The Production Planner is responsible for planning, creating, releasing, monitoring, and closing work orders to support safe, efficient, on-time manufacturing operations. This role coordinates demand, material availability, labor capacity, routing requirements, and shop-floor priorities to ensure production orders are executed according to schedule, quality standards, and customer commitments.  

Key Responsibilities  

• Create, review, release, and maintain production work orders in the ERP/MRP system. 

• Verify work-order requirements, including bills of material, routings, drawings, specifications, quantities, due dates, and revision levels. 

• Develop and maintain daily and weekly production schedules based on customer demand, inventory levels, capacity, material availability, and operational priorities. 

• Sequence and prioritize work orders for the shop floor to optimize throughput, labor utilization, machine capacity, and on-time delivery. 

• Monitor work-order progress from release through completion; identify delays, shortages, capacity constraints, and other risks. 

• Coordinate with Purchasing, Materials, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, and Shipping to resolve work-order/nonconformance issues. 

• Expedite material shortages and communicate expected impacts to production schedules and delivery commitments. 

• Update work orders when requirements change, including quantities, due dates, routing steps, materials, or engineering revisions. 

• Ensure completed work orders are accurately reported, closed in the ERP system, and reconciled against material and labor usage. 

• Participate in daily production meetings and communicate clear priorities to supervisors and shop-floor personnel. 

• Support continuous improvement initiatives related to scheduling, inventory accuracy, workflow, lead time, and work-order processing. 

• Follow all safety, quality, environmental, and company procedures. 

Required Qualifications  

• High school diploma or equivalent required; associate or bachelor’s degree in supply chain, Operations, Manufacturing, Business, or a related field preferred. 

• Typically, 2–5 years of experience in production planning, scheduling, manufacturing coordination, materials planning, or a similar role. 

• Experience in creating and managing work orders in an ERP/MRP system. 

• Working knowledge of manufacturing processes, bills of material, routings, inventory control, and production scheduling. 

• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Excel and other Microsoft Office tools. 

• Ability to interpret production schedules, engineering drawings, material requirements, and work instructions. 

• Strong organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills. 

• Effective written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to coordinate across shop floor and office teams. 

• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment. 

Preferred Experience/Skills 

•  APICS Certification Preferred 

• ETO Manufacturing Experience Preferred  

• Infor Syteline ERP Experience Preferred