Production Planner & Scheduler

Position Overview

GTI Fabrication is seeking a highly organized and execution-driven Production Planner to develop and manage production schedules across multiple manufacturing value streams. This role is responsible for translating customer demand, project requirements, material availability, and labor capacity into executable production plans that drive on-time delivery, operational efficiency, and manufacturing throughput.

The Production Planner & Scheduler serves as the central coordination point between Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Materials Planning, Project Management, Engineering, and Operations Leadership. This individual is responsible for balancing production demand against available labor, equipment, floor space, and material constraints while ensuring efficient utilization of resources.

The ideal candidate possesses strong manufacturing planning experience within a contract manufacturing, engineered-to-order, or high-mix production environment and understands how to proactively manage capacity, labor planning, overtime requirements, and schedule execution.

Key Responsibilities

Production Scheduling & Planning

• Develop, maintain, and execute detailed production schedules across fabrication, welding, paint, assembly, electrical integration, and final system build operations.
• Translate customer demand, project schedules, and business priorities into achievable production plans.
• Create daily, weekly, and monthly production schedules that align with operational capacity and customer delivery requirements.
• Continuously evaluate schedule adherence and adjust plans based on changing business conditions.
• Manage schedule priorities across multiple products, projects, and manufacturing work centers.

Capacity & Labor Planning

• Evaluate labor capacity against production demand to ensure adequate staffing levels.
• Partner with Manufacturing Managers, Value Stream Managers, and Supervisors to develop labor plans that support production requirements.
• Identify labor constraints and recommend staffing adjustments, overtime requirements, shift modifications, or resource reallocations.
• Monitor workforce utilization and productivity metrics.
• Support long-range workforce planning and capacity forecasting initiatives.

Production Readiness & Execution

• Ensure production schedules align with material availability and Clear-to-Build status.
• Collaborate with Materials Planning and Procurement teams to identify and mitigate potential shortages.
• Monitor production progress against schedule and proactively address risks impacting delivery commitments.
• Facilitate daily production review meetings focused on schedule attainment, bottlenecks, and recovery actions.
• Support manufacturing leadership in prioritizing production activities and resolving capacity conflicts.

Manufacturing Performance & Throughput Optimization

• Analyze production flow, bottlenecks, labor utilization, and work center loading.
• Drive schedule optimization initiatives to improve throughput, efficiency, and resource utilization.
• Balance workload across manufacturing areas to maximize operational performance.
• Monitor production metrics and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Support Lean Manufacturing and operational excellence initiatives.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Partner closely with Project Management, Engineering, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and Operations Leadership.
• Coordinate engineering changes, customer priorities, and schedule impacts across production plans.
• Communicate schedule risks, recovery plans, and operational constraints to key stakeholders.
• Support New Product Introduction (NPI) activities and production launch planning.
• Participate in S&OP, production planning, and operational review meetings.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Production Schedule Adherence
• On-Time Delivery (OTD)
• Capacity Utilization
• Labor Utilization
• Overtime Effectiveness
• Throughput Performance
• Work