Production Planner Manager

Position Title: Production Planner Manager (Confidential Client)
Location: Boonton, NJ | On-site
Employment Type: Permanent

Compensation

• Salary: $81,000–$90,000

Company Overview (Confidential)

Our Client is a manufacturer operating in a fast-paced manufacturing environment, with production planning coordinated across multiple locations and manufacturing operations, including a plate production plant.

Position Summary

The Planning Manager is responsible for overseeing production planning, scheduling, materials planning, inventory control, and the availability of materials required to support manufacturing operations and customer requirements.

The position is responsible for developing and maintaining production plans that align customer demand with manufacturing capacity, material availability, inventory objectives, and operational priorities. The Planning Manager ensures effective coordination between Production, Customer Service, Inventory, and other relevant functions to achieve production and customer commitments.

The position also provides leadership and direction to planning and inventory-related activities and drives continuous improvement in planning, scheduling, inventory accuracy, and materials management processes.

The Planning Manager operates in a fast-paced manufacturing environment where customer requirements, production capacity, material availability, inventory levels, and changing priorities must be continuously balanced. Key challenges include:

• Developing accurate production plans that meet customer requirements and manufacturing priorities.
• Balancing inventory levels with customer demand and production requirements.
• Ensuring required raw materials and components are available when needed.
• Managing competing production priorities and changing customer requirements.
• Optimizing work-in-process and finished goods inventory.
• Maintaining accurate planning data, bills of materials, routings, and manufacturing orders.
• Coordinating production planning across multiple locations and manufacturing operations.
• Identifying opportunities to improve planning accuracy, inventory levels, production efficiency, and overall supply chain performance.

The position is responsible for:

• Production planning and scheduling.
• Materials requirements planning.
• Raw material, work-in-process, and finished goods inventory planning and control.
• Forecasting material and production requirements.
• Manufacturing order planning and coordination.
• Production planning requirements for the plate production plant.
• Forecasting other sites' plate requirements from the plate production plant.
• Inventory accuracy and cycle count coordination.
• ERP/MRP planning data and system accuracy.
• Cross-functional coordination with Production, Customer Service, Inventory, and other departments.
• Reporting and analysis of planning, inventory, and production performance.

Primary Functions

• Develop, maintain, and execute production plans and schedules to meet customer requirements and manufacturing objectives.
• Monitor and maintain appropriate levels of raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods inventory in accordance with established guidelines and targets.
• Forecast production and material requirements based on customer demand, forecasts, historical requirements, inventory levels, and production capacity.
• Coordinate material requirements to ensure materials are available to support production schedules.
• Identify and coordinate initiatives to reduce excess inventory, work-in-process, and finished goods while maintaining customer service levels.
• Analyze inventory discrepancies and coordinate corrective actions to improve inventory accuracy.
• Coordinate and analyze cycle counts and physical inventory counts.
• Develop and implement improvements to production planning, scheduling, inventory control, and materials planning processes.
• Maintain accurate planning parameters and information within the ERP/MRP system.
• Issue and maintain Manufacturing Orders in accordance with production requirements.
• Maintain accurate Bills of Materials and routings for finished goods.
• Liaise with Customer Service and Production regarding customer requirements, production priorities, delivery commitments, and changes to schedules.
• Lead production planning and scheduling meetings.
• Monitor production schedules and identify potential delays, capacity constraints, material shortages, and other risks that may impact customer delivery.
• Develop and maintain planning reports and key performance indicators related to production, inventory, and material requirements.
• Maintain quarterly Hyperion reporting related to planning and inventory requirements.
• Maintain production planning for the plate production plant.
• Forecast other sites' plate requirements from the plate production plant.
• Analyze production and inventory data to identify trends, risks, opportunities, and areas for improvement.
• Support cross-functional initiatives related to capacity planning, inventory optimization, production efficiency, and customer service.
• Provide leadership, support, coaching, and direction to employees involved in planning and inventory-related activities, as applicable.
• Promote continuous improvement in production planning, scheduling, inventory management, and materials planning.
• Ensure planning processes comply with applicable company policies, procedures, ISO requirements, and established controls.
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Must-Haves

• 5+ years of experience in production planning, materials planning, inventory control, or supply chain management in a manufacturing environment.
• Strong knowledge of production planning, scheduling, materials requirements planning, and inventory management.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes and production capacity planning.
• Experience with ERP/MRP systems.
• Strong Microsoft Excel, Word, email, and reporting skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to interpret production, inventory, demand, and operational data.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and conflicting deadlines.
• Strong sense of urgency and customer-service orientation.
• Strong interpersonal, communication, organizational, and time-management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and make sound decisions.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to identify trends, anticipate issues, and proactively develop solutions.
• Strong leadership and collaboration skills.
• Commitment to continuous improvement.
• Production scheduling experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Capacity planning experience, including aligning production capacity with demand and material availability.
• Inventory management experience covering raw materials, work-in-process (WIP), and finished goods.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, and reporting.
• Forecasting and demand planning experience to support production plans and material requirements.
• Cycle counting and inventory accuracy experience, including identifying or resolving discrepancies.
• At least one relevant planning, inventory management, or supply chain certification, such as APICS CPIM, CSCP, or CLTD. The examples are alternatives; all three are not required.
• Ability to work on-site in Boonton, New Jersey, with a realistic commuting plan. Relocation assistance is not available.
• Ability to complete the required post-offer screening, including a five-panel drug test and background check.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous supervisory or management experience is an asset.
• JD Edwards experience is an asset; comparable ERP experience such as SAP or NetSuite can still be considered.
• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Business, Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience issuing and managing manufacturing orders.
• Experience maintaining bills of materials (BOMs) and routings.
• Multi-site production planning experience.
• Continuous improvement experience.
• Hyperion reporting experience.
• Lean Manufacturing training.
• Six Sigma Green Belt.
• Experience in an ISO 9001 manufacturing environment.
• Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) experience.
• Inventory optimization experience.
• Demand forecasting software or advanced planning systems experience.