Production Planner at Charisma Candles

Production Planner Duties: will play a crucial role in ensuring that manufacturing processes run smoothly, efficiently, and on schedule.

Planning and Scheduling

• Production Scheduling: Develop detailed schedules for production activities, ensuring the right products are made at the right time to meet customer demands.
• Capacity Planning: Evaluate the production capacity and resources required (e.g., labour, equipment, and materials) to meet current and future production needs.
• Workload Distribution: Allocate tasks and production orders to specific machines, teams, or workstations to optimize productivity.

Inventory and Materials Management

• Material Requirements Planning (MRP): Ensure the availability of raw materials and components by coordinating with the purchasing team and suppliers.
• Inventory Control: Maintenance of Inventories. Monitor inventory levels to avoid overstocking or stockouts and maintain optimal inventory turnover.
• Supply Chain Coordination: Collaborate with procurement and logistics teams to ensure timely delivery of materials and components.

Process Monitoring and Improvement

• Performance Tracking: Monitor production progress and adjust schedules or resources as necessary to meet deadlines.
• Problem Solving: Address issues such as equipment breakdowns, supply delays, or labour shortages to minimize production disruptions.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify opportunities to streamline production processes, reduce waste, and enhance efficiency.

Communication and Collaboration

• Cross-Department Coordination: Work closely with production manager, quality assurance, engineering, and sales teams to align production goals with company objectives.
• Stakeholder Updates: Keep management and other stakeholders informed about production status, potential delays, and any corrective actions being taken.

Documentation and Reporting

• Production Documentation: Maintain accurate records of production schedules, inventory levels, and performance metrics.
• Reporting: Generate reports to evaluate production efficiency, costs, and output, and propose improvements based on data analysis.

Compliance and Safety

• Regulatory Compliance: Ensure that production activities comply with industry regulations and safety standards.
• Risk Management: Identify and mitigate potential risks related to production schedules or processes.

Production Planning Manager

needs to oversee the entire production planning process, ensuring that manufacturing operations are efficient, cost-effective, and meet organizational goals.

Strategic Planning

• Develop Production Strategies: Define long-term and short-term production planning strategies to align with business objectives.
• Capacity Planning: Evaluate and optimize manufacturing capacity to meet current and future production demands.
• Budgeting and Cost Control: Develop and manage budgets for production planning, focusing on cost efficiency without compromising quality.

Production Coordination

• Master Production Scheduling (MPS): Oversee the creation of comprehensive schedules for production activities, ensuring alignment with sales forecasts and inventory levels.
• Workflow Optimization: Ensure production processes are streamlined and minimize bottlenecks or inefficiencies.
• Collaboration: Coordinate with departments such as procurement, sales, operations, and quality assurance to ensure smooth production flow.

Monitoring and Problem-Solving

• Performance Monitoring: Track production progress, analyzing KPIs such as on-time delivery, production costs, and inventory turnover.
• Issue Resolution: Anticipate and resolve issues like supply chain disruptions, equipment failures, or labor shortages to maintain schedule adherence.
• Risk Management: Identify potential risks in production planning and implement strategies to mitigate them.

Inventory and Supply Chain Management

• Inventory Oversight: Ensure inventory levels are balanced to meet production needs without overstocking or understocking.
• Material Planning: Collaborate with procurement to ensure timely availability of raw materials and components.
• Supplier Coordination: Maintain strong relationships with suppliers to ensure consistent material quality and delivery schedules.

Continuous Improvement

• Process Enhancement: Identify opportunities for improving production planning processes and implement best practices.
• Technology Integration: Improve IT planning tools and software (e.g., ERP, MRP and Excel systems) to enhance planning accuracy and efficiency.

Reporting and Communication

• Reporting to Management: Present regular updates to senior management on production planning performance and challenges.
• Forecasting and Analysis: Provide data-driven insights and forecasts to support decision-making.
• Stakeholder Communication: Ensure clear communication with internal and external stakeholders regarding production schedules, changes, and expectations.

Compliance and Quality Assurance

• Ensure Compliance: Ensure production plans adhere to industry standards, safety regulations, and company policies.
• Support Quality Goals: Work closely with quality assurance teams to ensure that production schedules do not compromise product quality.

Desired Skills:

• Production Planning
• Production schedules
• Inventory Control
• Strong Excel advanced skills

Desired Work Experience:

• 2 to 5 years Producing / Directing

About The Employer:

We are a manufacturing operation producing home fragrance products, under our own brand and manufacture for other retailers both chain and independent stores under their brands throughout South Africa. We also have small export market. We are leaders in our field.