Production Planner / Production Analyst / Production Planning Manager

Plans, analyzes, or leads production activities to ensure that manufacturing resources, materials, and schedules are aligned with customer demand and business priorities. Works with manufacturing, procurement, inventory, maintenance, quality, logistics, and sales teams to coordinate production plans and respond to changes in orders, materials, capacity, or equipment availability.

A Production Planner develops and maintains production schedules, releases work orders, checks material availability, and follows up on progress against plan. A Production Analyst reviews production, capacity, inventory, quality, and delivery data to identify trends, constraints, and improvement opportunities. A Production Planning Manager oversees planning processes and staff, sets scheduling priorities, coordinates supply and capacity plans, and ensures production plans support service, cost, and operational goals.

Uses forecasts, customer orders, inventory levels, bills of materials, lead times, labor availability, and equipment capacity to build feasible production plans. Coordinates material requirements with procurement and inventory teams, identifies shortages or bottlenecks, and works with operations to adjust schedules when priorities change. Monitors production progress and communicates risks that could affect output, quality, or delivery commitments.

Tracks measures such as schedule adherence, throughput, capacity utilization, inventory levels, scrap, downtime, and on-time delivery. Investigates variances between planned and actual production, supports corrective actions, and helps improve planning accuracy and manufacturing workflows. Maintains schedules and planning data in ERP or manufacturing systems and may contribute to demand planning, S&OP, inventory optimization, and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Diploma or bachelor's degree in supply chain management, operations, industrial engineering, manufacturing, business, or a related field
• Experience in production planning, manufacturing operations, supply planning, inventory control, or scheduling
• Understanding of production processes, material requirements, capacity planning, bills of materials, and work orders
• Familiarity with ERP, MRP, production planning, or manufacturing execution systems
• Strong analytical skills and ability to interpret demand, inventory, capacity, and production data
• Proficiency with spreadsheets and planning or reporting tools
• Ability to coordinate across production, procurement, inventory, quality, maintenance, and logistics teams
• Strong organization and time-management skills for managing schedules and changing priorities
• Clear communication and problem-solving skills, including the ability to identify and escalate supply or capacity constraints
• Attention to detail when maintaining schedules, master data, orders, and production records
• Familiarity with lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, or S&OP processes is an asset
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced production environment
• Relevant qualifications in supply chain, production planning, or operations are beneficial
• Team leadership, capacity planning, planning process ownership, and cross-functional coordination experience may be expected for manager-level roles