Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Service Parts Supply Management Planner

🎯 Role Definition

We are seeking a proactive Service Parts Supply Management Planner responsible for planning, replenishing, and optimizing spare parts inventory across global service networks. The role focuses on maximizing parts availability and fill rate while minimizing obsolescence and carrying costs through robust demand forecasting, inventory optimization, lead-time management, and close collaboration with service, procurement, logistics and engineering teams. Ideal candidates combine hands-on ERP/MRP experience (SAP, S/4HANA, APO, Oracle, Kinaxis), strong analytical capabilities, and practical knowledge of spare parts lifecycle and aftermarket service operations.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Inventory Analyst (Aftermarket / Service Parts)
Supply Planner or Demand Planner (commercial or service)
Parts Coordinator / Parts Analyst

Advancement To:

Senior Service Parts Planner / Lead Planner
Service Parts Supply Manager / Aftermarket Supply Manager
Supply Chain Manager (Aftermarket or Field Services)
Director of Aftermarket Operations

Lateral Moves:

Demand Planning / S&OP Planner
Procurement / Strategic Sourcing Specialist
Logistics or Distribution Network Planner

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Own the end-to-end supply planning process for assigned service parts portfolio, ensuring target service levels and fill rates are met while balancing inventory investment and obsolescence risk across regional warehouses and field service locations.
Develop and maintain accurate demand forecasts for spare parts using statistical forecasting tools, historical service usage, warranty flows and field intelligence; adjust forecasts for promotions, engineering changes, and seasonal patterns.
Create and execute replenishment plans (min/max, reorder point, EOQ, kanban) across multiple stocking points and third-party warehouses to meet agreed service level agreements (SLAs) and reduce backorders.
Perform SKU segmentation (ABC/XYZ) and lifecycle analysis to apply differentiated planning strategies—high-velocity spares, slow-moving, critical repair parts, and long-tail items—optimizing safety stock and days of supply by segment.
Lead parts allocation and prioritization during constrained supply and lead-time variability, coordinating with Demand, Service, and Sales teams to triage customer-impacting shortages and maximize uptime.
Monitor supplier lead times, expedite requests and inbound shipments; work closely with procurement and suppliers to reduce lead time variability, improve on-time delivery and implement corrective actions for chronic delays.
Maintain and optimize master data for service parts in the ERP (part attributes, stocking locations, lead times, vendor data, safety stock rules), ensuring data integrity to drive reliable MRP outputs.
Run and tune periodic MRP/MPS planning runs in SAP ECC / S/4HANA, Oracle or Kinaxis to generate supply recommendations, purchase requisitions, and transfer orders in alignment with forecasted demand.
Execute end-of-life and obsolescence management programs for spare parts, coordinating with Engineering, Product Management and Service to reduce slow-moving inventory and implement last-time buy or repair alternatives.
Analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) including service level, fill rate, inventory turns, days of supply, stockouts and order cycle time; prepare monthly performance reviews and recommend improvement plans.
Implement continuous improvement initiatives (Lean, 8D, root cause analysis) to reduce stockouts, expedite costs and emergency shipments while improving planning accuracy and supplier performance.
Facilitate and participate in S&OP or Integrated Business Planning sessions focused on aftermarket/service parts demand and supply balancing; present constraints and options to supply chain leadership and stakeholders.
Manage spare parts transfers between locations, returns, warranty flows and aftermarket repair loops, ensuring accurate tracking, costing and minimal service disruption.
Negotiate priority, lead-time reduction and supply agreements with suppliers for critical spare parts and service kits to protect field operations and service contracts.
Support parts pricing and cost-to-serve analysis by collaborating with Commercial and Finance to assess inventory carrying costs, obsolescence reserve needs and optimal stocking strategies.
Partner with Field Service, Service Delivery Managers and Regional Distribution teams to capture market intelligence, hot-skew alerts and evolving service requirements that affect parts demand and stocking policies.
Drive system and process automation initiatives (alerts for min/max breaches, automated replenishment triggers, dashboards) using advanced Excel, SQL, Power BI or Tableau to reduce manual intervention and increase planner productivity.
