Site Production Planner

Morton Salt is an iconic company with a strong heritage and a bright future. Since 1848, we have been improving lives and enhancing everyday moments – at home, at work and virtually everywhere in between.  We help unlock the flavors in food, make roads and sidewalks safer, improve the water in baths, pools, and homes, and keep businesses and industries running. We are a dedicated team who constantly strives to do better together, and we are passionate about building a sustainable future for our company, the communities in which we operate, and the world around us. By joining our team, you will contribute to producing and delivering every form of salt that enhances everyday life.

Job Summary

The Site Production Planner is responsible for analyzing production and forecast data to develop and maintain comprehensive, data driven, production schedules which optimize resources, minimize downtime, and align with production goals, customer demand, and inventory goals. Act as liaison between CSRs, Supply & Demand Planners and the plant to relay key data, execute orders, and meet delivery dates.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop & maintain daily, weekly and monthly production schedules based on sales forecasts, customer orders and targeted inventory levels.
• Develop production plans for a rolling three-month period based on sales forecasts and internal supply constraints.  Ensure gaps in ability to supply are addressed, scenarios established, and issues appropriately escalated.
• Determines production priorities by analyzing manufacturing capacity, customer orders, forecasts, and master production schedule needs while controlling inventory levels.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (sales, customer service, logistics, supply chain planning, procurement, and manufacturing) to make timely adjustments to production plans based on changing business priorities, demand fluctuations, and supply constraints.
• Monitor and adjust production plans based on material availability, labor, and equipment capacities.
• Track and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) related to production, OTIF, and inventory management and implement process improvements.
• Analyzes key metrics such as schedule adherence, inventory turnover, forecast performance, order backlog, and prioritization and identifies process improvements.
• Identify and implement process improvements within the production scheduling process, aiming to reduce lead times, improve schedule adherence, and optimize resource utilization.
• Provide regular updates and reporting to Supply Chain Leadership on production schedules, capacity utilization, and any potential disruptions.
• Communicates order impacts to Customer Service, Transportation & Replenishment.
• Analyzes & identifies bottlenecks in production capacities and works with Operations & Supply Planning to implement solutions that optimize throughput & improve overall efficiency.
• Identify and mitigate potential inventory shortages or excesses while maintaining ability to meet customer demand.
• Responsible for the creation & monitoring of stock transfer orders (STO’s) of products shipped but not produced in the manufacturing facility
• Collaborate with Operations, Sales, Customer Service, and SC Management to achieve business objectives.
• Conducts daily/weekly scheduling meeting to review previous production performance and to gain plant alignment around future production requirements.
• Maintain master data integrity & leverages system settings and parameters to drive planning efficiency.
• Supports introduction of new products and product discontinuations.
• Serve as the primary contact for production information requests and provide support for shipping dates and other information as requested.
• Participates in and supports Plant Management efforts to improve plant efficiency, labor management, and employee engagement by maintaining a regular presence on the production floor, partnering with Production Supervisors/Managers, monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs/PMIs), and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Bachelor’s degree and 4 years of prior relevant experience in production planning/scheduling, plant operations, inventory or distribution planning. Preferably in food manufacturing environment.
• In absence of a degree, 7-10 years of relevant experience is required.
• Excellent organizational, prioritization, and time-management skills with the ability to effectively handle multiple priorities.
• Ability to perform data analysis and interpretation: The ability to collect, clean, and analyze data from vario