Operations Planner

Job Location:  Hershey, PA 

Summary: 

The Hershey Company West Hershey plant is a Union plant producing products such as White & Milk Chocolate Paste, Kisses, Nuggets, Milk Bars, Almond Bars, Rolo, Syrup & Cookies and Crème in a high-speed complex environment. 

The role of the Operations Planner is to provide personal leadership to support the financial objectives of the Plant as well as preparing detailed production schedules to support the master production schedule and manage MRP parameters to ensure timely material purchases and delivery to support the schedules while meeting inventory management objectives. 

Responsibilities: 

• Develop and communicate detailed production schedules for assigned operations to support higher-level master production schedules.  Provide input and analysis to assist in optimizing long-term planning strategy of operations. 

• Manage MRP parameters to ensure timely material purchase order creation and delivery to support schedules and to meet inventory management objectives.  Interact with suppliers to communicate material needs and develop solutions to material supply issues. 

• Maintain BOM and routing information to ensure accurate requirements projections and effective execution of engineering changes 

• Consider impact of scheduling decisions on shared resources throughout the plant (i.e. labor, equipment, tooling, etc.) and work with other personnel to resolve conflicts and improve productivity 

• Develop strategies and tactics to effectively manage inventory portfolio, with the intention of minimizing costs and improving supply chain performance 

• Utilize knowledge and expertise to support various productivity improvement initiatives within the plant 

Minimum knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform major duties/responsibilities: 

• Knowledge of supply chain management principles 

• Strong problem-solving, analytical, and communications (verbal/written) skills 

• Ability to work well in a team environment 

• Strong PC skills including the use of MS Office products (particularly Excel), as well as proficiency in using SAP or a similar ERP package 

• Self-motivated and ability to prioritize multiple activities and manage volatile/changing conditions 

Minimum Education and Experience Requirements: 

• Bachelor’s Degree required (Degree emphasizing Logistics or Supply Chain Management preferred). 

• Experience in supply chain and/or manufacturing area with particular focus on production planning/scheduling and materials management disciplines required. 

• Experience with SAP is required 

• Experience with MS Office (Excel and Word) required 

• Experience with JDA is a plus