Plant Scheduler & Planner at Mainstream Pine Products LLC – North Charleston, South Carolina

Position Summary

The Plant Scheduler & Planner is responsible for ensuring production plans, material availability, and inventory movements are accurately aligned to support safe, reliable, and efficient plant operations. This role serves as the primary coordination point between production, finance, commercial, logistics, and customer service, leveraging advanced planning or ERP systems to balance demand, inventory targets, and storage constraints. The position requires strong system acumen, operational awareness, and proactive problem-solving to prevent supply disruptions and optimize production utilization and oversight. This position is located at the manufacturing building and part of the MPP production team. This role is the primary point of contact for all tolling activities by Ingevity in addition to planning and accounting for all MPP production and outbound shipments to execute business needs.

Key Responsibilities

Production Planning & Scheduling

• Review and maintain the production plan within the planning / ERP system to ensure material availability aligns with production schedules and demand requirements.
• Verify that raw material and component purchase orders are placed at appropriate lead times and maintained to support production without shortages or excess inventory.
• Facilitate weekly refinery demand reviews to ensure production rates are aligned with demand and storage capacity constraints, with particular focus on by-products requiring continuous monitoring.
• Adjust production schedules as needed to prevent overfilling or underutilization of storage tanks while ensuring prime product demand is met.

Inventory Management & System Accuracy

• Ensure all inventory movements within the plant are accurately transacted in the system to maintain inventory integrity for all refinery products.
• Monitor inventory levels against targets and proactively identify risks related to supply, demand, or capacity constraints.
• Ensure subcontracting components are issued in a timely manner to support accurate purchase order receipt and completion of subcontracted production.

Logistics & Rail Operations

• Submit and manage railcar switch requests as needed throughout the week to support on-time order fulfillment.
• Coordinate railcar availability and storage locations to ensure by-products always have an appropriate disposition and do not constrain plant operations.
• Collaborate with logistics and operations teams to resolve rail, truck, and storage conflicts impacting production or shipments.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Serve as the primary point of contact for Customer Service regarding product availability, order fulfillment timing, and supply constraints.
• Communicate proactively with procurement, production, logistics, and customer service to align priorities and resolve issues before they impact customers.
• Escalate risks related to inventory shortages, capacity constraints, or demand changes with clear, data-driven recommendations.

Key Competencies

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a focus on supply chain management and inventory planning.
• Excellent cross-functional communication and stakeholder management
• Attention to detail and commitment to data accuracy
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a dynamic operating environment
• Proactive mindset with a focus on preventing disruptions rather than reacting to them

Employment Type & Schedule

• Full-time position.
• Primarily day shift, with flexibility for extended hours based on customer or operational needs.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Operations Management, Engineering, Business, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• Experience in production planning, scheduling, or supply chain roles within a manufacturing, chemical, or refinery environment.
• Strong working knowledge of planning and execution systems, with ERP system experience preferred.
• High level of system acumen with the ability to interpret, maintain, and troubleshoot planning and inventory data.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with refinery operations, by-product management, or constrained storage environments.
• Familiarity with railcar logistics, switching processes, and bulk material handling.
• Understanding of planning, scheduling, and subcontracting processes and inventory ownership concepts in ERP systems.
• APICS CPIM (Certified in Planning and Inventory Management) certification, or demonstrated progress toward CPIM certification, is a plus.

Physical Requirements & Work Environment

• Work performed primarily in an office environment with regular interaction across plant operations.
• Ability to sit, type, and communicate by phone or computer for extended periods.
• Occasional exposure to plant and warehouse environments, requiring PPE.