Production Coordinator

Production Coordinator - Fabric Planning and Procurement

Position Overview

Garan is seeking a highly organized and analytical Production Coordinator to manage fabric planning and procurement for apparel production. The primary responsibility of this role is to calculate, place, monitor, and adjust fabric orders so that each production order has the correct quantity of every required fabric component.

Many garments contain multiple fabrics/components with different consumption rates and lead times. This position continually balances those materials against changing garment quantities, production openings, inventory availability, supplier lead times, and customer delivery requirements. The coordinator works closely with fabric suppliers, sourcing partners, company owned manufacturing facilities, and internal teams to identify risks early and keep production on schedule.

Key Responsibilities

Fabric Requirement Planning and Component Balancing

·     Calculate fabric requirements by style, color, size range, production order, and manufacturing facility using approved garment consumption.

·     Identify and plan every textile component required for each garment, including all fabrics and novelty trims.

·     Balance and adjust purchases of individual fabric components so that a shortage of one material does not prevent other available materials from being converted into finished garments.

·     Apply approved allowances for waste, shrinkage, cutting loss, yield, testing, and other production needs.

·     Compare fabric availability with current garment quantities and determine the number of complete garments that can be produced.

·     Recalculate requirements when garment quantities, size distributions, consumption, fabric widths, yields, delivery schedules change, and most importantly when actual production consumption figures are available.

Production Calendar and Lead-Time Management

·     Maintain a time-and-action calendar covering fabric commitments, production openings, ex-mill dates, transit times, factory receipt dates, and finished-goods delivery requirements.

·     Work backward from production and customer delivery dates to determine when fabric orders must be placed, confirmed, and shipped.

·     Develop and maintain an appropriate ordering cadence for programs with phased, recurring, or changing production openings.

·     Monitor long-lead-time materials sourced from Asia and proactively escalate risks that could affect production or customer delivery.

·     Coordinate material allocations and shipment timing so that the correct fabric reaches the correct manufacturing facility when required.

Purchase Order Management

·     Create, issue, revise, increase, reduce, and, when approved, cancel fabric purchase orders as production requirements change.

·     Confirm fabric specifications, quantities, colors, prices, units of measure, delivery dates, shipping terms, and factory destinations before releasing orders.

·     Coordinate with suppliers and mills to secure written order confirmations and realistic delivery schedules.

·     Maintain accurate records of original order quantities, revisions, supplier confirmations, open balances, shipments, receipts, discrepancies, and related communications.

·     Reconcile quantities ordered, shipped, received, allocated, and consumed, and resolve discrepancies promptly.

·     Evaluate projected shortages and excess-material exposure before recommending order adjustments.

Inventory Consumption and Reporting

·     Track fabric inventory, open orders, allocations, and usage by style, color, supplier, and production facility.

·     Monitor actual consumption against planned consumption and investigate significant variances.

·     Maintain accurate fabric purchasing, cost, consumption, inventory, and supplier-performance data.

·     Prepare regular reports showing fabric status, production coverage, shortages, excess exposure, late materials, and required actions.

·     Analyze trends and recommend opportunities to reduce waste, excess inventory, expedited freight, and avoidable production delays.

Risk Management and Problem Resolution

·     Maintain an exception report identifying late materials, projected shortages, excess inventory, unconfirmed orders, and materials at risk of missing production.

·     Prioritize follow-up based on production-opening dates and potential customer-delivery impact.

·     Proactively address fabric shortages, quality concerns, supplier delays, shipment discrepancies, and consumption changes.

·     Develop recovery plans with suppliers, factories, Production, and Logistics, and communicate risks and recommended actions clearly to management.

Cross-Functional and Supplier Coordination

·     Serve as a primary fabric-planning contact for Central American manufacturing facilities and maintain consistent follow-up on production needs.

·     Partner with Account Management, Product Development, Technical Design, Costing, and Planning to confirm garment quantities, bills of materials, approved consumption, and timing.

·     Coordinate with the Logistics team on international transportation, shipment status, and factory delivery timing.

·     Develop productive relationships with fabric suppliers and communicate changes, priorities, and delivery expectations promptly.

·     Create, update, and distribute internal purchase orders and other production documentation as required.

Required Qualifications

·     Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, business administration, textiles, apparel production, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.

·     Strong numerical and analytical ability, including comfort working with garment quantities, consumption rates, unit conversions, inventory balances, and delivery dates.

·     Intermediate to advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including PivotTables, XLOOKUP or INDEX-MATCH, SUMIFS, conditional formatting, and data reconciliation.

·     Ability to manage multiple styles, fabrics, suppliers, production orders, and deadlines simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.

·     Strong follow-up and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify potential shortages or delays before they affect production.

·     Clear written and verbal communication skills for working with international suppliers and manufacturing facilities.

·     High attention to detail and a consistent commitment to accuracy.

Preferred Qualifications

·     Two or more years of experience in apparel production, fabric purchasing, raw-material planning, inventory planning, or a related supply-chain role.

·     Experience with apparel bills of materials, garment consumption, fabric widths, cutting yields, shrinkage, and waste allowances.

·     Experience purchasing fabrics or other raw materials from suppliers in Central America and/or Asia.

·     Experience supporting apparel production in Central America.

·     Experience using an ERP, PLM, purchase-order, or production-tracking system.

·     Understanding of apparel production calendars, international logistics, and fabric terminology.

Success in This Role

Success means ensuring that fabric orders are accurate, complete, and timed to production needs; material risks are identified early; component quantities remain balanced as orders change; and suppliers, factories, and internal teams have clear and current information. The role helps minimize production interruptions, excess fabric, expedited freight, and missed customer deliveries.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Garan, Incorporated is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.