DC Production & Wave Planning Lead

ALO; North East (MD); Presencial; USD 90.000 - 130.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

ALO is seeking a Production / Wave Planning Manager to translate daily demand into actionable production plans for the distribution center. You will lead the Wave Planning team, ensure capacity is balanced, and maintain end-to-end visibility of work from receiving to shipping, driving on-time order fulfillment and productivity.

The role requires strong distribution operations knowledge, WMS expertise, and solid leadership to coordinate with Operations, Labor, Capacity Planning, and IT partners.

Formación

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Industrial Engineering, Operations, Business, Analytics, or related field preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in distribution, fulfillment, production planning, wave planning, operations, or a related function.
• Previous leadership experience preferred.
• Strong understanding of distribution center operations and end-to-end order flow.
• Experience working with warehouse management systems and wave/order release functionality.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to make decisions quickly in a high-volume, rapidly changing operating environment.
• Strong communication skills and ability to influence Operations and cross-functional partners.
• Experience with Excel, BI/reporting tools, WMS reporting, and operational data analysis

Responsabilidades

• Develop and maintain the site’s daily production plan based on order demand, customer priorities, available capacity, labor availability, inventory readiness, and service commitments.
• Translate network priorities and volume forecasts into executable site-level plans.
• Maintain end-to-end visibility of workload across receiving, replenishment, picking, packing, sortation, shipping, and other applicable processes.
• Identify potential bottlenecks before they impact service or throughput.
• Adjust production priorities throughout the day based on actual performance, changing demand, system constraints, and operational conditions.
• Coordinate recovery plans when the facility falls behind production or service expectations.
• Own the site’s wave planning and work-release strategy.
• Determine the appropriate timing, size, sequencing, and prioritization of waves or other work releases.
• Ensure sufficient work is available to Operations without creating excessive WIP, congestion, downstream constraints, or inefficient labor utilization.
• Monitor wave progression and order aging throughout the day.
• Adjust wave and release strategies based on actual throughput, backlog, carrier cutoffs, inventory availability, and downstream capacity.
• Establish standard wave-planning processes and decision rules for the site.
• Serve as the Production Control point person for daily DC execution.
• Lead or participate in daily production-control meetings and operating reviews.
• Compare actual performance against the production plan throughout the day.
• Escalate emerging service, capacity, labor, inventory, or system risks.
• Coordinate with Operations leadership on corrective actions and changes to the execution plan.
• Maintain clear communication regarding priorities, constraints, risks, and recovery actions.
• Monitor capacity across major processing areas and identify emerging constraints.
• Understand dependencies between upstream and downstream processes and adjust work releases accordingly.
• Partner with Capacity Planning to provide actual site performance, constraint information, and capacity assumptions.
• Support peak, promotional, launch, and other high-volume readiness planning.
• Develop contingency plans for capacity or system disruptions.
• Partner closely with Labor Planning & Productivity to align available labor with expected workload.
• Identify potential labor imbalances by function before they negatively impact flow.
• Recommend labor movement or production-plan changes based on actual demand and throughput.
• Provide feedback on planned versus actual labor requirements and productivity assumptions.
• Ensure production plans reflect realistic labor and capacity constraints.
• Develop strong expertise in WMS functionality related to wave planning, allocation, order prioritization, work release, and production flow.
• Partner with the WMS & Operational Systems team to identify system issues or opportunities affecting execution.
• Validate that system rules and configurations support the intended operational strategy.
• Participate in testing and implementation of WMS enhancements affecting production planning and execution.
• Lead, develop, and coach the site’s Wave Planners.
• Establish clear roles, standard work, escalation protocols, and decision rights for the Wave Planning team.
• Ensure adequate planning coverage across operating shifts.
• Build planner capability in WMS functionality, operational flow, data analysis, and decision-making.
• Create a culture in which planners proactively manage the building rather than simply release work.

Conocimientos

Strong analytical and problem-solving

Strong communication

Leadership

Excel proficiency

Educación

Bachelor's degree (Supply Chain / related field)

Herramientas

WMS

BI/reporting tools

Excel

Descripción del empleo

ALO is seeking a Production / Wave Planning Manager to translate daily demand into actionable production plans for the distribution center. You will lead the Wave Planning team, ensure capacity is balanced, and maintain end-to-end visibility of work from receiving to shipping, driving on-time order fulfillment and productivity.

The role requires strong distribution operations knowledge, WMS expertise, and solid leadership to coordinate with Operations, Labor, Capacity Planning, and IT partners.