment, implementation and execution of Lean Continuous Improvement Program. 
  • Driving Lean principles and tools including but not limited to Demand Pull, JIT, ROP, Cellular manufacturing, 5S, Kaizen and Set-up Reduction
  • Responsible for developing and executing an integrated strategy, relating to the current and future needs of distribution
• Continuous Improvement - make recommendations to improve productivity, quality, and efficiency of operations.
  • Focus on production and delivery metrics and leading improvements
  • Fostering collaboration with Process Engineering to identify the root cause of process issues and helping to implement the selected solution.
  • Driving to the root cause of quality issues and working cross-functionally to propose and implement solutions
  • Using strong analytical and operational experience to constantly seek out improvements in cost reduction, inventory reduction, standardized processes, and performance metrics
• Capital Expenditure Projects - serving as lead for facility capital projects, problem-solving closely with the Young leadership team to address new opportunities in a manner consistent with the company’s objectives
• Partnership/Support - work closely and continuously with the leaders in product development, account management/customer service, maintenance, engineering and regulatory affairs to problem-solve successful product introductions, sustainable compliance and effective production planning and scheduling

Qualifications:

• Bachelor degree in Supply Chain, Business Administration or a related field
• 8+ years’ of progressively responsible work experience in operations/supply chain/distribution
• At least five years of experience in a management capacity 
• Multi-site responsibility, with global facilities, strongly preferred
• Broader supply chain and production control required, APICS certification (or in-process pursuit) strongly preferred
• Experience with distribution acquisition consolidation
• Demonstrated track record of driving financial performance in operational or strategic roles.
• Experience in managing multiple distribution locations required
• Experience in setting up and working with 3PL’s
• Strong DOT and IMDG regulation compliance knowledge, HAZMAT certification required (or ability to become certified).
• Strong working knowledge of WMS and TMS systems
• Thorough knowledge and previous successful application of Lean principles 
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with multiple competing deadlines.
• Ability to successfully train, motivate and direct the work of others, including the ability to develop team members and build a strong and effective organization
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent problem solving and decision-making skills.
• Financial acumen to understand impact on sites with ties to ledger
• Strong computer skills (experience with Windows based applications, especially MS Excel).
• Travel up to 10%

Young Innovations, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer and E-Verify participating employer