Production Planner
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Job summary
The Production Planner is responsible for developing and maintaining short, medium, and long-term production plans to ensure customer demand is fulfilled while maximizing manufacturing efficiency, optimizing inventory levels, and minimizing production costs. The role serves as the key link between Demand Planning, Procurement, Production, Quality, Warehouse, and Logistics functions to ensure materials, resources, and production capacity are available to meet business requirements
Min Qualification:
Bachelors
Experience Level:
Mid level
Experience Length:
3 years
Language Requirement:
English
Working Hours:
Full Time - 8 to 5
Applicant Location:
Thika, Kenya
Job descriptions & requirements
Department: Supply Chain & Planning
Location: Thika Factory, Kenya
Reports To: Supply Chain Manager
Direct Reports: None (Individual Contributor)
Key Responsibilities
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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
8. 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
Company Benefits
Competitive base salary (from KES 85,000/month) + high commissions;
potential equity package;
fully remote work with flexible hours;
young, dynamic, international team; real growth opportunities in a fast-scaling startup.
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