Senior Planner in Tamworth

Who We Are

On July 1, 2025, IPL Plastics merged with Schoeller Allibert to form IPL Schoeller (the ‘company’). The Company’s operations are split across North America (11 manufacturing plants) and Europe (16 manufacturing plants). The company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. IPL Schoeller is a leading manufacturer of sustainable rigid packaging solutions across a range of end market segments including returnable transit packaging, consumer and industrial packaging, environmental containers and agricultural packaging. The company employs c.4,100 employees across North America (1,600 employees) and Europe (2,500 employees).

The Role

To provide a Production Plan to meet customer demand within site constraints, and to control the inbound supply of Raw Materials to support the execution of the Production Plan.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Meet or exceed target OTIF of Production Plan (98%).
• Plan and prepare the production plan/schedule to achieve customer requirements.
• Manage Internal filing of Live Orders and the Efficiency tracker to assess Production performance against planned output.
• Work closely with the Materials Team, ensuring that products are delivered efficiently and on time.
• Liaise with the Operations Manager, HR and Production Cell leads, to determine RTO weekly.
• Plan effectively and efficiently by understanding minimum and maximum stock levels against “Stock items” and replenish when required.
• Plan effective Tool Changes to meet required demand.
• Communicate to Sales on availability of future planned runs to generate Orders.
• Present KPI’s to Supply Chain Manager on a Weekly basis.
• Lead, manage, coach and develop the Planning team.
• Publish OTIF performance weekly and monthly with failure reasons and drive business improvement e.g., Schedule Adherence.
• Lead discussion on supply issues, resource planning, service, inventory OEE and conversion costs.
• Plan the factory’s manufacturing schedule and understand and escalate any capacity issues.
• Raise issues clearly and ensure capacity issues are resolved in timely fashion.
• Review demand and supply capability monthly.
• Set an inventory plan for raw materials, WIP and finished goods.
• Ensure New products are planned and sourced in adequate lead-times and capable of being launched on time (Trials).
• Agree manufacturing and supply lead-times for products.
• Plan safety stocks and target stocks in line with customer demand.
• Ensure obsolete products are managed out of the business at minimal cost and risk.
• Manage relationships with Supply and Customer Service team.
• Work with planners to develop and share best practice.
• Plan site manufacturing in line with planning rules based on product classification.
• Set inventory targets based on Customer service targets and replenishment cycle.
• Create and maintain Shop Orders in the ERP system.
• Load Work Centres with Shop Order demand in an efficient manner to reduce tool changes and colour changes where possible.
• Communicate utilisation of key equipment and advise bottlenecks.
• Maintain supply of adequate Raw Materials to meet the requirements of the Production Plan.
• Communicate supply shortages and engage Vendors in regular meetings about ongoing supply.
• Provide supply forecasts monthly to key suppliers.
• Ensure new products are managed into the business effectively.

Working Hours

Working hours are Monday to Friday, 08:30 am to 17:00 pm, with flexibility to work additional hours as required by the company to fulfil the role.

Person Specification - Essential Requirements

• Technical – Experienced in the use of ERP software (ideally IFS) and planning tools to meet customer demand.
• Experience of Procurement activities and maintaining vendor relationships and supply.
• Customer Focus – Ensuring the customer expectations and requirements are met.
• Delivers Results – Leading by example. Coordinate activities for efficient service delivery across the teams.
• Managing and motivating the team and striving for success.
• Commercial acumen.
• Communication – Competent communicating at all levels within the business.
• The ability to build strong relationships across all stakeholders.
• Mindset – Showing a positive and professional attitude to everyday challenges whilst continuously improving processes.
• Educated to degree level.
• Have 5 years minimum experience in a planning role, within a mix of manufacturing and logistics.
• Have 2 years minimum experience leading, supervising or managing a team.
• Fully understands MRP processes and planning parameters.
• Established IT skills to include particularly Excel.
• Mainframe systems experience in forecasting, planning and scheduling on ERP systems e.g. IFS.
• Ability to prioritise workload effectively with a high level of organisation.
• Ability to work as part of a team as well as on own initiative.
• Ability to work and to meet deadlines.
• Experience of working in a fast-paced environment.