Overview
Job Context: Production planning, Material Planning and Demand Planning is a key role in the IBP process. The forecast delivered enables operations to meet production targets timely, efficiently and cost effectively. The Production Planner combines information from sales, supply chain / procurement, and operations to properly plan the products that need to be produced. The Production Planner delivers an important piece of information for the IBP cycle. The planning horizon typically covers 1 to 15 months (monthly buckets) and 3 months in weekly buckets. The level of the role depends on the scope and complexity, based on number of customers and size of the product portfolio. The Production Planner works closely with the Supply Planning Manager (if present), Demand Planner and Material Planner. Depending on organizational size, these roles may be combined into one or two roles, merging responsibilities of Supply and Production planning and/or material planning.
Key Accountabilities
* Production Planning
o Creates the Production plans based on approved demand plan (forecast) enriched by inputs from the commercial teams; for the operational (0-13 weeks) and tactical horizon (1-15 months).
o Understands and anticipates business developments and translates these into the Production plan (e.g., new product introductions, phase-in/out, events, seasonality, tenders, contracts).
o As approved by IBP cycle and business priorities, secures Production plan constraints in case of supply restrictions and shares results with internal stakeholders (e.g., Operations, Commercial, Demand Planning and Customer Service).
o Co-prepares, with the Supply Planning Manager and SC Manager, the Supply review meeting MT IBP meeting.
o Follows up on decisions/constraints from the IBP cycle of the organization and/or supply points.
o Acts as first point of contact for the Demand Planning team and Customer Service teams for the operational and/or tactical planning horizon.
* Production Scheduling (Plan)
o Translates the Production plan / customer orders into an optimal production schedule for the various production processes (receival & dispatch, mixing and filling) for the operational horizon (week X – X+1), considering technical production & quality requirements and constraints.
o Communicates detailed planning through M3 with Supply & Material Planning, Production, Warehousing, Maintenance & Logistics to ensure optimal service level and efficient use of resources.
o Continuously monitors production output to ensure actual production meets the schedule; raises foreseen issues and advises corrective and preventive actions.
o Adjusts production schedule and plan based on changes in the supply plan or real production output.
o Consults with maintenance, engineering and product development regarding time for interim maintenance, repair scheduling and trial productions.
o Aligns with Material Planner or team lead in case of availability issues.
o Creates robust production schedules that anticipate ad-hoc production or distribution issues.
o Solves problems and provides timely solutions to minimize impact to customers; communicates plans to internal and external stakeholders.
o Distribution planning of products (if applicable) and placing distribution orders between raw material warehouses.
* Monitoring Planning (PDCA-cycle) & Analysis
o Maintain Production planning master data, parameters and systems/software; monitor and analyze data to enable the PDCA cycle.
o Drive continuous improvement of the plants and production lines in conformance to plan, in alignment with Operations teams.
o Coordinate activities related to constraining and allocation processes to match Production & Supply.
o Prepare and monitor planning-related KPIs to identify improvement areas and monitor performance.
o Keep up to date with planning theory and concepts to improve effectiveness.
o Coordinate with Operations and Demand Planning to determine priorities, corrective and preventive actions to prevent OOS and Waste in accordance with internal procedures.
o Continuously seek opportunities for improvement within daily work and take ownership of implementing solutions.
* Continuous Improvement & Projects
o Proposes improvements to the (production) planning process and implements them.
o Leads and/or participates in projects to improve End-to-End planning reliability and planning processes.
Material Planning
* Planning of Raw and Auxiliary Materials
o Determines the number of auxiliary materials, packaging materials and ingredients needed based on internal stock policies to ensure material availability from production planning.
o Creates Material plans based on MRP from the approved production plan for the operational horizon (0-13 weeks).
o Adjusts planning based on changes in the production schedule or real production output.
o Aligns with schedule, supply planner or lead in case of availability issues.
o Anticipates plans based on ad hoc production or distribution issues.
o As approved by IBP cycle and follow business priorities, secures Production/Material plan constraints in case of supply restrictions and shares results with internal stakeholders (e.g., Operations).
o Co-prepares, with Production Planner, Supply Network Planner and SC Manager, the Supply review meeting.
o Follow-up on decisions/constraints from the IBP cycle of the organization and/or supply points.
* Ordering of Raw and Auxiliary Materials
o Placing purchase orders with suppliers, calls of raw materials and auxiliary materials at suppliers considering contract agreements and lead times to ensure timely delivery.
o Placing distribution orders from external warehouses.
o Switch to contingency suppliers in case of shortage to prevent delivery issues.
o Discusses complaints with suppliers about delivery issues such as lead times, quality, packaging.
o Sends out purchase orders to suppliers considering lead times.
o Develops and maintains positive relationships with suppliers, resolving concerns and evaluating performance.
o Supports Procurement with supplier meetings and negotiations.
o Distribution planning of materials (if applicable) and optimize use of external warehouses.
o Placing distribution orders between raw material warehouses.
