Free Sample
The Complete Guide to Becoming A Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerk
The honest, no-spin guide to the pay, daily grind, and career path of a Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerk - so you can decide if it's the right move for you.
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: What Does a Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerk Actually Do?
Let's cut through the job-title fog. The official title - Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerk - sounds like three jobs stapled together, and that's because it sort of is. If you work this job, you are the person in a factory, warehouse, or distribution center who makes sure the right materials get to the right place at the right time so that production doesn't stop. You are not on the assembly line, but you are hands-on with the flow that feeds it. You are the connective tissue between the sales forecast, the raw materials on the shelf, and the finished goods that ship out the door.
Here's a concrete picture. Imagine a mid-sized manufacturer that makes metal brackets for the auto industry. They have a customer order for 10,000 brackets due in six weeks. Someone has to figure out: How much steel do we need? Is it on order? When does it arrive? Do we have enough machine hours to run that job? Are the CNC operators scheduled? Is there a bottleneck at the welding station? That "someone" is the production planner - which is often the same person as the clerk, especially in smaller companies. You are the one answering those questions and then making sure the answers become actions.
Core Responsibilities
Your day-to-day tasks fall into four buckets: planning, scheduling, expediting, and paperwork.
Planning means looking at incoming orders - or in some places, a 12-month