Production Expediter

Summary

The Production Expediter serves as the vital link between the Sales department and the Shop Floor. This is a high-impact, tactical role focused on the real-time execution of Work Orders (WOs) and Sales Orders (SOs). You will be responsible for ensuring that customer commitments are met by physically and systematically moving orders through the production cycle, resolving material shortages, and providing transparent status updates to stakeholders.

Location:

Kent, WA (fully onsite Monday-Friday)

Pay range: $34.00 to $37.50 per hour, depending on experience.

• Actively manage the daily queue of WOs and SOs. Prioritize tasks based on ship dates, customer urgency, and material availability to ensure a smooth production flow.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for the Sales team. Field inquiries regarding order status, provide reliable estimated completion dates, and proactively communicate any potential delays.
• Review inventory requirements for open orders and "kit" or allocate materials to specific jobs. Coordinate with the warehouse team to ensure parts are pulled and staged at the correct work centers.
• Spend significant time on the production floor identifying bottlenecks. Physically "push" critical or "hot" orders through various stages (Assembly, Paint, Testing, etc.) to meet tight deadlines.
• Identify material shortages or documentation errors that stall production. Work cross-functionally with Purchasing, Engineering, and Quality to resolve these issues immediately.
• Update the ERP system in real-time to reflect actual job progress, ensuring that the data used by the rest of the organization is accurate and reliable.
• Implement and maintain department policies and standards.
• Required to have a strong comfort-level communicating throughout all levels of the organization.
• Understand, support and execute all work according to the established procedures of the organization.
• Project based assignments as requested.

• 2–5 years of experience in a manufacturing or distribution environment, specifically in a role that requires coordination between office and shop floor personnel.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to request priority focus from production leads while maintaining professional relationships with Sales.
• Competency with ERP/MRP software (e.g., Net Suite, SAP, or Oracle) for material allocation and order tracking.
• Strong Excel skills including Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP, and data modeling.
• Familiarity with lean manufacturing principles and demand-driven planning.

• Strong written communication and verbal skills.
• Ability to analyze a delay and determine the quickest path to resolution.
• Proven ability to multi-task, set project priorities, establish department/discipline goals and objectives for self.
• Computer literacy required; including proficiency with Microsoft applications (Excel, Word, PPT, etc.).
• Strong attention to detail.
• Positive attitude, self-motivated and eager to succeed.

• Required to sit, talk or hear; frequently required to use hands to grip or feel; and occasionally required to stand, walk, reach with hands and arms, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.
• Vision and depth perception suitable for use of a computer, printer, phone, and keyboard.
• Manual dexterity suitable for use of a computer.
• Sufficient personal mobility and physical reflexes which permits the employee to work in an office setting.
• Ability to walk and/or climb 5% of the time comfortably, with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Ability to sit at a computer for 90% of the time comfortably, with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Light to moderate lifting.

• Must be comfortable working in an office environment to include moderate noise levels.
• The working area is primarily in an open office setting with reasonable lighting and controlled temperatures.

The above statements reflect the general details considered necessary to decide the principal functions of the job identified and shall not be construed as a detailed description of all work requirements that may be inherent in the job. Job incumbents are expected to perform other duties necessary for the effective operation of the position, department, or the business.