Production Planner

Job Description

Job Description

Production Planner

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Production Planner for a fast-paced precision manufacturing environment. The ideal candidate will have at least 3 years of hands-on production planning or scheduling experience and 7+ years of overall manufacturing experience, with strong ERP/MRP knowledge. Epicor experience is strongly preferred.

This role owns an executable production plan from customer demand through delivery. The planner translates demand into realistic schedules based on material availability, capacity, WIP, outside processing, and manufacturing lead times; identifies risk early; and coordinates recovery actions across Manufacturing, Purchasing, Engineering, Quality, and Customer Service.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain executable production schedules based on customer demand, capacity, material availability, manufacturing lead times, and operational constraints.
• Use ERP/MRP to create, release, schedule, and monitor manufacturing jobs; maintain accurate job dates, lead times, and planning parameters.
• Review customer demand, backlog, WIP, inventory, material requirements, and shop load to identify priorities and exceptions.
• Identify material shortages, capacity constraints, late operations, outside-processing risks, and production delays; work with Operations and Purchasing to develop recovery actions.
• Determine material requirements and required dates; partner with Purchasing to place and expedite purchase orders and resolve supplier constraints.
• Maintain a credible production plan and communicate early when customer commitments are at risk; recommend achievable dates using customer need, capable-to-promise, or manufacturing lead-time analysis.
• Coordinate production priorities with Manufacturing, Purchasing, Engineering, Quality, and Customer Service.
• Spend time on the production floor to validate schedule assumptions, understand constraints, and resolve issues with supervisors and production personnel.
• Maintain appropriate inventory levels while minimizing excess material.
• Support improvements in on-time delivery, schedule adherence, inventory accuracy, and production efficiency.
• Use Excel, reporting/analytics tools, and emerging AI tools to analyze schedule performance, identify exceptions, and improve planning efficiency.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of hands-on production planning, scheduling, or materials planning experience.
• 7+ years of overall manufacturing experience in a fast-paced environment; high-mix or high-precision manufacturing experience preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of ERP/MRP systems; Epicor experience strongly preferred.
• Knowledge of production scheduling, BOMs, routings, inventory, capacity planning, resource/work-center constraints, and manufacturing lead times.
• Strong Excel, analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage rapidly changing priorities, communicate clearly, and drive cross-functional action.
• Comfortable working directly with the manufacturing floor and using data to challenge assumptions and improve the plan.

Ideal Candidate

A hands-on planner who combines system discipline with strong shop-floor awareness. This person keeps planning data credible, sees constraints before they become late orders, challenges unrealistic dates, and takes ownership of the executable production plan from customer demand through delivery.

Compensation

Annual base salary range: $65,000-$90,000, based on experience and qualifications.