How To Become A Production Planner: What It Is and Career Path

What is a production planner and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A production planner coordinates the production process of goods, from planning to execution. They work with other departments to meet production schedules and ensure that materials and resources remain available. A production planner creates and maintains production schedules, monitors inventory, and adjusts schedules when necessary. They also analyze production data to identify areas for improvement to increase efficiency and reduce costs. A successful production planner has organizational skills, attention to detail, and effective communication.

ScoreProduction PlannerUS Average

Salary

4.7

Avg. Salary $60,390

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.53%

Asian 7.06%

Black or African American 9.72%

Hispanic or Latino 17.03%

Unknown 4.95%

White 60.72%

Gender

female 39.97%

male 60.03%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

7.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.9

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a production planner?

Pros

High level of responsibility
Competitive salary and benefits
Exposure to different areas of production process
Opportunity to work with different types of products
Opportunity to develop leadership and communication skills

Cons

Long hours may be required during peak production periods
Occasional need to make difficult decisions that may affect production output or quality
Requires excellent communication skills to manage expectations and maintain relationships with suppliers, contractors, and clients
May require working on weekends or holidays
Can be repetitive and monotonous at times

Key steps to become a production planner

Explore production planner education requirements

Most common production planner degrees

Bachelor's

64.2 %

Associate

18.9 %

Master's

6.8 %

Start to develop specific production planner skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	10.80%
MRP	8.69%
ERP	5.04%
Logistics	4.23%
Continuous Improvement	4.06%

Complete relevant production planner training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New production planners learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a production planner based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real production planner resumes.

Gain additional production planner certifications

Production planner certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific production planner certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for production planners include Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) and Certified Planning Engineer (CPE).

More About Certifications

Research production planner duties and responsibilities

Manage large supply base consolidations for both production parts and MRO items.
Manage customer accounts from small first time customers to large OEM's.
Manage and update inventory plan base on ABC and MTO statistic data.
Provide leadership and manage production JCL analyst team supporting and recovering of production job streams.

Prepare your production planner resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your production planner resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a production planner resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable production planner resume templates

Build a professional production planner resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your production planner resume.