Kennedy Valve-Value Stream Material & Production Planner

The Value Stream Material & Production Planner coordinates all planning and scheduling activities within the assigned value stream to align supply, capacity, and customer demand. This position ensures steady material flow, efficient production execution, and consistent on-time delivery by integrating supply chain, production, procurement, and customer service functions. Success in this role is measured by schedule reliability, inventory accuracy, and value stream responsiveness.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Production Planning

• Develop and maintain the master production schedule (daily/weekly/monthly as appropriate) to balance customer demand, capacity, and efficiency.
• Translate demand plans into executable production schedules that maximize efficiency, labor utilization, and material readiness.
• Lead schedule recovery efforts after downtime or material delays through cross-functional coordination.
• Report schedule adherence metrics weekly to Value Stream Manager.
• Partner with operations leadership to ensure adherence to the schedule and continuous improvement in throughput and flow.

Material Planning

• Create and manage material requirement plans (MRP) to ensure timely availability of raw materials, components, and subassemblies.
• Partner with Supply Chain and Procurement to track supplier OTIF (On-Time, In-Full) performance.
• Maintain and audit MRP master data parameters quarterly to ensure accuracy.
• Identify potential shortages or obsolescence risk and propose mitigation plans.
• Ensure synchronization of material availability with production schedules to prevent line stoppages and minimize excess inventory.
• Support implementation and sustainment of pull systems, Kanban, and other lean replenishment methods.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Represent the planning function in daily value stream and tier meetings.
• Provide short-interval updates to leadership on material and schedule constraints.
• Communicate effectively with foundry, procurement, logistics, engineering, and quality to resolve planning conflicts and ensure smooth execution.
• Drive root cause analysis and corrective actions for schedule or supply-related issues.

Continuous Improvement

• Champion standard work for planning processes and maintain documented procedures.
• Identify and implement opportunities to enhance material flow, scheduling accuracy, and inventory efficiency.
• Lead or participate in kaizen events focused on scheduling accuracy, inventory reduction, and material flow.