Production Planner

About the role

Reports to the Director of Operations, this position is involved with the control of work flow within the manufacturing plant. Major areas of responsibility include capacity planning, work order dispatching, and work order prioritization in support of the customer.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Senior Production Planner to coordinate daily, weekly, and long-range production schedules across extrusion, cabling, shielding, and jacketing operations.
• Maintain accurate work order status throughout all stages of cable manufacturing.
• Review planned work orders prior to release, ensuring raw materials—such as copper rod, aluminum, insulation compounds, shielding tapes, and jacketing materials—are available and meet specification.
• Release planned orders in alignment with production priorities, material readiness, and machine center availability, following guidance and strategic direction from the Senior Planner.
• Plan, order, and control component and raw-material inventories, spending most of the time analyzing reports, performing calculations, and entering data into the MRP/ERP system.
• Collaborate with factory personnel on the production floor to resolve material constraints, verify spool availability, and coordinate machine sequencing.
• Use material-availability and expediting tools to confirm readiness of key inputs such as conductor wire, insulation pellets, color concentrates, and packaging materials.
• Monitor work center schedules for extrusion lines, cabling machines, and jacketing cells; dispatch work orders to maintain continuous flow and minimize changeovers.
• Participate in daily meetings with shop supervision to review progress, identify bottlenecks, and adjust schedules based on material or equipment constraints.
• Escalate unresolvable schedule or material issues—such as supplier delays, compound shortages, or machine downtime—to the Senior Planner and VSM.
• Prepare and maintain departmental reports, including material-usage summaries, schedule adherence, and inventory health.
• Apply Lean methodologies—Kanban, Supermarkets, FIFO lanes, and visual controls—to improve material flow and scheduling efficiency across cable-manufacturing operations.
• Support the Senior Planner in implementing and reviewing production-planning KPIs; collaborate with internal stakeholders to develop corrective action plans.
• Aid in creating new process plans and planning strategies when new cable constructions or customer-specific designs are introduced.
• Contribute to functional capacity planning for extrusion, cabling, and jacketing equipment to support long-term demand.
• Participate in daily and weekly production-status meetings with cross-functional teams including engineering, purchasing, quality, and operations.
• Perform diversified duties across MRP, Production Control, and manufacturing environments, supporting continuous improvement in material flow and scheduling accuracy.
• Maintain frequent communication with factory supervision, engineering, and purchasing to ensure alignment on priorities and material requirements.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Minimum of three years of experience in Production Planning, Scheduling, or related manufacturing functions—preferably in cable, wire, or extrusion-based production.
• Demonstrated knowledge of Lean Manufacturing principles and best practices.
• Familiarity with raw materials used in cable manufacturing (copper, aluminum, insulation compounds, shielding materials, etc.) is highly beneficial.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with a Senior Planner and broader cross-functional teams.