Stock Allocations Planner (Fixed Term Contract)

Job Description

RCL FOODS is a deeply rooted South African food manufacturer that produces some of the country’s most-loved brands, including Yum Yum peanut butter, Nola mayonnaise, Ouma rusks, and Selati sugar, just to name a few. At the heart of our culture and strategy is our Purpose – WE GROW WHAT MATTERS – which reflects our belief in collectively doing that little more to create a positive impact that truly matters. Visit our website: www.rclfoods.com

Our Talent Team is on the hunt for a Stock Allocations Planner on a Fixed Term Contract for our Pies Division. The role will be based in Krugersdorp and will report into the Supply Planning Manager. The Stock Allocations Planner will be responsible for maximizing customer service by allocating the available stock fairly across all orders received from direct customers, planning stock required for depot replenishment as well as planning stock to storage, while constantly considering the opportunities for cost saving within the distribution network. Be the first line of stock related queries for all distribution related operational queries and get these resolved.

Minimum Requirements

• Grade 12/Matric is required.
• Diploma or Tertiary Qualification in Commerce/Supply Chain/Logistics Management/SAPICS preferred.
• 3-4 years operational experience within Outbound Supply Chain Planning (demand and supply), Call Centre or Distribution environment.
• Computer literacy (MS Office and particularly Excel).
• Must have experience in SAP/ Syspro
• Advanced Excel/PowerPoint experience is required.
• Knowledge and Skills: Good verbal and written communication. Good interpersonal and telephone skills. Warehousing principles and practices. Logistics and distribution principles and practices. Analytical thinking and problem solving.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Key Responsibilities:
• Allocate available stock fairly across all orders based on the approved allocation hierarchy.
• Ensure balanced days of cover across the network through depot replenishment planning.
• Act as first point of contact for all customer stock and order queries.
• Monitor stock availability against orders and flag shortfalls proactively.
• Liaise with sales, customer service, warehousing, and distribution to resolve allocation conflicts.
• Identify and act on cost-saving opportunities within the distribution network.
• Maintain accurate allocation records and audit trail for decisions made under constraint.
• Escalate significant supply gaps or high-risk allocation calls to supply planning manager.
• Overcoming operational constraints that impact costs and/or customer service.
• Understanding SAP and being able to identify route cause of service-related issues that are not necessarily physical stock related.
• Make all operational, scheduling and allocation decisions that fall within the ambit of responsibility.
• This requires significant coordination and facilitation of the distribution channel stakeholders and consideration of customer service, stock availability and balancing these to cost constraints.

Customer Relationships

• Internal : As the Stock Allocations planner, all first line queries related to stock availability and / or customer order fulfilment will go through them first. These are often when something has gone wrong (and often CSL related) and they will be required to manage the emotions of the individuals involved, and often the external end customer, while still trying to get to the cause of the problem. It is important for the Stock Allocations planner to be able to develop good working relationships with both the customers, internal cross functional teams and distribution service providers in order to get the job done.
• External : Distribution Service Providers (Vector, Super Group).