Production Scheduler

Location 1079 American Way,Verona, WI, 53593,United States Wisconsin Brewing Company | Verona, Wisconsin Reports To: Operations Leader | Full-Time, On-Site Position Summary Wisconsin Brewing Company (WBC) is seeking a highly organized, proactive Production Scheduler to own the development and execution of our production schedule across a complex beverage manufacturing environment. WBC operates as both a beverage brand owner and contract manufacturer, producing beer, non-alcoholic beverages, ready-to-drink beverages, and other beverage products for a diverse group of customers. The Production Scheduler plays a critical role in converting customer demand into an efficient, realistic, and executable production plan. This position will take the operational hand-off from Business Development as new co-pack customers move toward commercialization and will work directly with both new and existing customers to understand production requirements, forecasts, timing, and priorities. The Production Scheduler will coordinate closely with Procurement, Inventory, Warehouse, Brewing/Blending, Quality, Packaging, Maintenance, and Operations leadership to ensure that customer demand is translated into a production schedule that maximizes throughput, minimizes changeovers and downtime, and delivers against customer commitments. This is not simply a schedule-maintenance position. The successful candidate will own the production schedule and drive the cross-functional communication and accountability necessary to execute it. Key Responsibilities Customer Demand & Co-Pack Coordination Take the operational hand-off from Business Development as new customers transition from sales opportunity to commercialization and production. Serve as a key operational contact for co-pack customers regarding production planning and scheduling. Work directly with customers to understand forecasts, purchase orders, requested production dates, SKU requirements, volumes, packaging formats, and future production needs. Establish clear timelines and requirements for new product launches and initial production runs. Proactively communicate scheduling constraints, changes, risks, and production timing to customers. Maintain visibility to expected customer demand beyond confirmed purchase orders whenever possible. Identify changes in customer demand early and translate those changes into implications for production capacity and material requirements. Production Scheduling Own and maintain WBC's master production schedule. Convert customer demand, forecasts, purchase orders, and internal brand requirements into a realistic production plan. Schedule brewing, blending, packaging, and related manufacturing activities in coordination with Operations. Optimize production sequencing to improve throughput and reduce unnecessary product, package, flavor, allergen, format, and equipment changeovers. Balance customer priorities with available capacity, labor, tank availability, packaging line capabilities, material availability, quality requirements, and maintenance needs. Maintain appropriate scheduling horizons, including detailed near-term schedules and forward-looking capacity planning. Continuously evaluate actual production performance against the schedule and adjust future schedules accordingly. Identify capacity constraints before they become customer-service problems. Escalate conflicts and capacity issues quickly, with recommended solutions rather than simply identifying problems. Material Readiness & Procurement Coordination Provide Procurement with timely and accurate visibility to future production requirements. Translate the production schedule into material requirements and required-by dates. Work with Procurement, Inventory, and Staging to confirm that ingredients, packaging materials, labels, cans, ends, cartons, trays, and other required materials will be available before production is scheduled. Identify material shortages or risks early enough to allow corrective action. Avoid scheduling production that cannot realistically be executed because required materials, approvals, or specifications are unavailable. Participate in ongoing improvement of demand planning, inventory planning, and material requirements processes. Coordinate with Business Development, Quality, Procurement, Brewing/Blending, Packaging, and customers to ensure new products are production-ready. Maintain visibility to key commercialization requirements such as specifications, formulas, packaging components, artwork, material lead times, production documentation, and customer approvals. Establish clear production-readiness milestones for new customers and SKUs. Ensure new products are not placed on the production schedule until critical requirements have been completed or risks have been clearly identified and approved. Help create a disciplined hand-off process from Business Development to Operations. Cross-Functional Leadership Lead or play a central role in WBC's weekly production planning/S&OP process. Facilitate communication among Sales/Business Development, Procurement, Inventory, Warehouse, Quality, Brewing/Blending, Packaging, Maintenance, and Operations. Create one reliable production schedule that functions as the organization's source of truth. Clearly communicate schedule changes and the reasons behind them. Drive accountability for actions required to protect scheduled production. Challenge unrealistic customer requests, internal assumptions, or production plans while helping develop workable alternatives. Maintain a strong sense of urgency and follow through until issues are resolved. Key Performance Indicators On-time customer production and delivery performance Schedule stability and frequency of last-minute changes Production downtime caused by material or planning issues Material readiness at scheduled production start Changeover frequency and production sequencing efficiency Capacity utilization and throughput Forecast visibility and accuracy Customer communication and responsiveness Successful and timely commercialization of new customers and SKUs Qualifications Preferred Experience 3+ years of experience in production scheduling, production planning, demand planning, supply planning, or a related manufacturing role. Experience in contract manufacturing/co-packing strongly preferred. Beverage, brewing, food, CPG, or other high-SKU manufacturing experience strongly preferred. Experience managing production schedules involving multiple customers, SKUs, packaging formats, and frequent changeovers. Experience working directly with customers regarding forecasts, orders, production timing, and supply requirements. Understanding of production capacity planning, inventory management, procurement, and material requirements planning. Technical Skills Advanced Excel skills, including the ability to organize and analyze large amounts of production, demand, inventory, and capacity data. Experience with ERP, MRP, production scheduling, or manufacturing planning systems strongly preferred. Ability to develop and maintain scheduling tools and processes while WBC continues to improve its systems and technology. Strong analytical ability and comfort working with data to make decisions. Interest in using technology, automation, and AI tools to improve planning and scheduling processes is a plus. Personal Characteristics Highly accountable - owns the schedule and its outcomes. Proactive - identifies problems before they disrupt production or customers. Competitive and solutions-oriented - works aggressively to find ways to deliver for WBC and its customers. An exceptional communicator - comfortable communicating directly with customers, operators, managers, and senior leadership. Organized - capable of managing many customers, SKUs, timelines, and competing priorities simultaneously. Decisive - comfortable making recommendations when demand exceeds capacity or priorities conflict. Collaborative - builds productive relationships across functions while holding people accountable. Calm under pressure - capable of adjusting quickly when customer requirements or manufacturing conditions change. Continuous-improvement minded - constantly looks for ways to improve schedule reliability, throughput, information flow, and planning processes. What Success Looks Like Within this role, WBC should increasingly operate from one credible production plan understood by customers and internal teams alike. The Production Scheduler should know what WBC needs to produce, when it needs to be produced, whether the materials and capacity exist to produce it, and what risks could prevent successful execution. The goal is not simply to create a schedule. The goal is to create a production plan that WBC can execute reliably while maximizing manufacturing efficiency and delivering an exceptional experience for our customers. 100% company paid insurance premiums (Health, Dental, Vision) IRA plan with 3% company match About Us: Wisconsin Brewing Company is a beer production facility located in "Hometown USA" - aka Verona, Wisconsin. We’re five easy minutes south of the greater Madison area, right off Hwy18-151. We pride ourselves on being a family-friendly facility, and we know that dogs are often considered part of the family. That's why leashed dogs are welcome in our Tap Room and Backyard Patio every day that we are open! EEO Statement: Wisconsin Brewing Company provides Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) without regard to race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability, marital status, citizenship status, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable local, state, or federal law. This policy applies to all employees and job applicants. #J-18808-Ljbffr T E C Industrial Inc