Junior Planner / Production Coordinator

Position Summary

Key Responsibilities

• Review the production schedule and ERP system daily for new and released orders; plan, prepare, and control production schedules to ensure a controlled, timely flow of approved materials that meets production requirements.
• Schedule equipment and personnel and adjust schedules in response to material shortages, machine downtime, or priority changes; confirm material supply and demand and prepare work orders or purchase requests based on the master production schedule.
• Support material requirements planning (MRP) by verifying inventory levels and flagging shortages to the Purchasing Manager.
• Track work-in-process (WIP) inventory and update ERP/MRP systems with accurate order status.
• Help prepare capacity and load reports to identify potential bottlenecks before they impact delivery.
• Collaborate with procurement/purchasing on material and product delivery timelines for production, including occasional direct purchasing of materials to reduce work-in-process and raw material inventory levels.
• Collaborate with design on material substitutions and BOM audits.
• Work with maintenance to incorporate scheduled machine downtime into the production schedule.
• Monitor labor hours against the production schedule to help ensure staffing levels align with workload.

• Serve as a daily point of contact between production, quality, maintenance, design, shipping and warehouse teams to keep jobs moving smoothly.
• Monitor shop floor progress against the schedule and communicate status updates to supervisors and Managers.
• Check job packets and work order paperwork — including routing sheets and job travelers — for completeness and accuracy before releasing to the production floor.
• Track and report on key production metrics (throughput, downtime, scrap, on-time completion).
• Help troubleshoot and escalate production issues (equipment downtime, staffing gaps, material delays) to the appropriate team.
• Support changeover and job sequencing to minimize downtime between production runs.
• Maintain accurate production records, logs, and documentation for audits and continuous improvement efforts.

• Demonstrate strong communication skills with employees and colleagues to ensure operations run smoothly.
• Multi-task effectively and show a willingness to help and support other team members.
• Maintain a positive attitude and adapt readily to changes in company policies and procedures.
• Promote a respectful and professional work environment at all times.
• Receive instructions and guidance from lateral and senior colleagues with an open mind.

• Participate in daily production meetings and provide updates on schedule adherence and open issues.
• Assist with root-cause analysis and continuous improvement initiatives related to planning, scheduling, and OTD.
• Perform other duties as assigned to support production and planning operations.

Qualifications

• High School diploma or GED required.
• Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Operations, or a related field preferred (or equivalent work experience).
• 2+ years of experience in manufacturing, with ERP system experience.
• 3+ years of Excel experience, including VLOOKUP formulas, pivot tables, SUMIFs formulas, tables, and external references.
• Basic understanding of production planning concepts (MRP, capacity planning, inventory management).
• Packaging industry experience preferred, not required; demonstrates a thorough understanding of packaging manufacturing or a strong willingness to learn about the products produced on site.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Comfortable spending time on the production floor as well as at a desk.
• Bilingual, English and Spanish, preferred but not required.

Work Environment