Production Planner
Department: Supply Chain & Planning
Location: Thika Factory, Kenya
Reports To: Supply Chain Manager
Direct Reports: None (Individual Contributor)
Key Responsibilities
- Production Planning & Scheduling
- Develop weekly and monthly production plans based on demand forecasts, sales orders, inventory levels, and capacity constraints.
- Create and maintain detailed production schedules by product category and production line.
- Balance production capacity against customer demand requirements.
- Monitor production order progress and adjust schedules as required.
- Ensure efficient utilization of labour, machinery, utilities, and factory resources.
- Prioritize production based on customer requirements and business objectives.
- Coordinate production sequencing to reduce changeovers and improve line efficiency.
- Material Requirements Planning (MRP)
- Run MRP within SAP Business One.
- Convert production plans into raw material, packaging, and consumable requirements.
- Ensure production materials are available to meet manufacturing schedules.
- Coordinate closely with Procurement regarding purchase requirements and supplier lead times.
- Monitor shortages and proactively escalate risks that may impact production.
- Inventory Optimization
- Maintain optimum levels of:
o Raw materials o Packaging materials o Work-in-progress inventory o Finished goods inventory
- Develop production plans that minimize:
o Excess inventory o Obsolescence o Product expiry risks o Stock-outs
- Review inventory ageing and recommend corrective actions
- Capacity & Resource Planning
- Analyse:
o Machine capacities o Labour availability o Maintenance schedules o Production constraints
- Develop capacity plans to support business growth.
- Identify bottlenecks and recommend solutions.
- Support capital expenditure planning by providing production capacity analyses.
- Demand & Supply Alignment
- Participate in monthly S&OP meetings.
- Review forecast changes and translate them into production requirements.
- Conduct supply-demand gap analysis.
- Recommend strategies to mitigate supply shortages or excess inventory.
- Support new product launches and promotional planning.
- Production Monitoring & Control
- Track daily production performance against plan.
- Investigate deviations and identify root causes.
- Recommend corrective actions to improve plan adherence.
- Monitor manufacturing KPI trends.
- Ensure production orders are closed accurately and timely within SAP.
- Cross Functional Coordination
Work closely with: Sales & Commercial Team
- Demand forecasts
- Promotions
Procurement
- Material availability
- Supplier lead times
- Procurement priorities
Production
- Daily schedules
- Capacity utilization
- Production challenges
Quality Assurance
- Product release schedules
- Non-conformance impacts
Warehouse & Logistics
- Finished goods availability
- Dispatch planning
- Reporting & Analytics
Prepare and publish:
- Daily Production Planning Report
- Weekly Capacity Utilization Report
- Monthly Inventory Planning Report
- Forecast Accuracy Analysis
- Production Variance Report
- Material Shortage Report
- S&OP Planning Pack
Develop dashboards in Excel, Power BI, or SAP.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Production Plan Adherence ≥95% OTIF Production Orders ≥95% Forecast Consumption Accuracy ≥85% Material Availability ≥98% Production Schedule Stability ≥90% Inventory Days Cover Within Target Inventory Write-Offs Minimized Stock-Out Occurrences <2 per month Capacity Utilization >85% SAP Transaction Accuracy ≥99%
Qualifications Education
- Bachelor's Degree in:
o Supply Chain Management o Industrial Engineering o Manufacturing Engineering o Operations Management o Business Administration
Professional Certifications (Preferred)
- APICS CPIM
- APICS CSCP
- CIPS
- Six Sigma Green Belt
- Lean Manufacturing Certification
Experience
- 3-5 years for Production Planner level.
- FMCG manufacturing experience is essential.
- Experience planning:
o Food manufacturing o Packaging operations o High-volume production environments
- Strong SAP Business One or ERP planning experience.
- Experience with MRP, inventory management, and production scheduling.
Competencies Technical Competencies
- Production Planning
- MRP Management
- Capacity Planning
- Inventory Management
- Supply Planning
- Forecast Interpretation
- SAP Business One
- Advanced Excel
- Power BI Reporting
Behavioural Competencies
- Analytical Thinking
- Attention to Detail
- Planning & Organizing
- Problem Solving
- Communication Skills
- Decision Making
- Stakeholder Management
- Continuous Improvement Mindset