Manufacturing Planner

Manufacturing Planner at Confidential Manufacturing Planner at Confidential in York, South Carolina Posted in 5 days ago.

Type:

full-time

Job Description:

Position Summary:

The Manufacturing Planner is responsible for developing, coordinating, and optimizing production schedules across 11+ manufacturing lines/cells to meet customer demand, inventory targets, and operational efficiency goals. This role balances capacity, materials, labor, and sequencing constraints while minimizing downtime, changeovers, and delays.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Primary duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to the following: Production Scheduling & Planning Create and maintain detailed production schedules for all lines/cells based on demand forecasts, customer orders, and inventory targets. Sequence production to optimize throughput, minimize changeovers, and reduce waste. Adjust schedules in real time to respond to equipment issues, material shortages, or priority changes. Ensure alignment between the master production schedule and daily/weekly shop floor plans. Capacity & Resource Management Analyze capacity constraints across all lines and balance workloads accordingly. Coordinate labor, equipment, and tooling availability to support schedules. Identify bottlenecks and propose solutions (e.g., load leveling, alternate routing). Materials Coordination Collaborate with procurement and inventory teams to ensure raw materials and components are available. Monitor material shortages and proactively adjust schedules or escalate risks. Support inventory optimization (reduce excess, prevent stockouts). Cross-Functional Collaboration Work closely with production supervisors, maintenance, quality, shipping, and supply chain teams. Communicate schedule changes, priorities, and risks clearly to stakeholders. Participate in daily/weekly production meetings and S&OP processes. Performance Monitoring & Reporting Track key KPIs such as schedule adherence, on-time delivery, line utilization, productivity, and downtime. Analyze variances between planned vs. actual production and implement corrective actions. Generate reports and dashboards for leadership. Continuous Improvement Identify opportunities to improve scheduling efficiency and production flow. Support lean manufacturing initiatives (e.g., SMED, Kanban, takt time alignment). Improve planning parameters (lot sizes, lead times, safety stock levels).

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience). 3-5+ years of production planning/scheduling experience in a manufacturing environment. Experience scheduling multiple production lines or complex workflows (preferably 8+ lines). Excellent verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills. Able to interact effectively at all levels. PC proficient using ERP/MRP systems (e.g., QAD, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics) and MS products, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Professional attitude and presence. Ethical, reliable, a strong attention to detail, superior organizational and time management skills, self-motivated and a team player. Prioritization skills and flexibility sufficient to complete projects with limited direct supervision. Customer oriented. Process focused and able to prevent problems and strive for continuous improvement.

Preferred Qualifications:

Familiarity with Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) tools. Knowledge of lean manufacturing and continuous improvement methodologies