What are the responsibilities and job description for the Production Planner position at Future Form Manufacturing?
JOB TITLE: Production Planner
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY:
The Production Planner is responsible for leading and coordinating the daily production planning function at Future Form Manufacturing. This role manages work order creation and lifecycle, verifies material availability before jobs are released to production, and develops and maintains the production schedule. Working closely with Operations, Engineering, Quality, and Supply Chain to ensure production priorities are aligned and customer delivery commitments are achieved.
This is a hands-on, highly visible role that requires a strong presence on the production floor and close collaboration with manufacturing teams. Operating in a high-mix, fast-paced environment, the Production Planner must be comfortable adapting to frequent schedule changes driven by customer demand and shifting business priorities. The Production Planner is expected to maintain a clean understanding of shop floor activities and proactively identify and escalate issues before they impact production schedules or customer delivery commitments.
CORE VALUES: The following list of Core Values and Behaviors are necessary to meet the minimum requirements:
TEAMWORK
- Help each other succeed
- Communicate clearly and directly, listen well
- Encourage teammates
- Blameless problem solving
HONESTY AND INTEGRITY
- Honor your commitments
- Do the right thing
- Consistent in your attitudes and actions
LEAN
- Improve processes
- Open to new ideas
- Share information, and teach
- Expose issues
NUMBERS FOCUSED
- Deliver results
- Analyze data for improvement
- Take ownership and accountability
- Work smarter, not harder
EXCELLENCE
- Exhibit passion in serving customers
- Contribute solutions
- Sense of urgency
- Be the best at what you do
- Seek knowledge
FUN
- Be positive
- Celebrate achievements
- Don’t take yourself too seriously
CHARACTERISTIC DUTIES:
Essential
- Create, release, and manage work orders across active production programs to support on-time delivery commitments.
- Verify material availability to support production schedule; identify shortages, communicate risks, and coordinate with Material Planning and Purchasing to resolve gaps before they impact production.
- Build and maintain the daily and weekly production schedule; proactively re-sequence and re-prioritize as customer requirements, engineering changes, or material availability shifts.
- Maintain real-time awareness of shop floor status; know where each active job stands, what’s at risk, and what needs intervention.
- Support demand and capacity planning by analyzing production load, identifying bottlenecks, and escalating constraints to the Planning Manager.
- Participate in daily production and planning meetings; communicate schedule status, active risks, and priorities clearly to Operations and cross-functional stakeholders.
- Coordinate with Engineering on drawing releases, engineering changes, and new product introductions to ensure production schedules reflect current design status.
- Collaborate with Quality to understand hold status, inspection queues, and non-conformance disposition timelines that affect schedule execution.
- Maintain accurate work order data and production planning parameters in the ERP system (Omegacube currently; transitioning to NetSuite within 6–9 months).
- Track and report key production planning metrics including schedule attainment, on-time work order completion, and material-related delays.
- Identify and escalate recurring scheduling disruptions; contribute to process improvements that reduce reactive planning and increase schedule predictability.
- Optimize internal systems and assist in their integration with goals and objectives.
- Maintain organized workspaces and digital records in accordance with company policy.
- All other duties as assigned.
REPORTS TO: Sr. Supply Chain Analyst
WORKS WITH: Suppliers, Customers, Future Form Team Members
SAFETY REQUIREMENTS OF POSITION:
Follow all OSHA safety regulations and those set by Future Form Manufacturing
REQUIREMENTS OF POSITION:
Essential
Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, or related field (or equivalent work experience)
2 years of experience in production planning, scheduling, or supply chain within a manufacturing environment
Hands-on experience with ERP / MRP systems; ability to learn new systems quickly (Omegacube experience a plus; NetSuite experience preferred)
Strong understanding of production planning, work order management, and shop floor scheduling processes
Ability to manage competing priorities, adapt quickly to schedule changes, and make sound decisions in a fast-paced environment
Strong organizational and time-management skills
Strong cross-functional communication skills; comfortable coordinating daily with Operations, Engineering, Quality, and Planning
Detail-oriented, process-driven, and able to manage multiple priorities simultaneously
Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel
Beneficial
- Experience in a custom, job shop, or contract manufacturing environment
- Experience supporting or participating in an ERP implementation or system transition
- Familiarity with demand planning, capacity planning, or forward/backward scheduling concepts
- Knowledge of Lean manufacturing or continuous improvement methodologies
- Experience identifying and implementing improvements to production planning processes or schedule accuracy
- APICS / ASCM certification (CPIM or CSCP)
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS OF POSITION:
Sit 65%, Stand 15%, Walk 15%, and Bend 5%. Maximum (minutes): Sit 240, Stand 15, Walk 10, and Bend 5. Must have normal vision (with or without corrective lenses) and normal hearing (with or without hearing aid enhancement
Working Environment: Office desk with frequent time in a shop environment. Moderate noise level. Exposure to dust, heat and cold.
This position will require drug testing per company policy.
8:00am to 5:00pm