Specialist Planning

Specialist Planning, APS N.A.

Overview

Vanderlande Industries is a leading global supplier of turnkey material handling systems for the airport baggage handling market, the distribution center market, and the parcel services market. We are an Original Equipment Manufacturer and Systems Integrator for our material handling solutions. Vanderlande offers design engineering, installation management, and on-going maintenance services.

Vanderlande Industries brings more than 60 years of experience and know-how to the industry and ranks as one of largest material handling suppliers in the world. Our North America headquarters is in Marietta, GA, and executes projects in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

The Specialist Planning position creates and maintains project schedules within the Primavera P6 platform for large and multi-disciplinary projects, starting with the sales phase and proceeding upon project award to include design, engineering, manufacturing, installation, commissioning, and testing activities. The Specialist should work with the project team to build or implement changes to the project schedule. The Specialist should take ownership in driving the teams (Design, Manufacturing, Procurement, Site Installation, Commissioning) to provide their detailed respective Schedules/Step Plans of their work that integrate within the project schedule. The Specialist Planner proactively communicates progress and changes to all stakeholders which includes external stakeholders. Expert knowledge of EVM reporting, CPM scheduling, and Time Impact Analysis with planning tools is essential. The Specialist role also includes periodic review of all APS N.A. active projects for optimization purposes. APS N.A. projects include baggage handling systems at airports as well as material handling systems at parcel warehouses and distribution centers in North America, Canada, and Mexico.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform Advanced Professional Work related to planning assignments
• Concurrent scheduling expertise on 100M+ Projects as the main scheduler interfacing with clients
• Optimize schedules for other planners once a month. Evaluate areas of improvement that includes, but is not limited to, DCMA, Critical Path, and any other issues.
• Create Project Quotation Schedules for projects in Bid Phase while taking all customer requirements and available resources into consideration. Determines lead times in conjunction with sales, engineering, manufacturing, and subcontractors. Supports the Sales team on planning, milestones, and deliverables.
• Create Project Master Schedules for awarded projects based on the Project Quotation Schedule and other contract requirements
• Ensure Raw Materials are Available when needed to run according to the schedule
• Drive Consistent Communications between planning, project accounting, and project management for consistent project Material EAC's and Execution Charts
• Manage Complex Planning Studies, development applications and reviews consultant proposals
• Conduct Time Impact Analysis where necessary
• Provide Training and Support to junior planners within APS N.A organization (Schedule Optimization) Help to optimize other project schedules once a month. Evaluate areas of schedule improvement for DCMA, Critical Path, and any other issues.
• Provide Professional Planning Assistance to members of the project team
• Review and process complex comprehensive plan amendments, site plans, plats
• Assist in developing project budgets, verifies contract expenditures and compliance
• Conduct research and prepare statistical reports regarding project performance. Present reports and other findings to project team, senior leaders, and customers
• Develops and implements planning standards and best practices
• Up to 25% travel.

Qualifications

• BS/BA Degree in Engineering, Construction Management, or Business Administration, or related field
• Minimum 8 years of experience in project planning
• Expert level user of Primavera P6 including functions of
  • Critical Path Method
  • Time Impact Analysis
  • EVM and Analysis
  • Resource and Cost Loading
• AACE PSP Certification is required
• Minimum 2 years in Materials Handling/Conveyance is required/highly preferred

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• Expert knowledge of the philosophies, principals, practices & techniques of planning
• Expert knowledge and understanding of EVM reporting.
• Expert knowledge and understanding of CPM scheduling and methodology.
• Expert knowledge and understanding of Time Impact Analysis and reporting
• Expert knowledge of DCMA and reporting
• Excellent oral and written communication skills for preparing and presenting planning reports and projects
• Excellent interpersonal skills for facilitating relationships with internal customers and decision-makers
• Creative problem-solving skills to gather relevant information to solve less well- defined planning problems
• Ability to work on several projects or issues simultaneously
• Ability to manage projects effectively and meet firm deadlines
• Solid understanding of business processes and functional inter-relationships
• Strong background in project material management
• Extensive experience in production planning
• Skilled in the use of Excel, Excel Pivot Tables, Power Point, Word, as well as SharePoint
• Strong understanding of MRP systems