Milwaukee Tool's service experience is a customer expectation and a competitive advantage. Service parts ("spare parts") are critical to that experience and to maintaining that advantage. The Service Parts Program Manager coordinates across the supply chain and service centers to ensures the right parts are available in the right quantities in the right locations at the right time. This coordination maintains parts availability throughout a product's lifecycle, minimizes costs associated with repairing tools, and ensures parts availability for customers who repair on their own.

This is a crucial role that gets parts to Service hubs, branches, and authorized service centers, and also supports service readiness in global regions. It combines strong skills in parts planning and coordination with operations teams. Requiring technical aptitude and cross-functional organizational abilities, this role works constantly with supply and demand, product engineering, marketing, international manufacturing, finance, and quality, as well as Service functions like technical support, technical literature, and service center engineering.

This job description lists major areas of responsibility. Additional job activities may be added at any time.

Duties and Responsibilities

Collaborate with Supply & Demand to meet service part availability and delivery demands in service centers and in the marketplace. Ensure the right parts are in the right place in the right quantities at the right time.

New Product Development / Launch Activities:

• Execute service part strategies and tactics through VIGOR, Milwaukee Tool's new product development process.
  • Working with technical resources, identify service parts and kits required for new products.
  • Ensure that all Service Parts Lists are created accurately, thoroughly, and on-time, and that they remain current and accurate throughout the product lifecycle.
  • Prepare 1st year estimated usage and initial buy quantities.
  • Set pricing in alignment with the competitive landscape, customer expectations, and Marketing's strategy.
  • Coordinate with Supply & Demand to ensure service parts are ordered on-time. Leverage project teams and manufacturing locations to close gaps in delivery timelines.

Engineering Change Notice/Design Change:

• Support engineering decisions to transition service parts throughout lifecycle engineering changes (ECNs).
  • Assist engineers in developing the ECN plan.
  • Understand the design change and how it will affect the product lifecycle. Drive the transition to ensure the right parts are at the right place at the right time.
  • When necessary, coordinate scrap and drive new parts into the market.
  • Develop strategies to foster better flow of project deliverables to stakeholders.
    • Actively provide input and deliverables to during project reviews.
  • Support quality issues that affect service parts and provide solutions when spare parts become unavailable.
    • Provide timelines of product readiness to stakeholders and be the liaison between supporting teams.
    • Analyze quality data to understand demand trends and provide analysis to Supply Team.
    • Coordinate scrap of unusable product and align on quarantined inventory strategy. Ensure compromised parts do not cross pollinate with good parts during transitions.

Inventory and Material Management:

• Support inventory management in the Service hubs and branches.
  • Assist inventory managers with analysis and improvement projects.
  • With Finance, help site leadership make sound decisions around inventory management, practices, and procedures.
  • Drive continuous improvement around products that cannot be repaired due to parts unavailability, excessive cost, service un-readiness, etc.
• Own excess and obsolete strategies and tactics for service parts.
  • Manage the duration of service parts availability after products have been discontinued.
  • Work with Purchasing to disposition service parts after availability has ended.
  • Develop strategies to balance last time buys, inventory holdings, and tool replacements.
  • Work with Supply & Demand, Finance, and Marketing accurately model service parts excess and obsolete position, including Service's unique requirements.
    • Actively participate in monthly meetings identifying and dispositioning excess and obsolete SKUs.
  • Drive the scrapping budget and strategy, lead the financial analysis and approvals, and ensure execution.
  • Coordinate with Supply & Demand and Marketing for regular senior leadership updates and reporting.
• Understand and report on the overall company service parts position, including volumes and financials. With Finance and Supply and Demand, set targets and drive to achieve them.
• Act as key point of contact for internal teams regarding service part availability or pricing.
• Review current logistics process looking for alternative methods to receive, store, ship and sell service parts to ensure the best End User Experience and maximize profits.
• Perform required analytics and prepare required reports supporting all activities above.