Strategic Production Planner — AI‑Enabled MRP & Scheduling

Sauder Woodworking Co.; Archbold (OH); On-site; USD 57,000 - 76,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

3 weeks vacation

Full benefits package after 30 days

401(k)

Furniture discounts

Tuition reimbursement

Free counseling

Job summary

Sauder Woodworking Co. is seeking a Production Planner II to develop and manage production plans that balance customer demand, inventory strategies, and manufacturing efficiency.

You will review MRP outputs, production orders, and schedules to identify risks and improve planning decisions using analytics and AI-enabled tools. You will collaborate across manufacturing, procurement, sales/demand planning, and IT to optimize parameters, maintain master data, and ensure on-time execution.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field preferred.
• 3+ years of experience in production planning, scheduling, or related functions.
• Experience in a discrete manufacturing environment with capacity constraints and material dependencies.
• Cross-functional collaboration across manufacturing, procurement, sales, engineering, IT.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain production plans to support demand, inventory targets, and capacity.
• Review MRP outputs and schedules to identify risks in material, capacity, and service levels.
• Recommend safety stock, reorder point, and lot size parameters based on demand and lead times.
• Use analytics and AI-enabled tools to summarize exceptions and support decision-making.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to optimize planning parameters and resolve execution issues.
• Maintain accurate planning master data including capacities, routings, and lead times.
• Monitor material availability, overdue orders, and schedule adherence; communicate risks and recovery plans.
• Coordinate planned downtime, maintenance windows, and new product introductions.
• Support continuous improvement to promote schedule stability and inventory health.
• Prepare KPI results and risk assessments for leadership.
• Provide backup support for other planning roles.

Skills

Production planning

MRP planning

Capacity planning

Inventory management

Safety stock planning

Lot size optimization

Scheduling

Manufacturing execution

AI analytics

Education

Bachelor’s degree in SCM/Operations/Industrial Engineering

APICS/ASCM certification or Lean/Six Sigma training

Tools

SAP S/4HANA

SAP PP/DS

ERP/MRP systems

Job description

Sauder Woodworking Co. is seeking a Production Planner II to develop and manage production plans that balance customer demand, inventory strategies, and manufacturing efficiency.

You will review MRP outputs, production orders, and schedules to identify risks and improve planning decisions using analytics and AI-enabled tools. You will collaborate across manufacturing, procurement, sales/demand planning, and IT to optimize parameters, maintain master data, and ensure on-time execution.