* Manage Stocks of Raw and Auxiliary Materials
o Monitors stock accuracy by checking physical stock vs administrative stock.
o Processes stock mutations and checks weights by comparing inbound and outbound weights.
o Monitors execution of FIFO principles.
o Monitors and coordinates phase in / phase out of new materials to avoid OOS or obsoletes.
o Coordinates and/or executes weekly and monthly stock counts and checks differences.
* Monitoring Planning, Material & Demand (PDCA-cycle) & Analysis
o Maintain Production, Material & Demand planning master data, parameters and systems/software; monitor and analyze data to enable the PDCA cycle.
o Drive continuous improvement of the Plant(s) and production line conformance to plan in alignment with Operations teams.
o Coordinate constraining and allocation processes to match Demand & Supply.
o Prepare and monitor planning KPIs to identify improvement areas and monitor performance.
o Keep up to date with forecasting theory and concepts to improve effectiveness, including aggregated forecasting techniques and statistical methods.
o Coordinate with Operations and Planning Teams to determine priorities and corrective/preventive actions to prevent OOS and Waste per internal procedures.
o Continuously seek opportunities for improvement within daily work context and implement solutions.
* Continuous Improvement & Projects
o Proposes improvements to the (production & material) planning process and puts them into practice.
o Leads and/or participates in projects to improve End-to-End planning reliability and planning processes.
* Demand Planning
o Creates demand plans based on baseline (statistical) forecast enriched by inputs from the commercial teams for the operational (0-13 weeks) and tactical horizon (4-15 months).
o Uses statistical forecasting to create a solid baseline forecast; maintains, reviews and cleans historical data and determines applicability to the portfolio.
o Understands business dynamics (NPD, phase-in/out, promotions, events, seasonality, tenders, contracts, activations) and translates them into the demand plan.
o Provides different demand scenarios if requested to the supply chain.
o Secures demand plan constraints in case of supply restrictions and shares results with internal stakeholders (e.g., supply, sales and customer service).
o Prepares the account & demand review meeting and provides input for the MT IBP meeting with commercial teams.
o Follow-up on decisions/constraints from the IBP cycle of the organization and/or supply points.
o First point of contact for the commercial organization for the operational and/or tactical planning horizon.
* Monitoring Planning (PDCA-cycle) & Analysis – Demand
o Maintain demand planning master data and systems; monitor trends to improve forecast.
o Drive forecast accuracy and bias improvement in alignment with commercial teams.
o Analyze and challenge the quality of enrichments provided by commercial teams (assumptions, deltas, consumption, trends, issues, gaps, risks, opportunities).
o Identify sales opportunities and risks and propose actions on available capacities and RM.
o Coordinate constraining and allocation processes to match Demand & Supply.
o Prepare and monitor KPIs for forecast accuracy, bias and error.
o Stay current with forecasting theory and methods; coordinate with Supply and Commercial teams to prevent OOS and Waste.
o Continuously seek opportunities for improvement within daily work and implement solutions.
* Collaborative Planning
o Prepare material to facilitate discussion and manage the monthly demand meeting with input from Sales & Marketing.
o Achieve consensus for operational demand forecasts by facilitating a collaborative planning process with Sales & Marketing.
o Collaborate with key customers planning teams for integrated plans.
* Finished Goods and Forecast Improvement
o Continuous improvement and projects related to forecasting reliability and process.
Key Performance Indicators
* Production: Delivery On Time In Full (OTIF), Forecast Accuracy RMR/RMN, Finished Goods stock-outs, Waste costs, Plan and schedule conformance, Planned Stops, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), Inventory levels / Working capital.
* Material: Forecast Accuracy, Plan and schedule conformance, Planned Stops, OEE, Inventory Budget / DIO, Customer OTIF, Slow Moving/Obsolete stock, Goods Inwards Flow / Traffic Planning, Supplier Performance, Invoice Queries, Product portfolio, Raw Material stock-outs.
* Demand: OTIF, Forecast Accuracy, Forecast Bias, Forecast Accuracy RMR/RMN, Finished Goods stock-outs.
Qualifications And Experience
* University degree in supply chain, operations, economics, technical engineering or similar, with at least 3–5 years of work experience in a comparable position.
* Experience with forecasting and S&OP in the animal feed industry or FMCG.
* Experience working cross-functionally with other departments.
* Excellent knowledge of ERP tools and MS Office; knowledge of Infor M3 and DMP desirable.
* Excellent communication and negotiation skills; ability to build trusted stakeholder relationships.
* Understanding of manufacturing challenges and performance leverage.
* Strong numerical capability with attention to detail and an analytical mindset.
* Inquisitive approach to identify risks and opportunities for follow-up.
* English plus additional language preferred.
Competencies
* Interpersonal skills; building and maintaining relationships, cross-cultural awareness.
* Excellent communication and negotiation; adapt communication to local contexts.
* Hands-on mentality; results-driven; strong numerical and analytical thinking.
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