A maintenance planner is responsible for making sure maintenance technicians have the tools and parts they need to complete work orders. If there is not a separate maintenance scheduler, maintenance planners are also expected to schedule maintenance in a way that minimizes equipment downtime and impact on production.
A maintenance planner must have an equal mix of technical and social skills. Technical skills help them estimate times to complete work orders; social skills help them manage the needs of different people in different departments. For instance, a production supervisor and maintenance manager might have different opinions about the criticality of work orders. By speaking with each colleague, the planner can determine the best way to prioritize.
Responsibilities include:
- Plan and schedule corrective and preventive maintenance activities by task and priority level;
- Manage spare parts and alignment between the maintenance department and stock room;
- Manage work orders, documentation, and assets within the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS);
- Train employees on how to use the CMMS;
- Coordinate plant-wide shutdowns.
Text rights: (Maintenance Planner | Everything Hiring Managers Need to Know, n.d.)
Text source: Maintenance Planner | Everything Hiring Managers Need to Know. (n.d.). Onupkeep. Retrieved June 19, 2025, from https://upkeep.com/learning/maintenance-planner/
