• Production planner schedules all the manufactured items in a company.on manufacture image by YURY MARYUNIN from Fotolia.com
  
  Production planners work in the manufacturing industry to ensure every item is produced in a timely manner. The planner will be part of the production process from start to finish. This job requires the planner to meet with every department, such as sales, engineering, management and production. Along with scheduling all the manufacturing, the production planner participates in sales forecasting, inter-office communication and problem-solving.
  
  

Scheduling

• The main duty of a production planner is to schedule all the manufactured items in a company. This includes letting the production department know in advance what items have been ordered. Production planners will provide the department with a number of items that need to be made every day to meet the shipment date. Along with this duty, the production planner will make sure the daily schedule is being met and that the quality of the products being produced is within set guidelines.
  
  

Sales Forecasting

• The production planner will meet with the sales department to forecast sales of particular items. This ensures the manufacturing process does not have downtime and provides the production department with advance notice of the future production schedule. The planner will also assist in cost accounting and purchasing to make sure all the raw material is ordered in advance and stored for future production.
  
  

Communications

• Communicating with every department responsible for the manufacturing process is the duty of the production planner. Reporting future sales, schedules, costs, production problems and forecast profits to the management on a regular basis is also a duty of the production planner. The planner will get instructions and authorization from management for products that are in the early planning stages. Once management has decided what new products are going on line, the production planner will make up a forecast production date including installation of needed equipment and projected production numbers.
  
  

Problem Solving

• One of the more important duties of a production planner is problem solving. During the manufacturing process, problems will inevitably arise in the areas of equipment, material or quality. The planner will investigate the problem and authorize corrective action. Production planners are responsible for ensuring product quality and dealing with production delays and cost overruns in the manufacturing process.