Production Planner

Position Summary

The Corporate Production Planner is responsible for developing and maintaining master production schedules across multiple plants and product lines to ensure on-time delivery, optimal resource utilization, and alignment with customer demand. This role serves as a key link between demand planning, manufacturing operations, procurement, and supply chain leadership, driving planning excellence at the enterprise level.

Key Responsibilities

Production Scheduling & Planning

• Develop, maintain, and optimize master production schedules across multiple sites.
• Align production capacity with customer demand, inventory targets, and revenue goals.
• Ensure production priorities are clearly communicated to plant-level planners and operations.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with demand planning, materials management, and procurement to balance supply and demand.
• Work with manufacturing and engineering to resolve capacity constraints, bottlenecks, or quality issues.
• Support SIOP (Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning) by providing inputs on production feasibility.

System & Process Management

• Manage planning parameters (lead times, lot sizes, safety stock) within ERP/MRP systems.
• Drive planning process standardization across sites to ensure consistency and scalability.
• Monitor adherence to the frozen planning window and escalation procedures.

Performance Monitoring & Reporting

• Track and report on key KPIs such as schedule adherence, launch adherence, on-time delivery, capacity utilization, and inventory turns.
• Proactively identify risks to meeting customer requirements and develop mitigation plans.
• Provide visibility to leadership on production readiness and constraints.

Key Competencies

• Strategic thinking with attention to execution details.
• Data-driven decision-making and ability to interpret complex planning data.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, cross-functional, multi-site environment.
• Continuous improvement mindset with focus on planning excellence.

Requirements

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Business, or related field required.
• 5+ years of production planning, master scheduling, or supply chain experience in a multi-site manufacturing environment.
• Experience supporting SIOP / S&OP processes at a corporate or enterprise level preferred.
• Experience in a high-mix, configurable, or engineered-to-order manufacturing environment strongly preferred.

Technical Skills

• Strong working knowledge of ERP/MRP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, JD Edwards, Epicor, or similar).
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel; experience with planning analytics or BI tools (Power BI, Tableau, etc.) preferred.
• Solid understanding of capacity planning, inventory management principles, and supply/demand balancing.
• Familiarity with lean manufacturing and continuous improvement methodologies.

Certifications (Preferred)

• APICS/ASCM CPIM, CSCP, or related supply chain certification preferred.

Other Requirements

• Ability to travel occasionally to plant locations (as needed).
• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence stakeholders across multiple functions and levels of leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities and drive results in a dynamic environment.