Demand & Supply Planner

About Falk & Ross

Falk & Ross is one of Europe’s leading textile wholesalers for promotional wear, merchandise, and workwear. Our mission is to deliver quality, service, and reliability, enabling our partners to present their brands in the best possible way.

With a strong international network, modern logistics, and a dedicated team, we are shaping the future of the textile industry.

Your Mission

The Demand & Supply Planner is responsible for managing the availability, inventory performance, and supply execution of a designated portfolio of brands and SKUs within the Falk & Ross product range.

This role is not a transactional planning position. The successful candidate will actively challenge demand forecasts, validate planning assumptions, and continuously improve inventory performance by working closely with Product Management, Sales, Procurement, and Suppliers.

The Demand & Supply Planner is accountable for ensuring high product availability and agreed service levels while maintaining healthy inventory levels and minimizing excess stock. The role requires strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and a proactive approach to managing supply risks and opportunities.

Each planner will be responsible for a portfolio of approximately 10,000–12,000 style-colour-size SKUs across selected brands.

Key Responsibilities

Demand Management & Forecast Challenge

• Review and challenge demand forecasts generated by the planning system and business stakeholders.
• Analyze historical sales, market trends, seasonality, promotions, and customer information to improve forecast accuracy.
• Work closely with Product Managers, Sales teams, and other stakeholders to understand demand drivers and identify risks and opportunities.
• Actively participate in demand review and forecasting discussions.
• Escalate significant forecast deviations and propose corrective actions.
• Work closely with the Product and sales teams to manage product lifecycle (Phase In / Phase Out), ensuring smooth transitions, minimizing obsolete stock, and securing availability of new items in line with business plans.

Supply Planning & Inventory Management

• Manage inventory levels for assigned brands and product categories.
• Ensure target service levels and product availability are achieved.
• Monitor stock positions daily and proactively identify potential shortages or overstocks.
• Take corrective actions to prevent out-of-stock situations and improve inventory health.
• Balance availability requirements with inventory investment objectives.
• Analyze inventory performance, stock turns, excess inventory, and slow-moving items.
• Actively contribute to the monthly S&OP process by providing clear insights on demand, supply constraints, inventory risks, and recommended actions to support decision-making.

Purchase Order Management

• Generate and manage purchase orders based on planning requirements and business needs.
• Review and challenge replenishment proposals generated by Slim4.
• Validate order quantities, timing, and supplier constraints before releasing orders.
• Follow up with suppliers to ensure timely order confirmation and delivery.
• Monitor open purchase orders and take proactive action on delays, shortages, or supply disruptions.
• Ensure all planning and procurement activities are executed accurately and on time.
• Partner closely with the Inbound team to optimize inbound capacity management and prioritize receipts in line with business needs.

Supplier Follow-up & Delivery Performance

• Maintain close communication with suppliers regarding production and shipment status.
• Track supplier delivery performance and identify potential delays before they impact stock availability.
• Escalate supply risks and coordinate recovery actions where necessary.
• Support supplier performance reviews through accurate reporting and analysis.

Planning System Management

• Maintain planning parameters within Slim4, including lead times, minimum order quantities, safety stock settings, service level targets, and other planning variables.
• Regularly review and optimize system settings to improve planning effectiveness.
• Ensure planning data is accurate, complete, and up to date.
• Challenge system recommendations where business knowledge or market conditions indicate alternative actions are required.

Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Monitor and report key supply chain KPIs, including:

1. Product availability
2. Service level
3. Forecast accuracy
4. Inventory turns
5. Inventory value
6. Out-of-stock performance
7. Supplier delivery performance

• Identify opportunities to improve planning processes, forecasting accuracy, inventory efficiency, and supply chain performance.
• Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives within the Procurement and Supply Chain teams.

Profile

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Business, Economics, Engineering, or a related field.
• Minimum 3 years of experience in demand planning, supply planning, inventory management, procurement planning, or a related supply chain role.
• Fluency in English (min. C1); additional languages are a strong asset.
• Experience working in an international trading, wholesale, retail, or distribution environment is preferred.
• Experience with planning systems such as Slim4, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, or similar planning tools is an advantage.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent numerical and data analysis capabilities.
• Highly proactive and hands-on approach.
• Ability to challenge assumptions and make fact-based decisions.
• Good organizational and prioritization skills.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and take ownership of results.
• Strong attention to detail without losing sight of the bigger picture.
• Advanced Excel skills; experience with planning and reporting tools is preferred.

Success in this Role

A successful Demand & Supply Planner continuously stays ahead of potential stock issues rather than reacting to them. They actively challenge demand assumptions, question planning system outputs when necessary, maintain accurate planning parameters, follow suppliers closely, and ensure the business consistently delivers high product availability without creating unnecessary inventory.

This role requires ownership, curiosity, analytical thinking, and a relentless focus on execution and continuous improvement.

What We Offer

• A strategic role within a leading European distributor of promotional textiles.
• The opportunity to shape and optimize a large and diverse product portfolio.
• A dynamic, international, and competitive environment.
• Collaboration with motivated teams across multiple departments and markets.
• Career growth and development opportunities within The Cotton Group.

To support our international hiring process, we kindly ask you to apply with an English CV.