Production Planner

Summary

Job Summary: As the owner of the production schedule, the Production Planner is responsible for the overall planning and execution of manufacturing operations for a dedicated account. This role is at the centre of the production process, requiring significant interaction and collaboration with various departments, including Purchasing, Demand Planning, Engineering, Manufacturing, and Quality. The primary goal is to optimise the production process to meet customer service goals, control inventory, and ensure the efficient use of all resources.

Key Responsibilities:

• Production Planning & Scheduling: Develop and manage the production schedule, converting the master schedule and material requirements into a detailed shop floor plan. Prioritise planned orders by understanding and incorporating customer order priority. Determine scheduling techniques based on order urgency. Consider different order due dates (e.g., ship date vs. dock date) to sequence builds effectively. Continuously evaluate and adjust the plan based on changes in material availability, customer needs, and production capacity.
• Shop Order Management: Create and release shop orders. Analyse MRP recommendations on shop orders by checking for capacity constraints and material shortages. Schedule the production line based on MRP recommendations and constraints. Manage and perform required actions on shop orders based on maintenance requests or schedule changes, including rescheduling, updating quantities or dates, and cancelling orders. Close completed shop orders in a timely manner. Implement a process to review and track aged shop orders. 
• Material & Capacity Management: Perform Clear to Build (CTB) analysis to verify material availability and prevent production disruptions due to shortages. Ensure that no production plan is released to Manufacturing without a verified material certainty. Analyse and evaluate production capacity daily, considering factors like bottlenecks, run rates, productivity, and equipment utilisation. Identify and manage bottlenecks, understanding their critical impact on overall system throughput.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Communication: Serve as the central communication point for the production plan, sharing it clearly with all members of the cross-functional team. Release the production plan within an agreed-upon time window to ensure all functions will have enough lead time for preparation. Collaborate with the team during the production plan release to ensure all necessary resources are available. Participate in New Product Introduction (NPI) build readiness processes. Publish and archive production plans, including notifications of every change.
• Process Improvement & Knowledge: Maintain and update the production plan regularly. Promptly revise and publish the plan for exceptions such as raw material delivery de-commits, inventory discrepancies, or customer priority changes. Develop a deep understanding of the manufacturing system and its specific scheduling requirements. Spend time on the shop floor to gain first-hand knowledge of the production process, routings, workflows, and lead times to improve planning accuracy.

Metrics & Goals:

• On-Time Delivery (OTD): Meet or exceed targeted customer service goals.
• Work-In-Process (WIP) Inventory: Optimise WIP levels and manufacturing lead times.
• Resource Utilisation: Ensure the best utilisation of machines, labour, and other manufacturing resources.
• Delivery to Schedule (DTS): Track and report on delivery performance against the planned schedule.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• An Engineering degree is desirable, and certifications, such as the Certified in Planning and Inventory Management (CPIM), are a plus.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing systems and scheduling techniques.
• Excellent analytical skills for capacity evaluation and bottleneck analysis.
• Exceptional communication and collaboration abilities.
• Proficiency in production planning software, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and manufacturing execution systems (MES).
• Detail-oriented with a strong ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Physical Demands

• Duties of this position are performed in a normal office environment.
• Duties may require extended periods of sitting and sustained visual concentration on a computer monitor or on numbers and other detailed data.
• Repetitive manual movements (e.g., data entry, using a computer mouse, using a calculator, etc.) are frequently required.

Typical Experience

•  Five years of experience in a Production Planner or similar role.

Typical Education

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering degree is desirable, and certifications, such as the Certified in Planning and Inventory Management (CPIM), are a plus;
• Educational requirements may vary by geography.

Notes

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities of the position. Employees are held accountable for all duties of the job. Job duties and the % of time identified for any function are subject to change at any time.