Manufacturing Systems & Cost Analyst

Manufacturing Systems & Cost Analyst

Location:

Murfreesboro, TN

Department:
Operations / Finance

Reports To:

Director of Cost Accounting

Position Summary

Lewis Bakeries is seeking a highly analytical and operationally driven Manufacturing Systems & Cost Analyst to support bakery operations through accurate inventory management, ERP process execution, operational financial analysis, and multi-site manufacturing systems support. This role serves as a key connection point between production, inventory, finance, scheduling, and manufacturing systems within the bakery.

The Manufacturing Systems & Cost Analyst will take ownership of daily work order and inventory reconciliation, operational variance analysis, support budgeting and forecasting processes, and serve as the bakery's primary systems resource across PRIMS, Sage, Redzone, and related manufacturing platforms.

This is not a traditional back-office accounting role. The successful candidate will work closely with production, warehouse, and leadership teams on the plant floor to ensure operational accuracy, process compliance, and system integrity while helping establish scalable standards across the organization as Lewis Bakeries continues to grow and evolve its ERP environment.

During the first 12-18 months, this role will play a significant leadership role in Lewis Bakeries' ERP implementation and operational process rollout initiatives. The position will require regular travel to bakery locations to support go-live activities, system adoption, training, troubleshooting, and operational standardization efforts.

This role is expected to be a lead operational systems and manufacturing analytics resource supporting multiple bakery locations from a more centralized capacity.

Key Responsibilities

Manufacturing Systems & Inventory Management

* Own daily reconciliation of work orders against actual production activity to ensure inventory accuracy across finished goods, ingredients, packaging, and waste reporting.

* Review, investigate, and close work orders once all transactions and variances have been validated and corrected.

* Identify inventory discrepancies and partner directly with operations, warehouse, and production teams to resolve root causes.

* Execute correcting inventory and work order transactions within manufacturing systems as needed.

* Lead weekly and monthly cycle count processes, including variance analysis, adjustment posting, and compliance tracking.

* Monitor transaction flow integrity across PRIMS, Sage, Redzone, PC Data, and related operational systems.

* Serve as the bakery's lead operational systems resource for manufacturing transaction troubleshooting and issue resolution.

Financial & Operational Analysis

* Support bakery financial processes including spend management, operational reporting, forecasting, budgeting support, and project savings analysis.

* Analyze manufacturing variances and operational trends to identify opportunities for process improvement, inventory accuracy, and cost control.

* Assist leadership with operational KPI reporting and inventory performance analysis.

* Support standard cost maintenance and operational standard change processes.

ERP Implementation & Multi-Site Operational Support

* Serve as a lead operational resource during ERP implementation and stabilization activities across multiple bakery locations, including process development, system testing, user training, and compliance monitoring.

* Travel regularly to bakery facilities during ERP go-live phases to support implementation execution, user adoption, troubleshooting, and compliance monitoring.

* Help design scalable work order, inventory, scheduling, and transaction processes that support operational consistency across all bakery locations.

* Train bakery teams on ERP workflows, inventory controls, transaction standards, and operational process expectations.

* Develop SOPs, work instructions, training documentation, and process checklists to support long-term operational consistency.

* Partner with operations, finance, scheduling, and IT teams to identify process gaps and implement sustainable solutions.

* Promote accountability and process discipline throughout bakery operations.

Operational Support

* Support new product launches by validating work order structures and inventory setup accuracy prior to production startup.

* Cross-train on production scheduling processes to provide operational backup support as needed.

* Partner with plant leadership to ensure operational controls and reporting expectations are consistently executed.

* Support SOX documentation, compliance activities, and audit preparation as the organization continues to expand its control environment.