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

What is a production scheduler and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Production schedulers, also known as project managers or production preparation clerks, coordinate how businesses make goods, deliver them, and use manpower. Production schedulers look at productivity rates to see if they can improve. They also keep track of inventory, predict inventory requests, and measure expenses, such as those associated with making and delivering items.

Production schedulers must have good programming skills and a clear understanding of production scheduling. They must have outstanding management qualities and good listening skills in order to handle regular and weekly master schedules. Front time to time, they also multitask and shift staff and supplies around to fulfill schedules and consumer demands in many industries.

Production schedulers usually require an associate's degree in management or a related profession. Most employers, however, prefer a bachelor's degree is preferred. Experience in the manufacturing sector is also very advantageous, and familiarity with management resource planning or MRP is needed.

ScoreProduction SchedulerUS Average

Salary

3.9

Avg. Salary $49,367

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.56%

Asian 7.40%

Black or African American 10.13%

Hispanic or Latino 16.12%

Unknown 4.86%

White 60.93%

Gender

female 45.72%

male 54.28%

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

Key steps to become a production scheduler

Explore production scheduler education requirements

Most common production scheduler degrees

Bachelor's

55.8 %

Associate

23.1 %

High School Diploma

10.9 %

Start to develop specific production scheduler skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	12.46%
MRP	7.49%
Continuous Improvement	6.00%
ERP	4.55%
Production Planning	4.20%

Complete relevant production scheduler training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New production schedulers 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 scheduler based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real production scheduler resumes.

Gain additional production scheduler certifications

Production scheduler 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 scheduler certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

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

More About Certifications

Research production scheduler duties and responsibilities

Lead a Kaizen to improve efficiency and reduce non-value add work in the scheduling department.
Manage and purchase all MRO material inventory supplies for the production of automotive safety products.
Design, develop, and manage process of ordering and maintaining materials not migrate into ERP system.
Supervise NPI chip fulfillment process - manage wafer starts to meet internal qualification and board level build plan.

Prepare your production scheduler resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your production scheduler 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 scheduler 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 scheduler resume templates

Build a professional production scheduler 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 scheduler resume.