Material Specialist Job Description
A material specialist performs many duties, such as conferring with professionals in order to determine their specific material requirements.
They analyze conditions and assess situations so that proper materials can be acquired.
Typically, a high school diploma or a GED is sufficient to work as a material specialist. Of course, previous experience does count for a lot.
Working as a material specialist means that you have to be on the go constantly. Coordinating with each department head in order to determine their requirements is not easy work.
This is why it is imperative for material specialists to be able to multitask. Also, a material specialist must create and maintain relationships with vendors so that materials can be bought and delivered in a timely manner.
Essentially, a material specialist must ensure that requirements are met in an efficient manner.
Sampling raw materials lest low-quality materials are provided is another duty that you will have to perform.
Related: Material Specialist Interview
Here is a list of duties that you can follow:
Material Specialist Duties and Responsibilities
• Confer with department heads in order to determine their material requirements.
• Provide information regarding available materials.
• Check work areas to determine the type of materials required.
• Create work order sheets to acquire material requirements information.
• Check inventory to find out stock levels.
• Create and maintain liaison with vendors in order to determine material availability.
• Analyze production conditions and decipher how materials can be best used.
• Assess raw materials such as clay, alumina, and quartz to determine their resistance.
• Monitor production processes to observe material requirements.
• Check acquired materials to determine the quality of items.
• Isolate non-conforming materials.
• Facilitate material transfer to construction or production work areas.
• Supervise unloading in order to ensure safety.
• Assist in planning production activities in accordance with material delivery.
• Document the movement of raw materials and create reports.
• Ensure that materials are properly stored.
• Call materials according to specific requirements.
• Check inventory levels, and handle low stock situations according to protocol.
• Contact suppliers and vendors in order to provide information on low quality or damaged materials.
• Provide costs of projected material requirements.
• Assess materials and discuss their suitability for different projects.
• Ensure that material change metrics are handled according to protocol.
• Train new workers in order to acquaint them with different materials.
• Visit both internal and external suppliers to keep them updated about requirements.
• Oversee raw material movement from warehouses to work areas.