The scoreboard, and what is not on it. The hard targets, how often each is actually
looked at, and the quiet signals that never reach a dashboard.
On-Time Delivery (OTD) Rate
The percentage of customer orders shipped by their original promised date.
Target · Achieve and maintain >95% OTD for the entire plant. If we ship 960 out of 1000 orders on time, that's 96% OTD. You'll be expected to understand the root causes of any misses and put plans in place to improve.
Inventory Turns (Finished Goods & WIP)
How many times our inventory is sold or used over a period. Higher is generally better as it means less capital tied up.
Target · Increase inventory turns by 20% year-on-year across relevant categories. If our inventory value is £1M and our annual cost of goods sold is £4M, that's 4 turns. You'd aim to push that towards 4.8 turns by optimising schedules and reducing excess WIP.
Production Schedule Adherence
How closely the actual production output matches the published schedule, particularly within the 'frozen period'.
Target · Maintain >90% adherence to the published schedule within the 3-day frozen window. If the schedule says Line 1 will produce 500 units of Product X, and they produce 480, that's 96% adherence for that job. You'll track this across all lines and products, understanding why deviations happen.
Average Production Lead Time Reduction
The total time from when a production order is released to when it's completed and ready for shipment.
Target · Reduce average production lead time by 10% within the first 12 months. If it currently takes 10 days on average to produce a specific product, you'd aim to get that down to 9 days by optimising batch sizes, sequencing, and constraint management.
APS System Utilisation & ROI
The extent to which our Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) software is being used effectively and the financial benefits it delivers.
Target · Ensure 100% of scheduling decisions for relevant lines are driven by the APS, delivering a documented £1.5M in cost savings or efficiency gains annually. Leading the implementation of a new APS feature that reduces setup times by 5%, leading to an estimated £200K annual saving in labour and machine time.
Team Development & Retention
Your ability to coach, mentor, and develop your scheduling team, fostering a high-performing and engaged group.
- Regular 1-to-1s with direct reports, documented development plans, successful promotion of at least one team member, positive feedback in team engagement surveys, low voluntary turnover within your team.
Strategic Influence & Collaboration
How effectively you partner with other departments (Sales, Supply Chain, Production) to align on shared goals and resolve conflicts.
- Being proactively invited to cross-functional planning meetings, your recommendations being adopted by senior leadership, positive feedback from key stakeholders on your collaborative approach, successful resolution of inter-departmental scheduling conflicts.
Process Improvement & Innovation
Your drive to continuously improve our scheduling processes, introduce new methodologies, and challenge the status quo.
- Successful implementation of new scheduling methodologies (e.g., DBR), documented process improvements leading to efficiency gains, adoption of new technologies (like AI tools) within your team, proactive identification of systemic issues and proposed solutions.
Data Integrity & Reporting Quality
The accuracy and reliability of the data used for scheduling and the clarity and insightfulness of your team's reports.
- Reduced instances of 'bad data' impacting schedules, positive feedback from leadership on the quality and actionable nature of your team's reports, proactive identification and resolution of master data issues in ERP/APS.
