Strategic Wave Planning Lead

ALO; Town of North East (NY); Vor Ort; USD 110.000 - 140.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

ALO in New York seeks a Production / Wave Planning Manager to translate daily demand into executable production plans, balancing capacity and order release across the DC. You’ll lead the Wave Planning team, coordinate with Operations, Labor Planning, WMS, and Capacity Planning to keep orders flowing and service targets met.

You’ll rely on deep knowledge of distribution operations, WMS, and end-to-end order flow, with strong analytical and leadership skills to drive continuous improvement in

Qualifikationen

• 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 related function.
• Previous leadership experience preferred.
• Strong understanding of distribution center operations and end-to-end order flow.
• Experience 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

Aufgaben

• 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.

Kenntnisse

Leadership

Analytical thinking

Communication

Decision making

Ausbildung

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Industrial Engineering, Operations, Business, Analytics, or related field

Tools

WMS

Excel

BI tools

Jobbeschreibung

ALO in New York seeks a Production / Wave Planning Manager to translate daily demand into executable production plans, balancing capacity and order release across the DC. You’ll lead the Wave Planning team, coordinate with Operations, Labor Planning, WMS, and Capacity Planning to keep orders flowing and service targets met.

You’ll rely on deep knowledge of distribution operations, WMS, and end-to-end order flow, with strong analytical and leadership skills to drive continuous improvement in