Production Planner

Trane Italia • Columbia, SC

12d • $66,817 - $93,310 • Onsite

About The Position

The Production Planner develops, maintains, and optimizes production plans and forecasts in alignment with the Master Production Schedule and plant objectives. The role balances plant supply and demand to support customer service, efficient use of capacity and resources, operational performance, and inventory targets. It works cross-functionally to turn demand signals into executable production plans, with emphasis on forecast management, schedule integrity, material readiness, and proactive issue resolution.

Requirements

• High school diploma required.
• At least 3 years of experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience in production planning, forecasting, inventory management, MRP, and lean manufacturing processes.
• Working knowledge of ERP systems, MRP logic, and production planning processes.
• Proficiency with ERP systems and Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel.
• Intermediate mathematical, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong ability to balance supply and demand in a dynamic plant environment.
• Demonstrated ability to manage, maintain, and improve forecasts for production planning and inventory decisions.
• Ability to make complex decisions with limited time and information based on plant priorities and business needs.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, multi-tasked manufacturing environment.
• Strong problem-solving, analytical thinking, ownership, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to resolve issues independently.
• Strong data analysis and data manipulation skills.
• Understanding of product configurations, options, substitutions, and critical functions or components.
• Strong customer-service orientation and commitment to internal and external customer requirements.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills across multiple functions and organizational levels.
• Ability to identify risks proactively and develop practical solutions to maintain schedule performance and customer commitments.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Operations, or a related field.
• APICS Certification in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM).
• Experience with visual management systems.

Responsibilities

• Develop, review, and maintain production plans and schedules aligned with the Master Production Schedule and plant priorities.
• Manage and update demand forecasts, aligning forecast inputs with customer demand patterns, business inputs, and plant capacity constraints.
• Balance supply and demand by adjusting production plans to support service, inventory, and operational objectives.
• Set production priorities based on customer and forecasted demand, master scheduling requirements, inventory objectives, and service-level goals.
• Work with cross-functional teams to assess demand changes, capacity limitations, material constraints, and operational risks, and turn findings into actionable plans.
• Reconcile order discrepancies, customer order changes, and shifting priorities to minimize production schedule disruption.
• Communicate with Operations, Purchasing, Sales, Marketing, Engineering, and other stakeholders about priorities, forecasts, and production requirements.
• Maintain planning data in systems, including item attributes, routings, planning parameters, lead times, and safety stocks.
• Monitor component availability and coordinate with buyers to expedite materials when needed.
• Build and manage multi-phase production schedules for standard manufacturing, engineered-to-order, and design-to-order requirements.
• Plan manufacturing timelines, material requirements, and workflow sequencing to support efficient execution and on-time delivery.
• Evaluate forecast inputs, demand trends, inventory positions, and capacity availability, and recommend schedule and production plan adjustments.
• Reschedule production in response to material availability, forecast updates, customer demand, and manufacturing lead times.
• Manage planning activities for rejected, rework, and nonconforming products to minimize disruption and protect delivery performance.
• Coordinate manufacturing activities and monitor schedule adherence and production performance against plan.
• Develop, track, and manage metrics including On-Time Shipment, productivity, revenue, past-due backlog, unit production, forecast accuracy, and schedule attainment.
• Recalculate and update Customer Estimated Ship Dates at key milestones.
• Participate in daily cross-functional meetings to resolve delayed shipments, component shortages, overtime requirements, production constraints, and other material or scheduling issues.
• Identify opportunities to improve forecast processes, planning parameters, schedule stability, and plant planning effectiveness.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Health insurance and holistic wellness programs, including incentives, effective on day one for the employee and family.
• Fertility coverage and adoption or surrogacy assistance.
• Up to 15 vacation days, paid holidays, sick leave, and additional options for volunteer and parental leave.
• 401(k) match.
• Educational and training opportunities through company programs.
• Tuition assistance and student debt support.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: High school or GED