Position Summary
The Planning Leader oversees and supervises all production planning activities to ensure demand is translated into a feasible, executable supply plan with strong SAP planning integrity. The role leads planners through disciplined standard work—MRP exception management, demand and backlog prioritization, capacity planning, material availability validation, production order execution, and schedule recovery. The Planning Leader sets priorities, resolves constraints, coaches planner capability, and drives continuous improvement to protect customer promise dates, support SIOP execution, stabilize schedules, and optimize inventory and capacity utilization.
Planning Priority Rules
• Past Due, VIP, and Storm orders are always the highest priority for material, capacity, and scheduling decisions.
• Schedule feasibility and SAP date integrity must reflect real capacity and material availability.
• MRP exception health and backlog are daily management signals, not reporting artifacts.
• Risks to customer promise dates are escalated early with data and recovery options.
Daily Standard Work – Planning Leader Cadence
• Lead daily review of MRP exception health and backlog; validate planner actions and priorities (ZMM_EMR / MD04).
• Review prior-day production execution and schedule adherence; identify systemic misses (COOIS / reports).
• Validate capacity plans and bottleneck alignment with Manufacturing (CM01 / ZRBPLAN).
• Spot-check material availability and PO alignment with Purchasing for high-risk items (MD04 / ME23N).
• Ensure planners firm, release, reschedule, or close production orders correctly and on time (MD04 / COHV / CO01 / CO02 / TECO).
• Align priorities and recovery plans across Planning, Manufacturing, Purchasing, and Customer Service.
Weekly / Monthly Leader Rhythm (Recommended)
• Weekly backlog, schedule adherence, and capacity review; align recovery plans.
• Weekly master data review: lead times, routings, BOM accuracy, production versions.
• Monthly KPI review and action plan: OTD, Past Due, schedule adherence, inventory turns, MRP exception health.
• Participate in S&OP / IBP cadence providing clear capacity and supply constraints.
Planning Leader Skills Framework
1. HMS Alignment
Foundational Expectations
? Models HMS principles and enforces standard planning work
? Leads with customer delivery and schedule stability first mindset
? Actively drives inventory reduction and working capital goals
? Leads or participates in daily tier / SQDC reviews
Behavioral Alignment
? Data-driven leadership (facts over assumptions)
? Bias for action when constraints or risks arise
? Clear escalation and decision-making under pressure
2. Leadership & People Development
? Sets clear expectations for planner execution and schedule quality
? Coaches planners on prioritization, SAP execution, and trade-off decisions
? Performs regular skill assessments; ensures cross-training and coverage
? Aligns planners, manufacturing, and customer service on priorities
3. Planning Execution Oversight
? Ensures disciplined MRP exception management and backlog prioritization
? Ensures schedules are feasible and capacity-aligned
? Prevents excessive rescheduling and schedule volatility
? Leads recovery planning for misses, shortages, or capacity disruptions
4. SAP Savviness – Management Requirement
A. Oversight Transactions (Must Be Fluent)
? ZMM_EMR / MD04 – Exception and supply/demand health
? MD01 / MD02 – MRP execution and re-planning awareness
? COOIS / reports – Production execution visibility
? COHV – Mass order firming, release, and rescheduling
? CM01 / ZRBPLAN – Capacity analysis and leveling
? Power BI / reporting – KPI and trend analysis
Expected Leader Behavior
? Uses SAP data to prioritize work and coach planners
? Ensures SAP dates reflect feasible plans
? Establishes controls to reduce planning rework and noise
5. Master Data Governance (Leader Accountability)
? Ensures planners detect and escalate master data issues
? Drives correction of lead times, BOMs, routings, and capacity standards
? Prevents recurring exceptions driven by bad parameters
6. KPI Ownership (Leader Relevant)
? On-Time Delivery (OTD)
? Past Due / Backlog Health
? Schedule Adherence
? Capacity Utilization
? Inventory Turns and Excess Risk
? MRP Exception Health
Expectation
? Knows performance trends
? Understands root causes
? Leads corrective actions and validates results
7. Cross-Functional Effectiveness
? Strong partnership with Manufacturing leadership
? Strong partnership with Purchasing / Buying Leaders
? Clear communication with Customer Service on promise dates and recovery
? Leads or supports production readiness and MPS meetings
8. Continuous Improvement & Problem Solving
? Leads structured problem solving for planning misses and instability
? Improves planning parameters, horizons, and fences over time
? Reduces firefighting through disciplined planning and execution
R&R Appendix – SAP / Tool Reference for Planning Leaders
MRP & Planning Oversight
• ZMM_EMR – MRP exception message health
• MD04 – Stock/requirements visibility
• MD01 / MD02 – MRP execution awareness
Production & Capacity Oversight
• COOIS – Production order execution review
• COHV – Mass order processing
• CM01 / ZRBPLAN – Capacity planning and leveling
Cross-Functional Visibility
• ME23N – Purchase order delivery alignment
• Power BI – KPI dashboards