Production Planning Manager

Job Descriptions:

1. Customer Order & Order Fulfilment

• Manage customer orders from order receipt through production planning and final delivery.
• Review customer demand, delivery requirements, production capacity, material availability and inventory before confirming achievable delivery commitments.
• Establish order fulfilment priorities based on customer requirements, business priorities and operational capabilities.
• Monitor overall order fulfilment performance and ensure customer orders are delivered on time and in full.
• Identify potential delivery risks at an early stage and lead appropriate recovery actions.
• Coordinate with Sales and Customer Service regarding customer demand changes, delivery priorities, urgent orders and delivery commitments.
• Establish effective escalation and recovery mechanisms for delayed orders, material shortages, production constraints and other supply chain issues.

2. Planning & Capacity

• Develop short-, medium- and long-term production plans based on customer demand, sales forecasts, inventory requirements and production capacity.
• Develop, manage and continuously optimise the Master Production Schedule (MPS).
• Evaluate manpower, equipment, production capacity, production constraints and material availability to ensure production plans are realistic and achievable.
• Identify production bottlenecks and capacity constraints and work with Production and relevant departments to develop solutions.
• Optimise production scheduling to improve productivity, equipment utilisation and production efficiency.
• Balance customer requirements, production priorities, material availability and inventory levels when establishing production priorities.
• Coordinate production planning with equipment maintenance and engineering activities to minimise production disruption.

3. Material Requirements Planning (MRP) & Inventory

• Lead the Material Requirements Planning (MRP) process based on production requirements, BOM, lead time, inventory levels and customer demand.
• Ensure raw materials, packaging materials and other production requirements are available according to the production schedule.
• Coordinate with Purchasing regarding material requirements, supplier lead times, delivery schedules and material shortages.
• Monitor material availability and proactively identify potential shortages that may affect production or customer delivery.
• Establish and monitor appropriate inventory targets and planning parameters.
• Monitor inventory turnover and identify opportunities to reduce excess, slow-moving and obsolete inventory.
• Analyse the root causes of excess and obsolete inventory and lead corrective actions.
• Ensure inventory levels align with production requirements, product shelf-life, and warehouse capacity.

4. Cross-Functional Coordination

• Lead coordination with Production, Purchasing, Warehouse, Quality, Customer Service, Sales, Logistics and other relevant departments.
• Establish effective communication and escalation channels to resolve planning issues promptly.
• Lead regular production planning and coordination meetings.
• Coordinate priorities between customer requirements, material availability, production capacity, inventory and delivery requirements.
• Work closely with Production to resolve production constraints, delays and capacity issues.
• Work closely with Purchasing and Warehouse to resolve material availability and inventory issues.
• Coordinate with Quality regarding product release, quality issues and other matters affecting production or customer delivery.
• Ensure cross-functional issues are followed through to closure.

5. KPI, Data & Performance Management

• Establish and monitor key planning and KPIs.
• Ensure KPI performance is measured based on accurate, consistent and verifiable data.
• Analyse actual performance against targets and identify root causes of performance gaps.
• Establish corrective and preventive actions for recurring planning and supply chain issues.
• Prepare regular management reports and dashboards for the Production Director and management team.
• Drive fact-based decision-making within the Production Planning function.

6. ERP, Digitalisation & AI

• Lead the implementation and effective utilisation of the ERP system for order management, production planning, MRP and inventory management.
• Ensure ERP planning data and master data are accurate and properly maintained.
• Ensure the accuracy of BOM, routing, lead time, production capacity, production cycle time and other planning parameters.
• Identify opportunities for process improvement and automation within the planning function.
• Drive digitalisation initiatives to improve planning visibility, reporting and decision-making.
• Identify and implement appropriate AI applications to improve planning efficiency, forecasting, inventory management and data analysis.
• Continuously review and improve planning procedures, systems and workflows.

7. Team Leadership

• Lead, manage and develop the Production Planning team.
• Establish clear job responsibilities, KPIs and performance expectations for team members.
• Coach and develop team members in production planning, MRP, inventory management, ERP and data analysis.
• Monitor team performance and provide regular coaching and performance feedback.
• Identify training needs and work with Human Resources to implement appropriate development programs.
• Delegate responsibilities effectively and establish clear accountability within the team.

8. Risk, Compliance & Food Safety

• Proactively identify production, material, inventory and delivery risks and establish appropriate mitigation and contingency plans.
• Immediately report any significant operational risk or situation involving unsafe or non-conforming products, equipment, packaging materials or raw materials to the Production Director.
• Ensure planning activities comply with company policies, food safety management systems, quality requirements and relevant procedures.

9. Responsible for any other assignments which will be delegated to you by your superior(s) from time to time.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree or Diploma in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Operations Management, Production Planning, Business Administration or related field.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience, preferably with at least 1-2 years in a supervisory or managerial planning role.
• Strong experience in production planning, MRP, inventory management and order fulfilment.
• Manufacturing experience preferred; food manufacturing or FMCG experience will be an advantage.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Strong cross-functional coordination and leadership capability.
• Experience with ERP systems and planning tools.
• Knowledge of process improvement, digitalisation, and data analytics.
• Knowledge of AI applications in planning or supply chain will be an added advantage.