Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Upholstery Planner

🎯 Role Definition

An Upholstery Planner is responsible for translating demand forecasts and sales orders into executable production plans for upholstery manufacturing operations. This role manages master production schedules, coordinates materials and component availability (fabric, foam, springs, frames, trim), interfaces with suppliers and subcontractors, optimizes shop-floor sequencing to minimize changeovers and lead times, and ensures timely delivery of finished goods while maintaining quality and cost targets. The Upholstery Planner works with ERP/MRP systems (SAP, Epicor, NetSuite, or similar), collaborates closely with cutting, sewing, frame, foam and assembly teams, and drives continuous improvement in planning processes and inventory management.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Upholstery Technician / Upholsterer
Production Coordinator / Production Assistant
Materials Planner or Buyer (entry-level)

Advancement To:

Production Planner Senior / Lead Upholstery Planner
Production Manager / Manufacturing Supervisor
Operations Manager or Supply Chain Manager

Lateral Moves:

Materials Planner / Inventory Analyst
Master Scheduler
Quality Engineer (furniture/upholstery focus)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and maintain the master production schedule (MPS) for upholstery lines, converting customer orders and forecasts into prioritized production runs while balancing capacity, lead times and inventory targets.
Create, release and monitor work orders and shop travelers in the ERP/MRP system; ensure routing, BOMs and labor standards are accurate and updated for each style and SKU.
Perform detailed materials planning and ensure timely availability of fabrics, foam, springs, zippers, trims, adhesives and frames by generating purchase requisitions, PO schedules, and expediting critical parts with suppliers.
Coordinate fabric cutting and nesting schedules to maximize yield, minimize waste and maintain pattern matching requirements for color/print sensitive upholstery runs.
Sequence production to minimize changeovers, tooling adjustments and downtime across cutting, sewing, frame assembly, foam shaping and final assembly cells.
Evaluate and adjust production plans daily based on equipment availability, machine breakdowns, labor constraints, and urgent customer requests, communicating changes to shop-floor leads and supervisors.
Maintain accurate Bills of Materials (BOM) and routings for all upholstery products; drive regular BOM audits with engineering and product development to capture design or material changes.
Monitor inventory levels and KPIs (days of inventory, stockouts, on-time delivery, scrap rates); initiate corrective actions such as safety stock adjustments and supplier performance plans.
Lead weekly production planning meetings with production supervisors, purchasing, engineering and sales to review priorities, capacity, delivery commitments and backlog reduction strategies.
Manage make-versus-buy decisions for subcontracted upholstery work (cut-and-sew houses, foam fabricators, spring makers) and coordinate scheduling and quality expectations with contractors.
Implement demand-driven replenishment strategies (kanban, min/max, reorder points) for high-turn upholstery components to support JIT manufacturing and reduce carrying costs.
Analyze production capacity and labor requirements; create manning plans, shift allocations and overtime recommendations to meet delivery windows during peak seasons.
Support product changeovers and new style introductions by preparing pilot run schedules, creating first-article inspection plans and capturing initial production learnings.
Work with engineering/design to review new product designs for manufacturability and cost impact; provide feedback on materials, sewing complexity and assembly sequence to optimize production.
Resolve shop-floor disruptions by coordinating cross-functional resources, troubleshooting root causes (material defects, assembly errors) and documenting corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
Manage SKU rationalization and lifecycle transitions; plan phase-in/phase-out schedules to avoid excess inventory and ensure continuity of supply for legacy items.
Prepare cost and lead-time impact analyses for alternative materials, suppliers or routing changes and present recommendations to procurement and operations leadership.
Ensure compliance with internal quality standards and customer specifications by integrating inspection checkpoints into production plans and tracking defect trends by SKU and supplier.
Maintain production documentation — routing sheets, standard work instructions, quality checklists and set-up parameters — and distribute updates to the shop floor and supervisors.
Forecast short- and mid-term material requirements based on sales data, promotions, and seasonal trends; collaborate with purchasing to secure pipeline inventory and negotiate lead times.
Monitor supplier delivery performance and lead supplier corrective action processes when late or non-conforming shipments impact production schedules.
Coordinate logistics of finished goods staging, packaging and hand-off to shipping to meet carrier pickup windows and customer delivery commitments.
Use production and inventory data to identify opportunities for waste reduction, yield improvement and throughput increase; lead small continuous improvement projects with cross-functional teams.
Maintain production contingency plans for high-risk SKUs, including alternate supplier lists, emergency purchase plans and expedited production workflows.

Secondary Functions

Support product development by providing historical production data, material availability insights and time-to-market considerations to designers and project managers.
Assist procurement with supplier qualification and onboarding for fabrics, trims and specialty components by providing production requirements and expected volumes.
Contribute to the implementation and configuration of ERP/MRP modules related to planning, inventory and production control; validate system data and run test scenarios.
Participate in safety and housekeeping initiatives on the shop floor and ensure all planning activity reflects production safety and ergonomics requirements.
Train production supervisors and planners on best practices for scheduling, BOM management and ERP transactions to improve data quality and planning accuracy.
Produce management reports and dashboards on production status, material shortages, on-time delivery and capacity utilization for weekly leadership reviews.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Production planning and scheduling expertise specific to furniture/upholstery manufacturing.
Strong MRP/ERP proficiency (examples: SAP PP/WM, Epicor, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics), including work order release, BOM/routing maintenance and MPS.
Advanced Excel skills: pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, macros and production modeling for scenario planning.
BOM management and routing documentation control across multiple product families and variants.
Material requirement planning (MRP), demand forecasting and inventory optimization (safety stock, reorder points, Kanban).
Familiarity with fabric nesting/cutting software and understanding of fabric yield, pattern matching and cutting efficiency.
Capacity planning and labor forecasting to balance load across cutting, sewing, frame and assembly operations.
Use of scheduling and planning tools or APS (advanced planning systems) and basic experience with production KPI dashboards (Power BI, Tableau or similar).
Knowledge of quality control concepts, first article inspection and root cause analysis methodologies (8D, RCA).
Experience managing subcontractors and third-party fabricators including scheduling, quality requirements and delivery performance.
Understanding of textile and upholstery materials (fabric types, foam densities, webbing, springs) and their impact on lead times and processes.
Cost analysis and basic product cost modeling to evaluate supplier alternatives and process improvements.

Soft Skills

Excellent communication skills to coordinate across production, purchasing, engineering, sales and suppliers.
Strong problem-solving and analytical mindset with attention to detail and the ability to interpret production data.
Time management and prioritization under changing production constraints and urgent customer demands.
Collaborative leadership and influence — able to lead meetings, align stakeholders and drive decisions without direct authority.
Adaptability and resilience in a fast-paced manufacturing environment with frequent schedule changes.
Continuous improvement mindset with experience participating in Lean manufacturing or Six Sigma projects.
Customer-focused orientation to balance on-time delivery with internal cost and capacity considerations.
Clear documentation and training skills to create standard work and ensure knowledge transfer on the shop floor.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

High school diploma or GED with vocational/trade training in manufacturing or textiles; or equivalent hands-on experience in upholstery production planning.

Preferred Education:

Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Technology, Textile Science, or a related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Industrial / Manufacturing Engineering
Supply Chain / Operations Management
Textile Science / Fabric Technology
Furniture Design / Manufacturing Technology
Business Administration with operations emphasis

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–7 years in production planning or materials scheduling within furniture, upholstery, or related manufacturing industries.

Preferred: 3–5+ years as a planner or scheduler in upholstery or furniture manufacturing with demonstrated experience in ERP/MRP systems, BOM/routing maintenance, supplier coordination, and production sequencing.