Operations Planning Manager

Freudenberg•Belvidere, IL

About The Position

We are seeking an Operations Planning Manager to join our team at Freudenberg. In this role, you will be responsible for developing and maintaining production schedules, managing inventory, coordinating with various departments, and driving continuous improvement within our high-volume manufacturing operations. This position requires a strong understanding of supply chain principles, ERP/MRP systems, and the ability to analyze data to optimize production planning.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Business, Industrial Engineering, or related field preferred. Equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
3–7 years of production scheduling, production planning, supply chain, or manufacturing operations experience.
Experience in high-SKU manufacturing environments required.
Experience with ERP/MRP systems such as SAP, Oracle, JD Edwards, Microsoft Dynamics, or similar.

Nice To Haves

Experience serving retail, consumer products, packaging, filtration, food, household goods, or similar industries preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain detailed daily, weekly, and monthly production schedules for a high-volume manufacturing operation with thousands of SKUs.
Balance customer demand, forecast requirements, inventory targets, production capacity, labor availability, and material constraints.
Sequence production orders to minimize changeovers, downtime, scrap, and production inefficiencies.
Monitor schedule adherence and make real-time adjustments to address equipment issues, material shortages, labor constraints, and priority changes.
Release and manage work orders through ERP/MRP systems.
Ensure appropriate inventory levels are maintained for finished goods and critical components.
Analyze inventory trends and take action to prevent stockouts, excess inventory, and obsolete inventory.
Collaborate with procurement to ensure timely material availability for production schedules.
Support inventory reduction initiatives while maintaining target customer service levels.
Coordinate daily with Production Supervisors regarding schedule attainment and manufacturing constraints.
Work closely with Customer Service and Sales to understand customer requirements and delivery expectations.
Partner with Procurement to identify and resolve material shortages.
Communicate changes to production priorities effectively across the organization.
Analyze demand patterns, production performance, and capacity utilization to improve planning accuracy.
Develop and maintain KPIs related to schedule attainment, service levels, inventory performance, and manufacturing efficiency.
Identify opportunities to improve scheduling processes and system utilization.
Support S&OP (Sales and Operations Planning) and supply planning activities.
Prepare production schedules and planning reports for management review.
Track and report schedule compliance, production output, backlog, capacity constraints, and inventory metrics.
Maintain accurate planning data within ERP Microsoft Dynamcis/Great Plains/SAP and scheduling systems.