Master Scheduler

This company is experiencing significant sales growth and is in need of Master Scheduler (MS) who will have accountability for all capacity planning and scheduling manufacturing processes. The MS will report to the Plant Manager and will be a member of the plant leadership team. The Master Scheduler will lead a team of four planners, each supporting one of the plant’s value streams.

The business is a $100mm+ privately held entity with a vision of strategic growth that includes acquisitions. It is located in Eastern Pennsylvania within commuting distance of all major urban areas.  The manufacturing processes are vertically integrated and include significant metal fabrication, assembly, and finishing. The product lines are split between standard offerings, modified products, and engineered to order products that are customer specific.

The Master Scheduler will be accountable for driving processes for detailed daily planning schedules, capacity planning and work flow balance for all operations in the plant. The plant is in the process of deploying a daily planning capability so this new position will help establish and improve those processes. In addition, the MS will set up and track key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure the effectiveness of the planning functions and adherence to the schedules.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Oversee the processes for generating daily manufacturing orders and work schedules for production cells to achieve high on-time delivery, a balanced product flow, and level loading of available labor.
• Plan for the appropriate amount of work in progress (WIP) and finished goods (FG) inventory, so on-hand dollars remain low while still supporting on-time delivery and lead-time objectives.
• Work with production team, sales, operations, and customer service to create accurate forecasts that look at least 12 weeks out, to be used in internal planning and for communication to external suppliers.
• Manage pull systems such as a supermarket of fabricated parts, in-house and supplier Kanban, and finished goods held in stock for quick shipment.

Finally, the successful candidate cannot assume that reporting systems and data management practices and tools are in place. The successful candidate must be able to run the operation with just the current capabilities while identifying and implementing the needed management systems and processes.  The MS will play an essential role in defining those new systems and processes so candidates must have a demonstrated track record of process design and improvement.

EXPERIENCE:

• Multi-year operations scheduling, capacity planning, and work flow balance accountability in a complex manufacturing job shop (make to order) combined with make to stock experience, where product flow and scheduling to customer demand are critical drivers. 
• Combination of high volume/low mix and low volume/high mix processes and scheduling.  
• Prior success in a operational restructuring or in building the capability of a planning function in a manufacturing organization with an established workforce that requires significant process and cultural change. 
• Leading a planning function through the implementation of an ERP system is preferred but not required.
• Significant interaction with information technology (IT) resources in establishing data needs and making changes to data management systems to meet more complex scheduling and planning requirements.

KEY SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES:

• Problem identification, root cause analysis and implementation of countermeasures.
• Strong data analysis skills that lead to identifying key drivers of performance.
• Decision-making amongst ambiguity or competing interests and comfort juggling multiple assignments and priorities
• Ability to weather setbacks with a positive outlook.
• Strong presentation skills, including the ability to take significant amounts of information and condense it into a concise yet informative executive-level story.
• Mastery of Excel (heavy data manipulation) and Powerpoint. Other database software skills will be favorably viewed.
• Courage to stand their ground balanced with humility to admit mistakes.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• BS required (preferably in supply chain related field).
• Prior leadership, with direct reports, over a discrete manufacturing process with high level of stock keeping units (SKUs) with significant engineered and built to order products. 
• APICS certification will be highly regarded.

CONTACT:
Interested individuals should contact Sandra J. Bradley at sandrajbradley@sbcglobal.net, +1 972.467.9354, or send me an invitation to connect on LinkedIn.