.Production planning, Material Planning and Demand Planning is a key role in the IBP process, as the forecast it delivers will enable operations to meet the production targets timely, efficiently, and cost-effectively.
The Production Planner combines a variety of information from sales, supply chain / procurement, and operations (timely, as accurate as possible, usable in qualitative and quantitative terms) in order to properly plan the products that need to be produced.
The Production Planner delivers an important piece of information for the IBP cycle.The Production Planner role has typically a planning horizon of 1 to 15 months on monthly buckets and 3 months in weekly buckets.
The level of the role depends on the scope and complexity, based on the number of customers and size & complexity of the product portfolio.The Production Planner works closely with the Supply Planning manager (if present), Demand Planner, and Material Planner.
Depending on the size of the organization, these 3 planning roles may be combined into one or two roles, merging the responsibilities of Supply and Production planning, and/or material planning.KEY ACCOUNTABILITIESProduction PlanningCreates the Production plans based on the approved demand plan (forecast) which is enriched by inputs from the commercial teams; for the operational (0-13 weeks) and tactical horizon (1-15 months).Understand and anticipate business developments and translate these into the Production plan: e.G., new product introductions, phase-in/out, events, seasonality, tenders, contracts.As approved by the IBP cycle as well as following the business priorities set, secure Production plan constraining in case of supply restrictions and share the results with internal stakeholders (e.G., Operations, Commercial, Demand Planning, and customer service).Co-prepares, with e.G., Supply Planning manager and SC Manager, the Supply review meeting MT IBP meeting.Follow-up of the decisions/constraints from the IBP cycle of the organization and/or supply points.First point of contact for the Demand Planning team as well as Customer Service teams for the operational and/or tactical planning horizon.Translates the Production plan / customer orders into an optimal production schedule for the various production processes (receival & dispatch, mixing, and filling departments) in a planning tool for the operational horizon (week X – X+1), considering the technical production & quality requirements and constraints.Communicates detailed planning through M3 with supply & material planning, production, warehousing, maintenance & logistics to ensure an optimal service level & efficient usage of resources.Continuously monitors production output to ensure that actual production meets scheduled production output and raise foreseen issues, advises corrective and preventive actions.Adjusts production schedule and plan based on changes in the supply plan or real production output