Master Production Planner / Scheduler - Lebanon, PA

We are currently seeking an experience Production Planner and Scheduler to join our manufacturing operations.

The Master Production Planner/Scheduler is responsible for developing the master production plan to satisfy customer demand while carrying minimum effective inventory. The qualified individual will be responsible for providing the operational teams with a weekly production plan consistent with the available raw materials, plant capacity and sales forecast. The planner is responsible for accurately forecasting the desired inventory levels down to the pack size including safety stock levels. The sales forecasts, new business opportunities, promotional launch needs, customer expectations, and internal supply constraints will be used to develop production plans, by week. Demand forecasting is the building block for Sales, Inventory, Operations Planning (SIOP). Strong collaboration with Supply chain, Operations, Sales, Customer Service, IT and Executive Management will be critical to meeting business goals.

Major Tasks, Responsibilities & Key Accountabilities:

Strategic

• Identify and implement system and process improvements within the supply chain to enable overall business process improvement.
• Further develop existing forecast and supply programs to improve current days of inventory and cash cycle.
• Improve forecasting tools and procedures through application of innovative ideas and projects.
• Analyze inventory levels and product demands to determine reorder levels and safety stocks that will ensure product availability and minimize inventory costs.
• Drive, promote and develop positive communication with Marketing and Sales to Continuously Improve forecast accuracy.

Tactical

• Develop, maintain, and update Forecasts, master schedules and procurement plans based on history, Seasonality, promotions, discounts, patterns, trends and sales opportunities.
• Review and update forecast, production schedules and material requirements.
• Facilitate Weekly Demand and Supply and SIOP meeting with stakeholders
• Support material requirements for new product development through cooperative scheduling of model introductions, end of life and prototype processing with the potential suppliers
• Proactively review material supply and demand to determine push/pull actions appropriate to impact manufacturing.
• Escalate demand issues to upper management for immediate resolutions.
• Participate in the evaluation of quotations from our contracted manufacturers to assure all pertinent information is available to analyze for the best possible price, quality and supply services to meet our strategic needs.
• Assess impact of material availability and production schedule from customer sales opportunities that may be affecting demand for product over and above the plan.
• Review material shortages, stock outages, and safety stock levels while working with Purchasing and Manufacturing to meet customer requirements. Propose changes when needed.
• Continuous Improvement and development of relevant metrics, tools and analytics to driver our forecast error, improving accuracy.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Competencies:

• Proven experience with complex planning, forecasting and product lifecycle programs.
• Work closely with Sales, Planning Analytics, Inventory Control Specialist and Operations to determine the appropriate levels of safety stock for Finished goods and components to minimize lead times while continuously reducing on hand inventory.
• Proven people skills required, must have ability to work with people at all levels of the organization, while effectively handling internal pressures.
• Excellent Communication, Organizational, and problem-solving skills required.
• Advanced Excel skills, Business intelligence tools (Power BI), SQL
• Follow company rules and regulations
• Core Competences ? Ethics and values, integrity and trust, results driven, customer focused, process management and continuous improvement.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Minimum of 5-10 years of Supply Chain/Master Scheduling experience and Bachelor?s degree in Business Management, or Supply Chain Management. 10 years minimum progressive experience with applicable coursework and certifications.