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About Century-Tech
Century-Tech Machinery is a rapidly growing fully domestic OEM manufacturer of servo-controlled plastic-bag converting machinery in the United States. Our customers are the leading film converters in North America, Central & South America and the Carribean. We manufacture both new machinery and support those machinery through our aftermarket parts business, which sits on top of an installed base built over four decades.
The Opportunity
Century-Tech has built decades of engineering depth, a respected brand, and a loyal customer base. As we accelerate growth, the systems, standards, and discipline that supported a smaller operation now need to be redesigned for what comes next. We are not looking for someone to come in and run things as they are. We are looking for a builder who will modernize how we manufacture, stock, and purchase — and who will establish a new culture of operational discipline across the company.
This is a rare ground-floor opportunity for an experienced operator with project management, inventory management and vendor management with the instincts and ambition to design how a manufacturing business should run. The processes you put in place, the vendor relationships you support, the build discipline you establish — these become the new operating standard for Century-Tech and the template for our future. You are not inheriting a function; you are designing one and scaling it.
Position Summary
Senior Project & Inventory Manager is the operational nerve center of Century-Tech's new machine build pipeline, assembly, inventory management and order fulfillment lifecycle — owning the project delivery for each machine, overseeing inventory and parts needed to build or fill spare part orders including what is in the building, what is on order, when it is arriving, and that every part is in the right place at the right time. Beyond running the function day-to-day, this role is mandated to modernize it: to take what is currently a reactive, tribal-knowledge operation and turn it into a documented, data-driven discipline that can scale with the company and across the portfolio.
This is a hands-on role that combines project management, purchasing, inventory management, and vendor negotiations. The Inventory & Procurement Manager works on the shop floor as much as in the ERP, partnering daily with engineering, assembly, the spare-parts team, and finance to keep builds on schedule and the parts pipeline flowing — while continuously raising the standard for how each of those activities is performed.
Key Responsibilities
Machine Build Project Coordination
- For each new machine build, own the parts plan — translating the bill of materials into a sequenced procurement and delivery schedule aligned to the build timeline.
- Identify long-lead items early and place orders against the build schedule; flag at-risk components before they become blockers.
- Coordinate daily with engineering, assembly, and project leadership so every milestone has the parts it needs when it needs them.
- Manage engineering change notices (ECNs) and BOM revisions as builds evolve; ensure open POs and on-hand stock stay aligned to the latest build configuration.
Modernization & Continuous Improvement
- Establish and codify the standards for how Century-Tech builds, stocks, and procures — turning tribal knowledge into documented, repeatable processes.
- Drive Fishbowl ERP toward its full potential — accurate BOMs, trusted reorder logic, forward demand visibility, and exception-based management replacing manual workarounds.
- Introduce modern materials disciplines — cycle counting, kitting and staging, stockroom organization, supplier qualification standards, and vendor scorecards — as new operating norms.
- Develop the materials and procurement playbook that becomes the template for all new machine builds and spare part orders.
- Champion a culture of process discipline, accountability, and continuous improvement on the shop floor and in the front office.
Purchase Order Issuance & Tracking
- Issue purchase orders to vendors on behalf of plant operations and the spare-parts team for new machine builds, spare-parts inventory, and replenishment.
- Track every open PO from issue through receipt; maintain accurate confirmed ship dates and ETAs in the ERP.
- Run a disciplined daily/weekly cadence of vendor follow-up to confirm orders, secure dates, and document responses.
Vendor Expediting & On-Time Delivery
- Own on-time delivery from suppliers — escalate at-risk POs, expedite when needed, and resolve shortages, substitutions, and back-orders.
- Maintain primary contact and account information for every active vendor; build the relationships that get calls returned.
- Track supplier performance (on-time %, quality, lead time, responsiveness) and surface chronic issues to leadership through a formalized scorecard process.
Inventory Management
- Make Fishbowl the trusted source of truth on inventory — receiving, stocking, locations, cycle counts, and reconciliation.
- Set and maintain appropriate min/max and reorder points for stocked items based on demand, lead time, and criticality.
- Pull and kit parts for production builds and spare-parts orders; coordinate with the spare-parts team on availability for customer quotes and orders.
- Identify and disposition slow-moving and obsolete inventory; protect the cash tied up in stock.
Demand & Production Materials Coordination
- Synchronize purchasing timing with the production schedule and spare-parts demand to avoid both stockouts and excess inventory.
- Balance machine-build demand against aftermarket spare-parts demand on shared components.
- Maintain a forward-looking view of what is coming due across all builds and replenishment, and brief operations leadership weekly.
Vendor Management (Operational)
- Manage day-to-day vendor relationships, communications, and order issues.
- Support strategic sourcing and cost-reduction work led by finance — providing usage data, qualifying alternate suppliers, and running operational trials of new sources.
- Maintain the approved vendor list, current pricing files, and supplier qualification records in the ERP.
Receiving & Quality Coordination
- Verify incoming shipments against POs; coordinate inspection and quality holds with the QA process.
- Document and pursue resolution of shortages, damages, and incorrect shipments; manage RMAs and credits with vendors.
Cross-Functional Partnership
- Finance: align on PO commitments, payment terms, and spend visibility.
- Engineering: stay current on BOMs, ECNs, and approved-part substitutions.
- Production / assembly: align purchasing to the live build schedule and shop priorities.
- Sales & spare-parts team: provide availability and lead-time information for customer quotes and orders.
QualificationsRequired
- Experience: 5+ years in materials management, purchasing, or supply chain in a discrete-manufacturing environment, including time spent improving processes — not just operating them.
- Industry: Background in capital equipment, machine building, industrial OEM, or job-shop manufacturing — comfort with BOMs, ECNs, and a custom or low-volume / high-mix build environment.
- Systems: Strong ERP fluency (Fishbowl preferred; NetSuite, Epicor, SAP, or similar acceptable); strong Excel; comfort using modern tools and automation to eliminate manual work.
- PO Discipline: Demonstrated track record of managing dozens to hundreds of open POs and driving on-time delivery.
- Project Coordination: Experience tying procurement to a production or build schedule and keeping multiple workstreams aligned to a delivery date.
- Process Building: Direct experience standing up new processes — cycle counting, kitting, vendor scorecards — and getting an organization to actually adopt the new processes.
- Communication: Comfortable and effective on the phone with vendors — polite, persistent, and clear; equally comfortable on the shop floor with mechanics and assemblers.
- Education: Bachelor's degree preferred; equivalent manufacturing experience considered.
Preferred
- Experience with industrial mechanical and electromechanical components — servo motors and drives, bearings, gearboxes, pneumatics, fabricated and machined parts.
- Familiarity with the OEM machinery building industry.
- Experience supporting a plant expansion, relocation, or inventory system implementation.
- Experience in a high-growth or private-equity / holding-company portfolio environment.
Personal Mindset Traits Required
- Builder's instinct — energized by designing how things should be, not just operating what exists.
- Change agent — brings strong systems and stronger discipline, and can bring people along while raising the standard.
- Owner's mindset on the cash tied up in inventory and on every dollar committed to a PO.
- Process-minded — sees patterns, codifies them, and turns one-off fixes into standing practice.
- Polite but persistent — gets dates and answers out of vendors who don't return calls.
- Organized and disciplined — never loses track of a PO.
- Calm under deadline pressure on builds and customer commitments; bias to action.
- Team player - works cross-functionally while also holding people accountable for performance and owning their own performance.
Pay: $75,000.00 - $115,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
