Production Planning & Materials Supervisor

True North Consultants, Inc.; Aliquippa (Beaver County); On-site; USD 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

True North Consultants, Inc. seeks a Production Planning & Materials Supervisor to turn customer demand and inventory targets into an executable production plan, ensuring a controlled flow of raw materials, WIP, and finished goods to support the plan.

The role focuses on planning, scheduling, work order management, and material availability, coordinating with Sales, Customer Service, Production, Warehouse, Purchasing, and Quality to keep ERP data accurate and production uninterrupted.

Responsibilities

• Produce and maintain the production plan based on customer demand, forecasts, inventory targets, capacity, labor and material availability.
• Coordinate scheduling and production sequence across extrusion, drying/baking, and packing operations to optimize efficiency and minimize changeovers and downtime.
• Continuously adjust the plan based on production performance, downtime, material availability, quality issues, and customer priorities.
• Monitor execution against plan and identify capacity constraints, delays, and delivery risks.
• Supervise creation, release, and closure of production work orders, ensuring BOMs, routing and traceability.
• Maintain planning data accuracy including lead times, BOMs, routings, and inventory parameters.
• Ensure raw materials, packaging and production requirements are available; coordinate with Purchasing and Warehouse to resolve shortages or delays.
• Maintain inventory levels and lot/batch traceability across materials, WIP, and finished goods.
• Lead cycle counts and investigate discrepancies, driving root cause corrective actions.
• Coordinate warehouse activities and material staging to match production priorities.
• Ensure materials are correctly identified, available, and delivered to production on time.
• Coordinate receiving, storage, transfers, and finished goods movements with accurate ERP transactions.
• Segregate non-conforming or damaged materials and coordinate with Quality.
• Ensure finished goods are identified, stored, and ready for shipment.
• Act as a key link between Planning, Production, Warehouse, Purchasing, Sales, Customer Service, and Quality.
• Communicate production priorities, changes, and risks clearly and proactively.
• Coordinate with Sales and Customer Service to align production with customer requirements and shipping commitments.
• Work with Production to improve schedule adherence and resolve execution issues.
• Supervise and coordinate warehouse/material-handling personnel and set daily priorities.
• Maintain safety, inventory accuracy, material availability, and process adherence.
• Analyze deviations between plan and actuals and drive corrective actions.

Job description

Production Planning & Materials Supervisor

$ 70,000.00- $80,000.00

The Production Planning & Materials Supervisor is responsible for converting customer demand and inventory requirements into an executable production plan, while ensuring the availability and controlled flow of raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods required to support that plan.

The position is primarily focused on production planning, scheduling, work order management, and material availability, with responsibility for coordinating warehouse activities to ensure production runs efficiently and without interruption.

The role serves as a critical link between Sales, Customer Service, Production, Warehouse, Purchasing, and Quality, ensuring that production priorities are clearly communicated, materials are available when required, and the ERP system accurately reflects the actual status of production and inventory.

The position is accountable for maintaining a reliable production schedule, accurate work orders, strong inventory discipline, and operational continuity. Some Spanish language is preferred.

Key Responsibilities

1. Production Planning & Scheduling

• Develop and maintain the production plan based on customer demand, forecasts, inventory targets, available capacity, labor, and material availability.
• Coordinate scheduling and production sequence across extrusion, drying/baking, and packing operations to optimize efficiency and minimize changeovers and downtime.
• Continuously adjust the plan based on production performance, equipment downtime, material availability, quality issues, and customer priorities.
• Monitor execution against plan and proactively identify and elevate capacity constraints, delays, and delivery risks.

2. Work Order & ERP Management

• Supervise the accurate and timely creation, release, and closure of production work orders.
• Ensure work orders contain the correct product, quantity, BOM, routing, and traceability requirements, ensuring they contain the correct product, quantity, BOM, routing, and traceability requirements.
• Maintain planning and master data accuracy, including lead times, BOMs, routings, and inventory parameters.

3. Material Planning & Inventory Control

• Ensure raw materials, packaging, and other production requirements are available; coordinate with Purchasing and Warehouse to anticipate and resolve material shortages or delays.
• Maintain accurate inventory levels and strong lot/batch traceability across raw materials, WIP, and finished goods.
• Lead cycle counts and investigate inventory discrepancies, focusing on root cause and corrective action.
• Ensure proper material storage, handling, FIFO practices, and timely return of unused production materials.

4. Warehouse & Production Material Flow

• Coordinate warehouse activities and material staging according to production priorities.
• Ensure materials are correctly identified, available, and delivered to production when required.
• Coordinate receiving, storage, transfers, and finished goods movements while maintaining accurate ERP transactions.
• Ensure non-conforming, damaged, or unidentified materials are properly segregated and coordinated with Quality.
• Ensure finished goods are properly identified, stored, and available for shipment.

5. Cross-Functional Coordination & Execution

• Act as the key link between Planning, Production, Warehouse, Purchasing, Sales, Customer Service, and Quality.
• Communicate production priorities, schedule changes, material constraints, and delivery risks clearly and proactively.
• Coordinate with Sales and Customer Service to align production priorities with customer requirements and realistic shipping commitments.
• Work with Production to improve schedule adherence and resolve execution issues.

6. Team Leadership & Continuous Improvement

• Supervise and coordinate warehouse/material-handling personnel and ensure clear daily priorities.
• Maintain accountability for safety, inventory accuracy, material availability, and adherence to established processes.
• Analyze deviations between the production plan and actual results and drive root cause corrective actions.