Planner/ Scheduler

Full time, permanent post - Brand New Role
- Office Based Role - Burntwood, WS7
- Salary Negotiable (up to £30k) depending on experience
- Working Hours: 37 per week. Strong work-life balance culture
- Employee Assistance Package with BHSF including 24 hr GP helpline
- Enhanced Sick Pay
- Profit related company bonus
- Treats

Mercian Labels is at the top of its game, an independently owned multi-award winning full-service label manufacturing business with strong brand recognition for excellence. Our vision is to become a **World Class** **manufacturer of labels **and we are passionate about delivering ‘Speed & Service’ to our customers.

As part of our ongoing growth plan and aligned with our World Class Manufacturing journey, we are seeking to broaden our Operations Team through the appointment of an additional Planner/Scheduler.
- **Planner**_: _The planner will be responsible for the medium to long-term planning of our work. This involves forecasting current and future demand of what needs to be produced, whilst considering factors like market demands, inventory levels and production capabilities and capacity.
- **Scheduler**_:_ The scheduler will focus on the short term and day to day fast paced continuous operations. The primary goal is to efficiently allocate resources to meet the production schedule created during the planning phase. You will work closely with the production department to validate detailed schedules for machines and staff ensuring the production floor is efficiently utilised. You will monitor progress and escalate any unexpected issues. You will be required to make real-time adjustments to the schedule to ensure that the production process runs smoothly.

You will:

- Plan and balance the production to satisfy the demands of the customer and the Sales Team within the available production capacity.
- Makes sure that goods are ready to distribute to customers in the agreed timeframe.
- To regulate the flow and volume of work to a maximum manageable level.
- Develop a programme to improve the efficiency of the plan with the input of the Production and Sales Teams.

**MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES**
- To liaise with the Sales Department and the Production Department to provide a manufacturing plan using our internal ERP system.
- To defend the company's USP on “speed and service” and prepare for forecast fluctuations in demand, accordingly, escalating any demand issues to the Production Manager or Deputy Production Manager.
- Notify Sales of any schedule impacts to customers.
- Support purchasing / procurement.
- Holiday / Sickness cover for some aspects of the Supply Chain Manager role.
- To plan, implement and monitor improvements to the systems and processes within the business through cross functional improvement meetings.
- Review job specific Bill of Materials (BOM) ensuring all aspects of the job are available.
- To purchase and coordinate job specific tooling.
- Operate to minimise costs to the business.
- Liaise with the Production Manager or Deputy Production Manager to organise absence and holiday cover for self and Production Teams and plan staff resource against Sales forecast.
- To regularly review the schedules to ensure compliance, escalating issues or deviation to the Production Manager or Deputy Production Manager whilst making real time adjustments to the schedule.

**Most Challenging Parts of the Post**
- The Planner / Scheduler will have to say no to some requests and agree the alternate best possible time scale to deliver a customer’s demand.
- Planning and scheduling is a complex role which presents the conflicting demands of available capacity and the demands on it from numerous sales colleagues in a continually changing environment with several variables such as equipment failure, material delivery times, machine manning and damaged tools for example.

**Person Specification**
- **Minimum of 3 years production planning / scheduling experience** in a related function
- Knowledge of high-volume manufacturing planning, costs, cost modelling, techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Knowledge of Supply Chain and Distribution Management
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to interact well with internal and external customers. The ability to communicate effectively when dealing with individuals under pressure to deliver for their customers.
- Excellent Organisational Skills
- Attention to Detail with speed and accuracy.

Please note interviews will likely include a 2-stage process.

**NO AGENCIES PLEASE**

**Job Types**: Full-time, Permanent

**Salary**: £27,000.00-£30,000.00 per year

**Benefits**:

- Company pension
- Cycle to work scheme
- Free flu jabs
- On-site parking

Schedule:

- Monday to Friday

Supplemental pay types:

- Bonus scheme

Ability to commute/relocate:

- Burntwood WS7 3GN: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)

**Experience**:

- manufacturing env