Senior Production Planner

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Professional Traverse City, MI, US

At Oilgear, we design and manufacture high-performance hydraulic systems that power some of the world’s most demanding industrial applications. Our employees play a critical role in our success, and we are committed to providing a safe, collaborative, and growth-oriented environment. At Oilgear, you’ll work with advanced technology, contribute to meaningful products, and be part of a team that values quality, accountability, and continuous improvement.

The Senior Production Planner owns the master production schedule and the planning parameters that drive material flow through the Traverse City facility. This role independently determines production sequencing and priority across work centers, establishes MRP planning parameters and inventory targets, and commits delivery dates to customers on behalf of the business. The Senior Production Planner serves as the site’s senior planning authority, resolving complex material and capacity constraints and providing technical direction to other planning staff.

Decisions made in this role directly affect on-time delivery performance, inventory investment, and customer relationships.

• Own and maintain the Master Production Schedule (MPS), determining production sequencing, lot sizing, and order release timing, to support efficient utilization of plant capacity while meeting customer delivery commitments.
• Set backlog recovery strategy, tracking clear-to-build (CTB) status and establishing and directing action plans to resolve past-due orders.
• Lead capacity planning across key work centers to identify constraints and determine level-loading of shop floor schedules.
• Lead the operational review of Engineering Change Notices (ECNs), including evaluating inventory exposure, approving ERP effectivity dates, and directing phase-in/phase-out cut-overs.
• Participate in the Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process, translating the demand plan into an executable production schedule and identifying capacity gaps.

• Establish and maintain accuracy of MRP data, including lead times, yields, routings, and Bills of Materials (BOMs).
• Monitor short-part lists and partner with Purchasing and Logistics to determine resolution paths for supply line disruptions.
• Monitor and partner with Purchasing to set safety stock, reorder points, and min-max parameters, balancing inventory carrying cost against stockout and line-down risk.
• Monitor and partner with Purchasing, Materials Manager, Operations, and Finance to establish inventory targets and turn objectives to approve exceptions to standard planning parameters.

• Serve as an operational point of contact between Sales, Customer Service, Procurement, and Shop Floor Leadership.
• Support Sales with customer quote requests by analyzing capacity and material lead times to establish and commit Available-to-Promise (ATP) delivery dates.
• Communicate schedule risks and constraints to internal teams and leadership as needed.
• Maintain open, two-way communication with the Production Manager on production schedule changes, ensuring any adjustments are reflected in the schedule and MRP data.
• Participate in daily/weekly production control meetings.
• Participate in continuous improvement projects.
• Provide work direction, training, and technical guidance to Production Planner(s); serve as the site escalation point for complex scheduling and material issues.
• Accountable for on-time delivery, schedule adherence, past-due…