Production Planner

Position Summary
: Responsible for supporting manufacturing operations by ensuring production schedules are met efficiently and safely, in alignment with company policies and directives from the Operations Manager. This role is responsible for planning and coordinating manufacturing workflows, processing and tracking orders, and working closely with customer service, production supervisors, and procurement teams. The Planner I plays a critical role in maintaining schedule adherence, resolving order issues, and optimizing resources to meet customer requirements on time.

Essential Functions:

• Planning & Scheduling

• Develops and maintains production schedules based on customer orders, forecasts, and material availability.

• Ensure schedules align with site capacity, labor availability, and established lead times to meet delivery targets.

• Adjust schedules as needed due to shifting priorities, shortages, customer requests, or production delays.

• Work Order Management

• Utilize ERP tools to plan, release, and manage work orders.

• Track all open work orders and provide timely updates to Customer Service, Sales/PM teams, and leadership as needed.

• Process work order changes, cancelations, and modifications as needed.

• Cross-Functional Coordination

• Collaborate with inventory teams to ensure timely material availability.

• Communicate regularly with customer service, sales, and production teams to manage priorities, order status, and special requests.

• Respond to production floor issues and adjust schedules as needed.

• Work with supervisors and managers on immediate and long-term solutions to any issues.

• Data Analysis & Reporting

• Help maintain performance metrics and reports for schedule adherence, production output, and on-time delivery.

• Analyze capacity, material usage, and historical performance data to inform planning decisions and improve scheduling accuracy.

• Prepares production reports as needed.

Marginal Functions:

• Communicates and enforces company work rules and policies.
• Answer Emails, calls and any other form of communication.
• Follows and enforces all Quality and Safety procedures.
• Support additional tasks or projects as needed

Education/Knowledge/Skill Requirements:

• High school diploma or general education degree (GED) preferred
• Mechanical aptitude, computer literate (preferably using Excel, Microsoft Office)
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Good problem solving and organizational skills