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A capacity planner is the scales of the company, focusing on the planning and decision-making process of analyzing, balancing, and allocating resources in consideration of the requirements, priorities, customer demands, workforce, and the timeframe of a project or production. They make sure that the supply meets the product's changing demands.

Since they need to coordinate with executives, project leaders, and other stakeholders regarding the metrics of the project, a capacity planner must possess excellent communication skills. They should also be attentive and results-oriented, with strong statistical and reporting skills to effectively interpret and utilize complex data and trends in the industry.

To pursue this career path, a capacity planner needs to have a bachelor's degree, or more preferably a graduate degree, and two to four years of work experience in a related field. This profession is expected to have a one-percent growth between 2018 and 2028, generating 46,900 job opportunities across the US.

What Does a Capacity Planner Do

There are certain skills that many capacity planners have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, customer-service skills and detail oriented.

Learn more about what a Capacity Planner does

How To Become a Capacity Planner

If you're interested in becoming a capacity planner, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 71.2% of capacity planners have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 12.5% of capacity planners have master's degrees. Even though most capacity planners have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Capacity Planner

Career Path For a Capacity Planner

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of project manager you might progress to a role such as purchasing manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title director of purchasing.

Capacity Planner

Average Salary for a Capacity Planner

Capacity Planners in America make an average salary of $103,430 per year or $50 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $144,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $74,000 per year.
Average Capacity Planner Salary
$103,430 Yearly
$49.73 hourly

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Roles and Types of Capacity Planner

The role of a capacity planner includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general capacity planner responsibilities:

  • Manage multiple competing cross-functional projects/programs simultaneously, on a global scale. Interact with business developers, engineers, technicians, project managers
  • Capacity planner position location: westchester, il business unit: north america primary function: responsible for the long-term planning horizon outside of 6 months for starch & sweetener networks – driving long term solutions to support volume growth
  • Translate forecasts, incoming volume, wip needs,

There are several types of capacity planner, including:

Materials Planner

Role:

Material planners are crucial to the timely delivery of any project or production operation. They ensure that supplies are available when needed for the smooth production process. As a materials planner, you determine which materials are critical to a project and procure them accordingly.

Materials planners do more than just provide the necessary supplies. They also ensure that the materials meet quality standards and are procured within the project's budget. These professionals maintain this quality consistency throughout the project's duration. Materials planners may also coordinate with other departments to identify and meet needs.

They often liaise with vendors, suppliers and frequently meet with stakeholders. As a materials supplier, you may also be required to create cost estimates and performance reports.

To become a materials planner, you need a minimum of a degree in business, logistics, or related fields. You'll also need 1-2 years' experience with inventory management and purchase. Finally, employers favor professionals with great communication and problem-solving skills when hiring to fill this role.

  • Average Salary: $58,467
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Master Scheduler

Role:

Master Schedulers excel in the implementation of the best project management methods. They are responsible for the development, execution, and supervision of a management framework for timetables. Master Schedulers operate with a wide range of companies, from consultancy services and production departments. They normally work in an office environment or in a manufacturing plant but can travel if required.

The specific tasks of the job will focus on the master scheduler industry. General tasks include the use of lead times for manufacturing plants and past output details for scheduling, collaboration with manufacturing and material staff to ensure streamlined processes, and training on topics such as market flow for new projects. Master Schedulers can assess and decide the approximate set-up of equipment, cycle times and work center hours.

Candidates for this role must possess a bachelor's degree in business management or engineering to work as a master planner. Relevant certifications for this career include the Certified Project Management Associate offered by the Project Management Institute. The annual median salary for this role is $71,555, depending on the years of experience and size of the company.
  • Average Salary: $77,733
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Project Planner

Role:

A project planner will develop and manage schedules, goals, and objectives for projects. The planning, coordination, and monitoring of activities of assigned projects to develop and implement procedures will be done by you. In addition, you will recommend and implement modifications to improve effectiveness and attain project goals. Similarly, you will educate employees in methods to ensure project continuity and completeness while overseeing projects and risk management plans. In addition, you will make sure you keep stakeholders informed of project timelines and deadlines. Lastly, you will document the project planning processes and maintain records that can be referred to later.

