Planner

Clearly Drinks Ltd; Sunderland; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Clearly Drinks Ltd. is seeking a Planner to develop and maintain production schedules, aligning demand, capacity and material availability to ensure on-time delivery.

You will collaborate with Operations, Procurement and Commercial teams to balance customer requirements with manufacturing capability and reduce downtime. The role requires strong analytical skills, experience in manufacturing scheduling, and proficiency with ERP/MRP systems.

Qualifications

• Experience in production planning, supply chain planning, or manufacturing scheduling.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with good numerical skills.
• Excellent communication and collaboration across teams.

Responsibilities

• Create and maintain daily and weekly production schedules based on demand and capacity.
• Ensure production plans support OTIF customer deliveries.
• Monitor progress and adjust schedules for demand changes and issues.
• Maintain a stable plan balancing customer needs and efficiency.
• Coordinate production across lines to maximise utilisation and minimise changeovers.
• Review forecasts and orders to align with planning.
• Work with commercial teams to update schedules as needed.
• Ensure raw materials and packaging are available for production.
• Collaborate with procurement and stock control to avoid shortages or excess.
• Monitor inventory levels of finished goods, raw materials, and WIP.
• Support inventory policies balancing availability and working capital.
• Identify risks of stock shortages or obsolete inventory.
• Liaise with manufacturing to confirm capacity and constraints.
• Participate in planning meetings to review schedules and resolve issues.
• Work with operations to reduce downtime, changeover time and inefficiencies.
• Maintain master data like BOMs, lead times, and planning parameters.
• Ensure planning systems and ERP data are accurate and up to date.
• Generate and analyse planning reports to support decisions.
• Identify opportunities to improve planning processes and forecasting accuracy.
• Support supply chain and operational improvement initiatives.

Skills

Production planning

Supply chain planning

ERP systems

MRP/ERP

Analytical skills

Communication

Tools

MS Excel

ERP software

Job description

Description Summary

The Planner is responsible for developing, maintaining, and communicating production schedules to ensure efficient manufacturing operations and on-time delivery to customers. The role coordinates demand forecasts, inventory levels, and manufacturing capacity to create achievable production plans while minimizing downtime, shortages, and excess inventory.

The Planner works closely with Operations, Procurement, Warehousing, and Commercial teams to ensure alignment between customer demand and production capability.

Responsibilities

• Create and maintain daily and weekly production schedules based on demand forecasts, inventory levels, and manufacturing capacity.
• Ensure production plans support OTIF customer deliveries.
• Monitor production progress and adjust schedules to manage changes in demand, delays, or operational issues.
• Maintain a stable production plan while balancing customer requirements and operational efficiency.
• Coordinate production across manufacturing lines to maximize utilisation and minimise changeovers.
• Review sales forecasts and customer orders to ensure alignment with production planning.
• Work with the commercial team to monitor changes in demand and update schedules accordingly.
• Ensure raw materials and packaging materials are available in line with production requirements.
• Collaborate with procurement and stock control teams to avoid shortages or excess inventory.
• Monitor inventory levels for finished goods, raw materials, and work-in-progress.
• Support the development and maintenance of inventory policies that balance availability and working capital.
• Identify risks of stock shortages, overstock, or obsolete inventory.
• Liaise with manufacturing teams to confirm production capacity and operational constraints.
• Participate in planning and operational meetings to review schedules and resolve issues.
• Work with operations to reduce downtime, changeover time, and inefficiencies.
• Maintain planning master data such as: Bills of Materials (BOMs), lead times, production rates, planning parameters
• Ensure planning systems and ERP data are accurate and up to date.
• Generate and analyse planning reports to support decision making.
• Identify opportunities to improve planning processes, efficiency, and forecasting accuracy.
• Support supply chain and operational improvement initiatives.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Experience in production planning, supply chain planning, or manufacturing scheduling.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Good knowledge of manufacturing processes.
• Experience using ERP or planning systems.
• Strong organisational and time management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Experience in FMCG or high-volume manufacturing environments.
• Knowledge of MRP / ERP planning systems.
• Understanding of make-to-stock and make-to-order production environments.

Values

• Ensures production schedules prioritise customer service and delivery performance while balancing operational efficiency – Customer First
• Continuously seeks improvements in planning accuracy, operational efficiency, and data integrity to support business performance – Be the Best
• Collaborates closely with operations, procurement, and commercial teams to maintain alignment between demand, supply, and production capability – Stronger Together
• Takes ownership of production plans and proactively resolves scheduling challenges to ensure customer commitments are met – Make It Happen
• Supports efficient production planning to minimise waste, reduce excess inventory, and improve resource utilisation – Socially Responsible

General

• To take responsibility for the health, safety, and welfare of yourself. Actively follow the Company’s Health and Safety Policy, procedures, and safe systems of work
• Actively follow the Company’s Environmental Policy and procedures and play your part in the achievement of environmental initiatives
• Be responsible for your quality of work and ensure that any quality checks required are carried out.Seek support as necessary
• To observe and continually promote equal opportunities and diversity
• To undertake all reasonable training activity designed to support you in your role
• To gain an understanding of the company’s products
• To note, understand and comply with the Company policies and procedures. These documents will be available on People HR and available to sign independently.
• To undertake any such other reasonable duties within your skillset as may from time to time be required by your manager