Junior Planner / Production Coordinator
Manufacturing / Operations
Department: Production / Supply Chain
Reports To: Plant Manager
Employment Type: Full-Time
Location: On-Site — Manufacturing Facility
The Junior Planner / Production Coordinator is responsible for overseeing and coordinating activities related to planning work orders to meet customer delivery deadlines. This role combines production planning responsibilities — building and managing the production schedule, reviewing material lead times, and scheduling orders based on available labor and materials — with hands-on production coordination duties such as monitoring the shop floor, coordinating between departments, and resolving day-to-day production issues. The role works cohesively with production supervisors, operations colleagues, and customer service, and requires a thorough understanding of packaging manufacturing or a genuine willingness to learn about the products produced on site.
Planning & Scheduling
- Review the production schedule and ERP system daily for new and released orders; plan, prepare, and control production schedules to ensure a controlled, timely flow of approved materials that meets production requirements.
- Schedule equipment and personnel and adjust schedules in response to material shortages, machine downtime, or priority changes; confirm material supply and demand and prepare work orders or purchase requests based on the master production schedule.
- Support material requirements planning (MRP) by verifying inventory levels and flagging shortages to the Purchasing Manager.
- Track work-in-process (WIP) inventory and update ERP/MRP systems with accurate order status.
- Help prepare capacity and load reports to identify potential bottlenecks before they impact delivery.
- Collaborate with procurement/purchasing on material and product delivery timelines for production, including occasional direct purchasing of materials to reduce work-in-process and raw material inventory levels.
- Collaborate with design on material substitutions and BOM audits.
- Work with maintenance to incorporate scheduled machine downtime into the production schedule.
- Monitor labor hours against the production schedule to help ensure staffing levels align with workload.
Production Coordination
- Serve as a daily point of contact between production, quality, maintenance, design, shipping and warehouse teams to keep jobs moving smoothly.
- Monitor shop floor progress against the schedule and communicate status updates to supervisors and Managers.
- Check job packets and work order paperwork — including routing sheets and job travelers — for completeness and accuracy before releasing to the production floor.
- Track and report on key production metrics (throughput, downtime, scrap, on-time completion).
- Help troubleshoot and escalate production issues (equipment downtime, staffing gaps, material delays) to the appropriate team.
- Support changeover and job sequencing to minimize downtime between production runs.
- Maintain accurate production records, logs, and documentation for audits and continuous improvement efforts.
Team Collaboration
- Demonstrate strong communication skills with employees and colleagues to ensure operations run smoothly.
- Multi-task effectively and show a willingness to help and support other team members.
- Maintain a positive attitude and adapt readily to changes in company policies and procedures.
- Promote a respectful and professional work environment at all times.
- Receive instructions and guidance from lateral and senior colleagues with an open mind.
General
- Participate in daily production meetings and provide updates on schedule adherence and open issues.
- Assist with root-cause analysis and continuous improvement initiatives related to planning, scheduling, and OTD.
- Perform other duties as assigned to support production and planning operations.
- High School diploma or GED required.
- Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Operations, or a related field preferred (or equivalent work experience).
- 2+ years of experience in manufacturing, with ERP system experience.
- 3+ years of Excel experience, including VLOOKUP formulas, pivot tables, SUMIFs formulas, tables, and external references.
- Basic understanding of production planning concepts (MRP, capacity planning, inventory management).
- Packaging industry experience preferred, not required; demonstrates a thorough understanding of packaging manufacturing or a strong willingness to learn about the products produced on site.
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Comfortable spending time on the production floor as well as at a desk.
- Bilingual, English and Spanish, preferred but not required.
This role is based primarily on-site at the manufacturing facility, splitting time between an office/planning environment and the production floor. Standard manufacturing safety practices and PPE requirements apply.
Skills Required
- High school diploma or GED
- Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Operations, or a related field, or equivalent work experience
- At least 2 years of manufacturing experience
- ERP system experience
- At least 3 years of Excel experience, including VLOOKUP formulas, pivot tables, SUMIF formulas, tables, and external references
- Basic understanding of production planning concepts, including MRP, capacity planning, and inventory management
- Packaging industry experience
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
- Comfort working on the production floor and at a desk
- Bilingual English and Spanish communication skills
What We Do
Specialized Packaging Solutions is a Newark-based custom packaging manufacturer producing corrugated containers, foam-fabricated packaging, wooden crates, shipping containers, transit cases, and packaging inserts. It offers just-in-time service and delivery, tailoring packaging to customer schedules and product-protection needs. The company serves industries such as telecommunications, automotive, aerospace, electronics, and medical devices. The business began as a family-owned company and manufactured custom packaging products at a 150,000-square-foot Newark warehouse.
