Tooling PlannerNWI Aerostructures

Tooling Planner

Location: Nashville, TN
Company: NWI Nashville, LLC
Status: Full-time, on-site

Position Summary

The Tooling Planner is a specialist responsible for the planning, scheduling, accountability, configuration, control, and disposition of manufacturing tooling used to support aerospace production programs. This position maintains accurate tooling records, coordinates tooling maintenance and recertification activities, manages tooling production orders, and supports customer tooling accountability requirements.

The position works closely with Tool Build, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Quality Assurance, Production Planning, Program Management, Shop Supervision, and customers to ensure tooling is available when required, properly documented, maintained, and accurately accounted for throughout its lifecycle.

The position requires a high level of organization, attention to detail, follow-through, and the ability to research and reconcile information across multiple systems and departments. Experience working with aerospace tooling and customer property requirements is highly desirable.

Essential Responsibilities

Tooling Cycle Management

• Maintain the tooling CycleMaster database and ensure tooling maintenance and recertification information is current and accurate.

• Distribute CycleMaster reports for review and follow up on required updates.

• Coordinate with Industrial Engineering and other responsible personnel to establish correct tooling availability dates, quantities, and unit requirements.

• Coordinate with Quality Assurance when tooling-related production orders are completed.

• Chair and coordinate the weekly CycleMaster/tooling review meeting.

• Monitor tooling approaching or exceeding required maintenance intervals and coordinate appropriate action.

• Maintain records for tooling subject to periodic maintenance or inspection requirements.

• Ensure applicable customer tooling is maintained in accordance with established requirements, procedures, and customer specifications.

• Identify tooling that is exempt from scheduled maintenance due to conditions such as obsolete status, storage, loss, or classification as soft tooling.

Tool Accountability and Control

• Maintain the Tool Master and associated tooling records within Epicor.

• Create equipment masters for new tooling and establish the required records throughout the tooling lifecycle.

• Enter and maintain tool identification, type, part number, category, construction year, customer information, plant code, and other required data.

• Maintain accurate tooling locations through inventory adjustments, transfers, and physical verification.

• Obtain and maintain photographs of tooling when required for identification and accountability.

• Research and assist in locating misplaced or lost tooling.

• Process required documentation for lost, excess, obsolete, or otherwise unaccounted-for tooling.

• Create Control Folders and prepare Relief of Responsibility documentation when required.

• Coordinate Relief of Responsibility activities and obtain required internal approvals.

• Interface with management and Program Management regarding tooling disposition and scrap authorization.

• Obtain customer authorization before disposition or scrapping of customer-owned tooling when required.

• Conduct periodic tooling audits and inventories to ensure compliance with internal procedures and customer requirements.

• Assist with customer property and tooling audits conducted by external customers.

• Maintain compliance with applicable Standard Operating Procedures and customer-specific tooling requirements.

Tool Planning

• Review tooling audit and planning reports to identify tooling requiring orders to be released.

• Verify that the appropriate Corrective Action / Process Change Request (CA/PCR), or other required authorization, exists in Epicor before routing creation.

• Verify that required CA/PCR documentation has received appropriate approval before tooling orders are released.

• Create and release tooling manufacturing jobs in Epicor.

• Coordinate with Tooling and Manufacturing Engineering to ensure tooling requirements are properly planned and released.

Shop Floor Production Control

• Create, release, and print production orders for tooling manufacturing and related activities.

• Distribute released production orders to the appropriate shop supervision.

• Monitor production orders for completion and required documentation.

• Close production orders after verifying that all required operations have been completed and properly recorded.

• Create and release production orders associated with CycleMaster maintenance activities.

• Print and distribute CycleMaster work orders to the appropriate personnel.

• Coordinate with shop supervision, Quality Assurance, Planning, and Tooling personnel to resolve production-order issues and ensure timely completion.

Tooling Equipment Master Maintenance

Maintain complete and accurate equipment master records for tooling throughout the tooling lifecycle, including:

• Equipment number and tool identification

• Tool type, Categories and manufactured Part Number

• Construction year

• Customer number and ownership information

• Plant and location information

• Acquisition cost and acquisition date

• Customer tool serial number

• Program and accountable contract

• Tool movement and location history

• Configuration/revision level

• Shipping location information

• Tool status and inventory information

• Customer-specific tooling information

• Airbus-specific tooling information

• Applicable manufacturing/routing information

Tooling Registries and Customer Reporting

• Prepare tooling lists, registries, and accountability reports for customers as required.

• Maintain accurate information necessary to respond to customer requests for tooling status, location, availability, condition, and history.

• Support periodic wall-to-wall tooling inventories and random inventory audits.

• Prepare customer-specific tooling registries, including detailed Airbus tooling information when required.

• Ensure equipment masters are updated when tooling is completed, moved, transferred, shipped, placed in storage, declared excess, lost, scrapped, or otherwise changes status.

• Research and compile tooling information such as:

  • ATA Chapter and Subchapter

  • Tool function and tooling level

  • Customer number

  • Tool revision level

  • Ship set information

  • Remaining ship sets

  • Tool lead time

  • Recertification requirements and history

  • Recertification due dates

  • Required media/documentation

  • Tool location

  • Tool condition

  • Movement outside the facility

  • Tool dimensions and weight

  • Acquisition cost

• Ensure tooling information is accurate and readily accessible for customer audits, production requirements, and customer inquiries.

Required Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required.

• Associate or bachelor’s degree in an Engineering technical discipline preferred.

• An equivalent combination of education, technical training, and directly related professional experience may be considered.

Physical / Work Environment

• Primarily an office and manufacturing-floor environment.

• Regular interaction with shopfloor tooling, manufacturing, production, quality, and planning personnel.

• May require periodic movement throughout the manufacturing facility to verify tooling locations and conduct inventories.

• Must comply with all company safety, quality, security, and operating procedures.

Position Impact

This position plays a critical role in ensuring that manufacturing tooling is available when needed, accurately identified and located, properly maintained, correctly documented, and fully accountable throughout its lifecycle.

Accurate tooling records are essential to production continuity, customer property accountability, audit compliance, and the ability to quickly locate tooling required to support manufacturing operations.

NWI Aerostructures provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants, prohibiting discrimination and harassment of any type based on race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.