Strategic Production Planner – Lean & NPI Focus

Thorlabs Ltd; Ely; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health care

Pension

25 days holiday

Group Life Cover

Private Health Care

Group Income Protection

Job summary

Thorlabs Ltd in Ely, UK, is seeking a Production Planner to develop and maintain feasible production schedules across Assembly and In-house Machine Shop, balancing customer demand with capacity.

You will work with Production, Engineering and Machine Shop teams to optimise MRP parameters, support new product introductions, obsolescence management, and smooth transitions to in-house manufacturing.

Qualifications

• Previous Planning, Inventory Controller, or related Supply Chain experience.
• Experience in manufacturing environment.
• Lean/continuous improvement knowledge.
• Scheduling and capacity planning expertise.
• Kanban and material flow monitoring.
• Advanced Excel skills with large datasets.
• Strong communication skills.
• Team collaboration across multiple departments.
• UK work authorization as per immigration rules.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain production plan aligning MRP demand with capacity.
• Participate in production review meetings and allocate work.
• Monitor capacity utilization and escalate risks.
• Maintain planning ERP/MRP parameters data accuracy.
• Respond to lead time and delivery updates from global sales.
• Analyse KPIs like late orders and stock shortages.
• Contribute to new planning methods and improvements.
• Apply PDCA/Lean problem-solving to supply chain issues.
• Follow standardised procedures and contribute to improvements.

Skills

Planning

Inventory control

Lean/Continuous improvement

Data analysis

Excel advanced

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Kanban

Root cause analysis

Bottleneck management

Tools

D365

MRP systems

ERP data reporting

Job description

Thorlabs Ltd in Ely, UK, is seeking a Production Planner to develop and maintain feasible production schedules across Assembly and In-house Machine Shop, balancing customer demand with capacity.

You will work with Production, Engineering and Machine Shop teams to optimise MRP parameters, support new product introductions, obsolescence management, and smooth transitions to in-house manufacturing.