Legendary Companies, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the holding company comprised of leading manufacturers of collector car and motorcycle wheels and tires, which includes Coker Tire, Wheel Vintiques, Universal Vintage Tire, Phoenix Race Tires, Specialty Wheel, MOR, Vintage Wheel Works, PS Engineering and Roadster Wire Wheel. Legendary Companies is backed by private equity firm Irving Place Capital (“IPC”).

Legendary Companies’ corporate office is located in Chattanooga, TN.   The company has approximately 110 total employees and operates out of five (5) facilities located in: 

• Chattanooga, TN (2 facilities); City of Industry, CA; Hershey, PA; and Holzkirchen, Germany (near Munich).

Wade Kawasaki is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Legendary Companies and joined the company in 2010.  He has over 30 years of experience in automotive aftermarket businesses.  Additionally, Mr. Kawasaki previously served as Chairman of Specialty Equipment Market Association (“SEMA”).  SEMA is the leading trade association within the industry, consisting of a diverse group of manufacturers, distributors, retailers, publishing companies, auto restorers, street-rod builders, re-stylers, car clubs, race teams and more.  Each year, SEMA hosts an enormous trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is where manufacturers unveil their latest offerings, while buyers, distributors and members of the press come to see it all.

Irving Place Capital (“IPC”) partnered with Wade Kawasaki and the management team to acquire the business in November of 2018, as a continuation of the firm’s focus on specialty manufacturing and distribution companies.  IPC’s investment thesis: “An opportunity to acquire a family-owned, highly-defensible, market leading provider of tires and wheels for classic cars. Legendary Companies represents a platform to pursue a build-up strategy in the vehicle aftermarket industry that leverages the company’s established business processes, including its direct-to-consumer competencies”.

Other IPC platform investments include: Alpha Packaging, Dynojet Research, and Mold-Rite Plastics.  Since its formation in 1997, IPC has been an investor in more than 60 companies and has raised over $4.0 billion of equity capital.  Learn more at www.irvingplacecapital.com

The Supply Chain Manager for Legendary Companies is responsible for managing the company’s supply chain networks and logistics strategy.

The candidate will play a crucial role in developing and maintaining good relationships with strategic supply partners and vendors, along with helping drive alignment and synchronicity within our Sales, Supply Chain, Manufacturing and Customer Service functions to continually deliver solid financial results and meet/exceed customer service levels. 

An important aspect of this position will be instituting a more formal and structured approach to our sales, inventory & operations planning (“SI&OP”) process, which includes but is not limited to, managing regular & timely communication across the organization and facilitating SI&OP meetings at pre-set frequency and regularity.

Other Responsibilities/Accountabilities:

   Supplier Management / Development:

• Oversee the buying and materials planning functions for Legendary Companies.
• Work collaboratively with internal team members on sourcing strategy, market analysis, make vs. buy opportunities, and supplier roadmaps to support cost, quality, and delivery targets.
• Build strategic relationships with domestic suppliers, off-shore suppliers, transportation companies, and logistics service providers.
• Mitigate risk and ensure continuity of supply.
• Oversee the development of Legendary Companies’ supplier negotiation and engagement strategies procedures.
• Negotiate contracts including pricing, technical requirements, service expectations, and commercial terms involving responsibility, liability, indemnification, and intellectual property.
• Ensure purchase orders are issued in a timely manner to meet demand while managing the on-hand quantity to the defined safety stock levels.
• Monitor and manage costs to ensure adherence to budgets, forecasts and profitability goals.
• Ensure compliance with all company policies and procedures and government regulations.
• Build and maintain an active register of cost savings projects and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Analyze procurement spend data, supplier performance trends and report metrics to senior management.

 Supply Chain and Production Planning:

• Collaborate with Sales to establish effective methods of demand forecasting.
• Facilitate SI&OP meetings, documenting action items and establishing processes to ensure timely execution (and accountability) of our follow-up items.
• Establish and implement planning processes needed to bridge any gaps between forecasting and scheduling.
• Review inventory levels and ensure periodic inventory optimization based on business forecast and goals (including reducing any slow moving & obsolete inventory).
• Oversee Legendary Companies cycle counting program to ensure accurate inventory levels are maintained.
• Develop key performance indicators (KPIs) and business dashboards with On-Time-In-Full (OTIF) delivery performance as a primary metric.
• Monitor KPIs and dashboards to provide comprehensive portfolio reports, analytics and visibility around product supply status to all key stakeholders.
• Drive education and training of our SI&OP process.  

Key skills and competencies of the position include, but are not limited to:

• Strategic thinker with the ability to develop and execute business objectives across multiple functions to help drive efficiencies, cost savings and improved profitability.
• Strong foundation leading team-oriented planning processes; and experienced in demand forecasting, sales analysis, inventory management, master and finite scheduling, and strategic planning.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, work collaboratively and positively influence at all levels including executives, functional managers, front line supervisors, and technical experts. 
• Capability to influence and achieve alignment with supply chain, sales, and manufacturing peers is essential.
• Ability to manage multiple initiatives and work in a matrix reporting environment where priorities change rapidly and tight deadlines exist.
• Superior project management leadership experience (i.e., ensuring execution/completion of projects, key milestones, identification of opportunities and risks, and monitoring financial/non-financial metrics).
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills -- ability to synthesize, analyze and present data, including solid skills in recognizing and evaluating areas for change.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, the ideal candidate will possess the ability to present his/her ideas in a clear, concise and compelling fashion to functional leaders, executive management and board members.
• Oversee the daily activities of the Legendary Companies Purchasing department. Focus on associate development through defined development plans for each associate and individual mentorship.
• Demonstrated ability to manage data systems for business analysis and reporting.
• Experienced leader of others capable of defining organization roles and development of subordinates.

• The Supply Chain Manager position will be based in Chattanooga, TN, reporting directly to the VP of Operations at Legendary Companies.

·    There will be periodic business travel associated with this position, which includes but is not limited to: intra-company travel; supplier visits; and vendor or trade show attendance, etc.

Ed Adams, Human Resources

Email: ed.adams@coker.com