Production Planner job description
A Production Planner turns customer orders into a schedule of what to make, when and on which machine. The role keeps material, machines and manpower lined up so orders ship on time.
Why the role exists
The Production Planner works in the planning or PPC team of a factory and reports to the production or plant manager. In Indian plants the role connects sales, stores, purchase and production, and often runs the daily production meeting. It also reviews jobs and shortages each morning.
What the person does
- Convert confirmed customer orders into weekly and daily production plans by machine and line.
- Check material availability against the bill of materials and ask purchase to chase shortages early.
- Load machines and manpower with realistic capacity, allowing for setups, maintenance and holidays.
- Release job cards and work orders to the shop floor with clear quantities and due dates.
- Track actual output against the plan each day and update the schedule when delays occur.
- Run the daily production meeting and record actions for stores, quality, maintenance and production.
- Share delivery dates with sales and warn them early when an order will be late.
- Review plan versus actual each week and improve the planning norms, such as cycle times and lead times.
Skills and tools
- Production scheduling and capacity loading by machine
- Reading bills of materials and routings
- MRP and ERP use, such as Tally, SAP Business One or Odoo
- Advanced Excel, including lookups, pivot tables and Gantt-style schedules
- Understanding of cycle times, setup times and yield loss
- Coordination with purchase, stores and quality
- Basic knowledge of lean flow and kanban ideas
- Clear written and spoken updates for sales and floor teams
Education and experience
Preferred, never a bar: equivalent experience counts.
- Diploma or degree in mechanical, industrial or production engineering preferred, or equivalent experience.
- Experience in production planning or PPC in a manufacturing unit preferred.
- Working knowledge of an ERP and advanced Excel preferred, or equivalent experience.
- Understanding of the product and process of your plant is useful, or equivalent experience.
How the work is judged
- Share of orders delivered on the promised date.
- Accuracy of the plan, judged by plan versus actual output.
- Machine and manpower use, balanced against overtime.
- Quality of material readiness, judged by stoppages for missing parts.
- Clarity and speed of communication with sales and production.
Where the role can lead
- Senior Production Planner or PPC Lead for a plant.
- Supply Chain Manager, joining purchase, planning and logistics.
- Production Manager or Plant Operations Manager with added floor experience.
Interview questions to ask
Ask every candidate the same questions in the same order and score them against written anchors, so the decision rests on the work and not the impression.
- A big order arrives and your machines are full. How do you decide what moves and what promise you make?
- Material for tomorrow's job has not arrived. What do you do today?
- How do you build a plan when cycle times are not documented?
- Describe a plan you made that failed. What did you learn and change?
- How do you handle a sales colleague who keeps asking to push urgent jobs ahead of others?
- Which numbers do you share in the daily production meeting and why?
Hiring tips for this role
- Give a small scheduling case with machines, cycle times and due dates. Ask the candidate to build a plan on a sheet and explain the trade-offs.
- Check floor knowledge. Planners who have never worked near the shop often make plans that supervisors ignore.
- Ask which ERP or tool they used and what they did in it. Many candidates have seen a system but only entered data.
- Probe how they deal with changes. A good planner re-plans quickly and tells people, while a weak one defends the old plan.
Questions about hiring a production planner
The planner schedules work for machines and lines based on orders, material and capacity. The role also tracks output, adjusts the plan when things go wrong and keeps sales informed about delivery dates.
Planning decides what to make and when. Control tracks the work against the plan and acts when it slips. In small Indian plants one person often does both, usually called PPC.
It helps, but is not essential. Many good planners come through supervisor or stores roles. The job description should ask for a diploma or degree as preferred, or equivalent experience.
GullyHR works on permanent hiring. We agree the job description with you, screen candidates on planning and ERP experience, and support the offer. You make the final choice.
Hiring a production planner?
GullyHR runs talent acquisition for permanent roles. We agree the job description with you, find and screen candidates against it, and support the offer through to joining. We recruit permanent employees. We do not supply contract or temporary staff.