Product Planning Specialist - SUMITOMO RUBBER NORTH AMERICA INC
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730
About the Job
POSITION SUMMARY
Coordinate and assist in the development of new product requests, providing data and research project analysis support to Product Managers.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS
- Data Collection and analysis to assist in development of new products
- Develop database of competitor products
- Coordinate the collection and categorization of product testing data
- Create and input New item codes, and maintenance of internal system
- Product label creation and coordination of label production
- Special Projects
- Reporting
PRINCIPAL TASKS
- Data collection and analysis – Collect, Study, review and analyze information to assist in the development of new product requests. technology and performance targets to ensure the creation of successful products. Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. Maintaining development files and keeping them organized is important to ensure product concepts are not lost from person to person over time.
- Customer Set up- New item creation, and maintenance, including product specification and customer specific item setup.
- Internal set up - efforts to prepare for the sale of new product is critical, as delays may cause missed sales opportunities. Customer set up sheets are critical to this process in order to successfully accept orders for new product offerings. Details tasks include but not limited to:
- Item setup of item code, barcode, UPC and customer specific item setup as well as product label creation and maintenance.
- Item master maintenance in Oracle, working closely with IT to continuously improve the process of information flow.
- Collection, distribution, and upkeep of product specifications in Oracle. Collaborate and communicate new item setup across departments within the organization.
- Obtain competitor products for benchmarking features, designs and performance comparisons – Locate and purchase competitor products in market. Coordinate identification markings and ransfer of competitor products to test facilities
- Assist in the creation of SRNA promotional activity and execution of product launch efforts via content delivery and close coordination with marketing, promotion, and sales teams.
- Coordinate Dimensional and Technical Content Proofing (Print, Web, etc.)
- Coordinate Communication Content Proofing (Print, Web, etc.)
- Generate Sales Support Materials
- Manage competitor benchmarking projects and maintain competitor benchmarking data to support new product concepts.
- Monitor competitor solutions, market messaging/positioning, and their perceived differentiation. Special attention given to competitive product warranty.
- Create consumable content with respect to the competition for use – keep content updated for advertising and promotion teams as well as new product concepts.
- Update competitive life cycle file, by removing or adding competitor patterns in line as new products are launched or discontinued in the marketplace.
- Participate in market research efforts and customer visits with field sales.
- Create surveys and coordinate internal and external market research as needed. Work with 3rd party market research when needed.
- Visit customers with sales team to have a deep understanding of products, distribution, and retail sales as well as build relationships with customers and field engineering in the case of commercial sector.
- Reporting of market, sales, and performance and PDCA reporting.
- Analyze what contributed to successful launch. Review short comings if any and perform root cause analysis. Report Plan/Do/Check/Act documentation to parent company SRI periodically.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
WORK EXPERIENCE: At least five (3) years of industry experience preferably in the tire/automotive
industry, specifically in product planning. Technical background and/or engineering and development experience preferred.
ACADEMIC/TRAINING: A Bachelors degree in Engineering is preferred. Bachelors degree in
Business and/or Marketing or a related field with a strong technical background considered. MBA is a plus.
SKILLS: Must be proficient in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook). MS Project or other
project management software is a plus. Must be detail oriented, extremely organized and selfmotivated; Must have strong analytical and statistical skills and be able to provide and interpret accurate, useable, and efficient data. Must possess excellent communication and presentation skills to
collaborate professionally and effectively with all levels of internal personnel as well as external customers.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: Must be able to stand, sit, move, and use fingers for extended periods of time.
May require walking primarily on a level surface, reaching above shoulder heights and below the
waist, as well as lifting up to 25 pounds.
WORK ENVIRONMENT: Domestic travel required up to 10% of working time, to corporate technical
centers, production facilities, proving grounds as key customers. Candidate is expected to report to the
office environment the majority of the time to effectively collaborate with the product planning team
and all levels of the organization. Candidate must be flexible to irregular working hours in the case of
telephone and/or video conferences across time zones, especially Japan.
The Physical Demands and Work Environment described herein represent the environment and physical demands that must
be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be
made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job. Duties, responsibilities and
activities may change, or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.
This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.