Production Planner

Job Specification

1. Position Summary

The Assistant Production Planner supports production scheduling and inventory control within a fast-paced thermoformed packaging environment serving food industry clients. This role will manage short- and long-term production plans, raw material/tooling forecasting, and resolve production constraints to meet customer orders efficiently.

2. Key Responsibilities

Production Planning & Scheduling

• Develop and manage production schedules in EFACS MRP, aligning with sales orders and manufacturing capacity.

• Coordinate with production teams to ensure resources and tooling availability meet scheduled orders.

• Monitor progress against plan; adjust schedules dynamically in response to production delays or changing demand.

• Propose workflow and scheduling improvements to boost efficiency and reduce lead times.

Inventory & Material Control

• Track inventory levels, tool usage and stock requirements; raise Purchase Orders when needed.

• Maintain accurate inventory records (material usage, order lead times, minimum & maximum levels).

• Forecast raw material and tooling needs based on production schedules and historical consumption.

Forecasting & Analytics

• Work closely with commercial and sales functions to develop dependable demand forecasts.

• Produce regular reports on production adherence, inventory trends, and capacity utilization.

• Use Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUPs) to model scenarios and support data-informed planning decisions.

Problem Solving & Cross?Functional Coordination

• Identify and resolve scheduling conflicts (e.g. material shortages, machine downtime).

• Liaise with procurement, engineering (tooling), quality and logistics teams to minimize bottlenecks.

• Support ongoing continuous improvement/lean initiatives within the planning process

3. Requirements

Essential

• Minimum 2 years demonstrable experience in production planning or scheduling within a high?volume manufacturing environment ideally food, beverage or FMCG sectors.

• Proficiency in Excel: strong skills in Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP, and data analysis.

• Experience using MRP/ERP systems for manufacturing planning (EFACS experience is a plus).

• Strong analytical mindset with attention to detail and organisational ability.

• Excellent communication, capable of working collaboratively across teams.

Desirable

• Exposure to thermoformed packaging, tooling forecasting, and lean/continuous improvement techniques.

• Previous use of EFACS MRP or equivalent (SAP, Kinaxis, APO) systems in planning context.

• Knowledge of food industry regulations, quality standards or GMP environments.

4. Other Information

Package & Benefits

• Location: Haydock (on?site) with free parking

• Salary: £30,000 £32,000 per annum

• Pension: Statutory scheme, employer contributions 3%/5%

• Holiday: 30 days (inclusive of bank holidays)

• Share Options: Currently under review

• Laptop Provided

Working Hours & Flexibility

• Core hours: choice of 10:00 / 11:00 / 12:00 start through to 18:00 / 19:00 / 20:00 (Mon Fri)

• Ideally be able to cover weekend breakdown/plan changes.

5. Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a proactive planner with solid experience in fast-moving manufacturing settings particularly within food or FMCG sectors. They should be highly skilled in Excel, comfortable using ERP/MRP systems, and adept at working cross-functionally to solve planning and inventory challenges. Ideally they bring some familiarity with thermoformed packaging and continuous improvement practices.

If you have any questions please ask in the comments section of yoyur application.