Master Scheduler

The Master Scheduler is responsible for developing, maintaining, and communicating the production schedule to ensure customer requirements are met while optimizing labor, equipment, materials, inventory, and production capacity. This position works closely with Production, Materials, Purchasing, Quality, Maintenance, Engineering, and Customer Service to balance customer demand with manufacturing capabilities.

The Master Scheduler will monitor production performance, identify capacity constraints and scheduling risks, and make adjustments to the production plan to support on-time delivery, efficient operations, and customer satisfaction.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

1. Develop and maintain the master production schedule based on customer demand, forecasts, orders, inventory levels, and available manufacturing capacity.
2. Translate customer requirements into achievable production schedules and communicate priorities to appropriate departments.
3. Monitor daily production performance against the master schedule and identify schedule deviations.
4. Adjust schedules as needed due to changes in customer demand, material availability, equipment downtime, staffing, quality issues, or other production constraints.
5. Coordinate with Materials and Purchasing to ensure required components and raw materials are available to support the production schedule.
6. Work with Production Supervisors and Team Leaders to establish realistic production requirements and priorities.
7. Coordinate with Maintenance and Engineering regarding equipment capacity, planned downtime, tooling requirements, and production constraints.
8. Partner with Quality to address quality issues that may affect production flow, inventory availability, or customer shipments.
9. Maintain accurate planning data, including production rates, capacity requirements, lead times, inventory levels, and scheduling parameters.
10. Identify potential shortages, bottlenecks, and capacity constraints before they impact production or customer deliveries.
11. Support the development of capacity plans for labor, equipment, tooling, and manufacturing processes.
12. Monitor finished goods and work-in-process inventory levels to ensure they support customer requirements without creating excessive inventory.
13. Participate in daily production meetings and communicate schedule changes, risks, and priorities.
14. Track key scheduling and delivery metrics, including schedule attainment, on-time delivery, production output, inventory levels, and capacity utilization.
15. Support new product launches, engineering changes, customer changes, and production transfers by incorporating requirements into the production plan.
16. Coordinate with Customer Service and/or Sales regarding changes in customer demand, delivery requirements, and priorities.
17. Maintain appropriate documentation and records related to production scheduling and planning.
18. Identify opportunities to improve scheduling processes, reduce downtime and changeover losses, improve inventory turns, and increase overall manufacturing efficiency.
19. Ensure scheduling practices support company quality, safety, environmental, and operating procedures.
20. Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Required Education & Experience

1. Bachelor’s Degree in Materials/Purchasing, or equivalent education and experience.
2. 5 plus years of experience in a manufacturing setting – automotive a plus.
3. Knowledge and experience using an MRP (Material Requirements Planning) system – Plex is a plus.
4. Advanced Excel skills

Competencies

1. Technical Capacity
2. Organizational Skills
3. Teamwork Orientation
4. Problem Solving/Analysis
5. Computer Proficiency (Microsoft Office software including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
6. MRP and MPS Systems
7. Ability to communicate with all levels of personnel including customers & suppliers
8. Confidentiality

Work Environment

While performing the duties of this job, the employee regularly works in an office setting and on the plant floor.

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands and fingers to handle, feel, or operate objects, tools or controls, and reach with hands and arms. The employee is frequently required to walk, stand, kneel, crouch, talk and hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 40 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, and depth perception.