Manage cross-border customs, import/export lead time variances and documentation with Logistics to avoid delays impacting critical part availability in global service regions.
Lead root-cause investigations for recurring failures in parts supply (chronic backorders, supplier quality issues, ERP master data mismatches) and implement long-term corrective actions with measurable results.
Support emergency response and business continuity planning for aftermarket supply during product recalls, major service events or supplier disruptions; coordinate fast-track sourcing and logistics.
Train and mentor junior planners and parts administrators on best practices for service parts planning, ERP transactions, and metrics-driven decision making to scale planning capability.
Prepare clear decision packages and supply recommendations for senior management when capital investment in stocking locations, third-party logistics, or spare parts kits is required.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc reporting and deep-dive analyses on parts performance, hot items and regional shortages to enable rapid operational decisions.
Contribute to the aftermarket data strategy by defining required data fields, analytics use-cases and improvements to ERP/MRP outputs for service parts planning.
Collaborate with product engineering to incorporate serviceability and repairability inputs into parts classification and spares kit design.
Participate in cross-functional projects to improve parts availability (warehouse redesign, vendor-managed inventory, consignment programs) and implement technology pilots (IoT-enabled inventory tracking).
Assist Commercial and Warranty teams in investigations related to parts failure rates and costs to refine demand inputs and warranty part provisions.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced experience with ERP and planning systems: SAP ECC / S/4HANA (MRP/PP/WM), SAP APO, Oracle SCM, Kinaxis RapidResponse or equivalent.
Proficiency in statistical demand forecasting, time-series analysis and forecast error metrics (MAPE, MAD, RMSE); experience with demand planning tools.
Strong Excel modeling skills (pivot tables, advanced formulas, Power Query, VBA macros) and experience building dashboards in Power BI or Tableau.
Experience with inventory optimization tools and methodologies (min/max, safety stock optimization, multi-echelon inventory optimization).
Working knowledge of MRP parameters, lot-sizing techniques, lead-time management and replenishment strategies for spare parts.
SQL skills for data extraction and transformation; familiarity with Python or R for analytics is a plus.
SKU segmentation and lifecycle management experience specifically for aftermarket/service parts (critical spares, slow movers, repairables).
Understanding of logistics, customs, incoterms and cross-border considerations affecting parts lead times and availability.
Familiarity with S&OP/IBP processes and ability to present supply constraints, scenarios and recommendations to stakeholders.
Certifications such as APICS CPIM/CSCP, CPSM, Lean Six Sigma (Yellow/Green Belt) are highly desirable.

Soft Skills

Exceptional stakeholder management and cross-functional communication skills; able to influence service, procurement and engineering teams without direct authority.
Strong analytical and problem-solving mindset with attention to detail and ability to translate data into actionable supply strategies.
Prioritization and time management in a fast-paced, reactive service environment with competing urgent requests.
Customer-focused orientation with a drive to improve field technician experience through better parts availability and serviceability.
Change agent mentality: comfortable leading continuous improvement initiatives and process standardization across regions.
Negotiation skills to secure supplier commitments, expedite terms and manage critical part allocations.
Resilience and adaptability in handling supply disruptions and shifting business priorities.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree (MBA, MS in Supply Chain/Operations) or advanced certifications (APICS CPIM/CSCP, CPSM, Lean Six Sigma).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Supply Chain Management
Logistics and Transportation
Industrial or Mechanical Engineering
Business Administration / Operations Research

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3 - 7 years in supply chain, inventory or spare parts planning roles, including hands-on service parts or aftermarket experience.

Preferred:

5+ years of direct service parts planning experience supporting field service, warranty or aftermarket operations with multi-echelon distribution.
Demonstrated track record of improving parts availability, reducing obsolete inventory and implementing planning system improvements.