We are seeking a highly organized, proactive, and solutions-oriented Production Scheduler to own the development and execution of production schedules within a complex beverage manufacturing environment.
The Production Scheduler will translate customer demand, forecasts, purchase orders, and internal production requirements into a realistic and executable production plan. This role will work closely with customers and cross-functional teams including Procurement, Inventory, Warehouse, Brewing/Blending, Quality, Packaging, Maintenance, and Operations.
The ideal candidate has experience managing production schedules across multiple customers, SKUs, packaging formats, and frequent changeovers. This individual must be comfortable balancing capacity, materials, labor, equipment availability, customer priorities, and production requirements while proactively identifying and resolving potential constraints.
This is an ownership-oriented position. The successful candidate will not simply maintain a schedule—they will drive communication, accountability, schedule reliability, and continuous improvement across the manufacturing operation.
Customer Demand & Production Coordination:
Serve as a key operational contact for customers regarding production planning and scheduling.
Review customer forecasts, purchase orders, requested production dates, SKU requirements, volumes, packaging formats, and future production needs.
Establish production timelines and requirements for new product launches and initial production runs.
Communicate scheduling constraints, changes, risks, and production timing proactively.
Monitor expected customer demand beyond confirmed orders when possible.
Identify changes in demand early and assess their impact on production capacity and material requirements.
Production Scheduling:
Own and maintain the master production schedule.
Translate customer demand, forecasts, purchase orders, and internal requirements into an achievable production plan.
Schedule brewing, blending, packaging, and related manufacturing activities.
Optimize production sequencing to maximize throughput and minimize unnecessary changeovers and downtime.
Balance customer priorities against capacity, labor, equipment, tank availability, packaging capabilities, material availability, quality requirements, and maintenance needs.
Maintain detailed near-term schedules as well as forward-looking capacity plans.
Compare actual production performance against the schedule and adjust future plans accordingly.
Identify capacity constraints before they impact customers.
Escalate conflicts and capacity issues with recommended solutions.
Material Readiness & Procurement:
Provide Procurement with accurate visibility into future production requirements.
Translate production schedules into material requirements and required-by dates.
Coordinate with Procurement, Inventory, and Staging to ensure ingredients, packaging, labels, cans, cartons, trays, and other required materials are available.
Identify material shortages and supply risks early enough for corrective action.
Ensure production is not scheduled when required materials, specifications, approvals, or documentation are unavailable.
Support improvements to demand planning, inventory planning, and material requirements processes.
New Product & Customer Commercialization:
Coordinate with internal teams and customers to ensure new products are production-ready.
Track specifications, formulas, packaging components, artwork, material lead times, production documentation, and customer approvals.
Establish production-readiness milestones for new customers and SKUs.
Ensure new products meet critical production requirements before being scheduled.
Support a disciplined transition from business development and customer onboarding into operations.
Cross-Functional Leadership:
Lead or participate in weekly production planning and S&OP activities.
Coordinate communication among Sales, Business Development, Procurement, Inventory, Warehouse, Quality, Brewing/Blending, Packaging, Maintenance, and Operations.
Maintain a reliable production schedule that serves as the organization's source of truth.
Communicate schedule changes and their business impact clearly.
Drive accountability for actions required to protect scheduled production.
Challenge unrealistic customer requests or internal assumptions while developing practical alternatives.
Maintain urgency, ownership, and follow-through until issues are resolved.
Key Performance Indicators
Success in this role will be measured by:
Production schedule attainment
On-time customer production and delivery performance
Schedule stability and reduction of last-minute changes
Reduction of downtime caused by material or planning issues
Material readiness at scheduled production start
Changeover frequency and sequencing efficiency
Capacity utilization and throughput
Forecast visibility and accuracy
Customer communication and responsiveness
Timely commercialization of new customers and SKUs
| Location | Verona, WI |
| Job Type | Full-time |
Required / Preferred Experience
3+ years of experience in production scheduling, production planning, demand planning, supply planning, or a related manufacturing role.
Experience in contract manufacturing or co-packing strongly preferred.
Experience in beverage, brewing, food, CPG, or other high-SKU manufacturing environments strongly preferred.
Experience managing production schedules involving multiple customers, SKUs, packaging formats, and frequent changeovers.
Experience working directly with customers regarding forecasts, orders, production timing, and supply requirements.
Strong understanding of production capacity planning, inventory management, procurement, and material requirements planning.
Technical Qualifications
Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including the ability to organize, analyze, and interpret large volumes of production, demand, inventory, and capacity data.
Experience with ERP, MRP, production scheduling, or manufacturing planning systems strongly preferred.
Ability to develop, maintain, and improve scheduling tools and processes.
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
Comfortable using data to make operational decisions.
Interest in technology, automation, and AI tools that can improve planning and scheduling processes is a plus.
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