Master Planner

Fresh Express Salads; Salinas (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Fresh Express Salads is seeking a Production Planner to create and maintain the production plan, schedule line sequences, and manage plant capacities. You will cooperate daily with Planning, Purchasing, QA, and Operations to meet order fill and inventory targets.

The role emphasizes cross-functional coordination, analysis-based decision making, and continuous improvement within a fast-paced food manufacturing environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent experience.
• 2-4 years in a similar manufacturing environment.
• Experience in food manufacturing with emphasis on capacity analysis and scheduling.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Proven team leadership and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Create and maintain short-term production plans and schedules.
• Optimize line sequencing to reduce changeovers and improve throughput.
• Monitor raw material inventories and safety stock for next-day demand.
• Communicate schedules and changes across departments with data-driven rationale.
• Coach and mentor scheduling staff and educate on processes.

Skills

Production planning

Scheduling

Data analysis

Team leadership

Excel

MRP/DRP

AS400

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Masters degree desirable

Tools

PRMS/AS400

Job description

Summary:

Responsible for the creation and maintenance of the production plan/schedule, rough-cut analysis, daily production line schedules, and plant capacities. This position is directly accountable for maintaining Finished Goods Safety Stock Levels in accordance to the next day's Suggested Order demand. This position interfaces daily with Production Planning Manager, Suppliers, Schedulers, Shipping and Receiving, QA, Production, Purchasing, Customer Service, Maintenance, and Transportation to ensure that department and company goals are continuously attained (order fill, safety, inventory accuracy, D&D, and cost reduction initiatives). Perform other duties as assigned.

Job Functions:

• Responsible for the creation and maintenance of the short-term planning, rough-cut analysis, daily production line schedules and plant capacities utilizing advanced planning tools.
• Plans production schedules and establishes line sequencing to reduce production changeovers, increase production/line efficiency, minimize downtime, level inventory, optimize labor, reduce changeovers and meet customer demand.
• Monitors raw material inventories, tracks progress of production, and reviews factors which affect the schedule; directly accountable for maintaining Finished Goods Safety Stock Levels in accordance to the next days Suggested Order demand.
• Provide clear, concise communication to all levels of the organization with the ability to influence decisions through fact finding/data analysis.
• Daily interface with Production Planning Manager, Scheduler, Buyers, Production, Receiving, QA, Production, Customer Service and Transportation to ensure that department and Company goals are continuously attained
• Responsible for coaching, guiding and mentoring new team members on technical aspects.
• Educate, train and conduct skills evaluations on Scheduling/Planning processes and procedures.
• In the event of a problem, the scheduler will diagnose and recommend the corrective action necessary to fix the issue. In addition, the Scheduler will communicate with and inform the necessary parties about any resulting schedule changes, prior to implementing the changes.
• Responsible for creating a daily production schedule and establishing line sequencing that increases throughput, increases efficiency, maximize utilization, reduce changeovers, minimizes down-time, meets plant capacities and reduces same day changes to schedule.
• Ensures that the production schedule is prioritized for on time delivery and work with Purchasing to ensure that raw materials are in stock to meet production schedule and customer needs (interacts with Purchasing Buyer).
• Implement an effective scheduling process which meets business objectives and optimizes line capacity.
• Establish regular and proactive communication with team in order to resolve issues, address concerns and support production. Communicate and follow through on revised schedules; collaborate with management on necessary changes to schedule.
• Responsibilities for D&D include the following: reducing D&D, meeting KOI/budget, coding D&D in a timely manner, performing Root Cause Analysis, and balancing D&D with production efficiencies.
• Identify proactive ways to initiate scheduling improvements. For example, by reducing the number of SKU's run daily, identifying low volume SKU's that can be produced every other day or eliminated, balancing of production schedule throughout the week, and determining cost effective ways to minimize labor.
• Update and maintain "run rates" and "use-by" information on production schedule.
• Proactive management of "short list": provide production with an anticipated "short list" the day before; determine if "short list" items can be incorporated into the following day's schedule to maximize line sequencing and reduce changeover; communicate with transportation and customer service to decide if departure times can be adjusted for items on the "short list."
• Perform capacity analysis on a regular basis to determine under or over-loaded resources; recommend necessary changes and efficiently implement changes to meet needs.
• Coordinate the production schedule, material supply, and capacity analysis for the site.
• Report on and develop processes to improve Schedule Adherence. This includes root cause analysis and coordination with Production, Purchasing, and any other departments needed to find ways to improve the process.
• Provide department leadership on cross functional project teams including cost reduction initiatives and process improvements (best practices).
• Remain flexible within the planning function to accommodate uncertainties of the business atmosphere.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
• Regular and reliable attendance is an essential function of this position

Required Qualifications/Skills

• Bachelor's degree from a 4 year college or university or equivalent experience required.
• 2-4 years experience in a similar manufacturing environment.
• Experience in a food related manufacturing environment with emphasis on capacity analysis, production planning and multiple line scheduling
• Must possess demonstrated analytical abilities and be able to develop logical solutions to opportunities as they develop.
• Ability to maintain focus and direction in a fast paced, dynamic environment dealing with high turns.
• Possess demonstrated analytical abilities and be able to develop logical solutions to opportunities as they develop utilizing good problem solving skills
• Proven Team Leader that utilizes coaching and company values to meet and exceed both internal and external customer expectations
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, expert level skills in Excel (Showcase query a plus), PRMS (AS/400) or equivalent and MRP/DRP demonstrated skills
• Strong communication skills: verbal and written.

Proactive and continuous improvement work style.

• Experience in Process Improvement (PI) Teams as a leader or contributing member
• Excellent math / quantitative skills; experience with basic statistics a plus.
• Must be available days, nights, and weekends. Must be able to access system data remotely and be on call 24/7.

Other Desired Qualifications/Skills:

• Masters degree in related field desired
• APICS certification strongly desired
• Experience with Lean/Six Sigma applications preferred
• Bilingual English / Spanish a plus
• AS400 experience preferred
• Course work in planning, scheduling, inventory, demand management or closely related fields desired

Experience:

• 2-4 years experience in a similar manufacturing environment.

Education/Training:

• Bachelor's degree from a 4-year college or university required
• Masters degree in related field desired
• Coursework in planning, scheduling, inventory, demand management or closely related fields desired