A bachelor's degree in project management or a related field is required for the post of project planner. Professional certification in project management will be an added advantage for the post. You must have an in-depth knowledge of the industry's scope of projects. Excellent organizational, time-management, and communication skills are required for the post. You will earn an average of $90,966 a year.

  • Average Salary: $86,926
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Capacity Planner Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active capacity planner jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where capacity planners earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Capacity Planner Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California977$134,848
2New York421$98,139
3Texas416$108,923
4Virginia335$111,702
5Florida333$106,158
6Pennsylvania321$85,406
7Illinois264$87,763
8Maryland238$99,883
9Massachusetts224$108,115
10North Carolina217$101,541
11Georgia216$99,365
12Ohio203$88,274
13Colorado170$117,256
14Arizona158$101,595
15Washington148$117,969
16Minnesota144$83,976
17New Jersey136$93,838
18Michigan134$102,824
19Wisconsin132$89,893
20Indiana126$84,447
21South Carolina118$97,209
22Tennessee116$112,634
23Connecticut107$101,682
24Oregon97$98,056
25Missouri94$85,418
26Alabama90$99,564
27Utah70$86,167
28Iowa66$82,251
29New Hampshire65$118,630
30Nevada64$95,716
31Kentucky62$104,798
32Nebraska42$82,714
33Arkansas38$108,739
34Mississippi34$96,386
35Hawaii32$99,523
36Kansas30$87,629
37New Mexico29$117,868
38Louisiana23$112,918
39Oklahoma23$98,433
40Delaware19$82,728
41Idaho16$114,330
42North Dakota15$85,664
43Alaska13$121,477
44Maine13$105,229
45Rhode Island11$82,349
46Vermont10$86,178
47West Virginia8$111,853
48Montana6$85,771
49South Dakota6$80,969
50Wyoming1$58,051

Capacity Planner Education

Capacity Planner Majors

29.1 %

Capacity Planner Degrees

Bachelors

71.2 %

Masters

12.5 %

Associate

12.1 %

Top Colleges for Capacity Planners

1. Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$3,926

Enrollment

9,835

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

3. Ball State University

Muncie, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,896

Enrollment

15,529

4. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

5. Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,105

Enrollment

13,729

6. Cedar Crest College

Allentown, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$39,216

Enrollment

1,303

7. Morgan State University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,900

Enrollment

6,404

8. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

9. Siena Heights University

Adrian, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$27,124

Enrollment

2,035

10. University of Akron

Akron, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,463

Enrollment

13,676

Top Skills For a Capacity Planner

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 15.1% of capacity planners listed infrastructure on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and customer-service skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Capacity Planner Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Capacity Planner templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Capacity Planner resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Capacity Planner diversity

Capacity Planner Gender Distribution

Male
Male
68%
Female
Female
32%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among capacity planners, 31.9% of them are women, while 68.1% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among capacity planners is White, which makes up 61.5% of all capacity planners.

  • The most common foreign language among capacity planners is Mandarin at 18.2%.

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Best States For a Capacity Planner

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a capacity planner. The best states for people in this position are California, Alaska, New Hampshire, and Washington. Capacity planners make the most in California with an average salary of $134,848. Whereas in Alaska and New Hampshire, they would average $121,477 and $118,630, respectively. While capacity planners would only make an average of $117,969 in Washington, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. New Hampshire

Total Capacity Planner Jobs: 65
Highest 10% Earn:
$182,000
Location Quotient:
1.59

2. California

Total Capacity Planner Jobs: 977
Highest 10% Earn:
$201,000
Location Quotient:
1.43

3. Colorado

Total Capacity Planner Jobs: 170
Highest 10% Earn:
$188,000
Location Quotient:
1.22
Full List Of Best States For Capacity Planners

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Top Capacity Planner Employers

Most Common Employers For Capacity Planner

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Meta$143,387$68.9417
2Texas Instruments$125,730$60.458
3Salesforce$119,161$57.2930
4Intel$112,075$53.886
5Amazon$108,797$52.314
6Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC$105,094$50.533
7AT&T$104,291$50.1411
8Cigna$102,871$49.464
9Hewlett Packard Enterprise$101,537$48.824
10DXC Technology$99,329$47.754