SAP S/4HANA Supply Planning Consultant Manufacturing

REMOTE

6-12 Months contract

We are seeking an experienced, hands-on SAP S/4HANA Supply & Production Planning Consultant to optimize and standardize planning processes across U.S. manufacturing plants for a global confectionery manufacturer.

The client went live on SAP S/4HANA approximately one year ago. The U.S. plants are still developing their use of S/4HANA's supply-planning capabilities and currently rely heavily on experienced planners and schedulers.

We need an independent consultant who combines strong SAP S/4HANA planning expertise with practical manufacturing knowledge and can improve supply planning, production planning, MRP, master data, scheduling, and overall adoption of standard S/4HANA processes.

Key Responsibilities

• Assess existing Supply Planning, Production Planning, Material Planning, MRP, and Production Scheduling processes.

• Identify gaps and establish standardized planning best practices across manufacturing plants.

• Troubleshoot SAP S/4HANA supply and production planning issues.

• Analyze and optimize MRP / MRP Live parameters, lead times, lot sizing, safety stock, planning strategies, and procurement settings.

• Identify and resolve master-data issues affecting planning results.

• Support planning-related master data including Material Masters, BOMs, Routings, Work Centers, and Production Versions.

• Improve material availability, production scheduling, procurement, and inventory-planning processes.

• Guide planners and schedulers on appropriate SAP transactions, tables, reports, and work processes.

• Support production simulation and planning scenarios.

• Partner directly with plant planners, production schedulers, manufacturing teams, procurement, and supply-chain leadership.

• Coach planners and schedulers on standardized SAP S/4HANA processes.

• Drive adoption of new processes and help overcome resistance to change.

• Document processes and develop sustainable planning procedures.

• Develop and deliver training to manufacturing and planning teams.

• Support continued post-go-live S/4HANA stabilization and optimization.

Required Qualifications

• Strong hands-on SAP S/4HANA Supply Planning / Production Planning experience.

• Strong SAP PP / MRP expertise.

• Practical manufacturing and plant-planning experience.

• Strong experience with:

  • Supply Planning

  • Production Planning

  • Material Planning

  • MRP / MRP Live

  • Production Scheduling

  • Manufacturing Planning

  • Procurement

  • Inventory Management

  • Planning Master Data

• Strong understanding of MRP parameters, lead times, lot sizing, safety stock, planning strategies, and material availability.

• Experience troubleshooting planning and master-data issues in SAP.

• Experience with SAP S/4HANA implementation, deployment, stabilization, or optimization.

• Ability to independently assess manufacturing-planning problems and recommend practical solutions.

• Strong communication, documentation, coaching, training, and change-management skills.

Manufacturing Experience

Candidates should have experience within process manufacturing, preferably:

• Food Manufacturing

• Confectionery

• Beverage

• Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)

• Food & Beverage

• Other high-volume process manufacturing environments

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous experience as a Plant Planner, Production Planner, Production Scheduler, Supply Planner, Material Planner, or Supply Chain Lead.

• Hands-on SAP PP/DS experience.

• MRP Live experience.

• SAP IBP experience.

• SAP PP-PI / Process Industry experience.

• Experience with S/4HANA post-go-live stabilization and optimization.

• Experience driving SAP adoption within manufacturing plants.

• Experience training experienced planners and schedulers on standardized SAP processes.