What Does a Manufacturing Manager Do?

We looked at the average manufacturing manager annual salary and compared it with the average of a general supervisor. Generally speaking, general supervisors receive $23,062 lower pay than manufacturing managers per year.

While their salaries may differ, one common ground between manufacturing managers and general supervisors are a few of the skills required in each craft. In both careers, employees bring forth skills like continuous improvement, lean manufacturing, and production schedules.

There are some key differences in responsibilities as well. For example, a manufacturing manager responsibilities require skills like "project management," "safety program," "customer service," and "lean six sigma." Meanwhile a typical general supervisor has skills in areas such as "oversight," "safety procedures," "professional work," and "hr." This difference in skills reveals how truly different these two careers really are.

General supervisors really shine in the finance industry with an average salary of $105,521. Whereas manufacturing managers tend to make the most money in the retail industry with an average salary of $110,391.

On average, general supervisors reach similar levels of education than manufacturing managers. General supervisors are 0.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

The next role we're going to look at is the production administrator profession. Typically, this position earns a lower pay. In fact, they earn a $61,769 lower salary than manufacturing managers per year.

A similarity between the two careers of manufacturing managers and production administrators are a few of the skills associated with both roles. We used resumes from both professions to find that both use skills like "production schedules," "logistics," and "human resources. "

But both careers also use different skills, according to real manufacturing manager resumes. While manufacturing manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "continuous improvement," "lean manufacturing," "production supervisors," and "sigma," some production administrators use skills like "data entry," "purchase orders," "windows," and "payroll."

On average, production administrators earn a lower salary than manufacturing managers. There are industries that support higher salaries in each profession respectively. Interestingly enough, production administrators earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $43,182. Whereas, manufacturing managers have higher paychecks in the retail industry where they earn an average of $110,391.

On the topic of education, production administrators earn lower levels of education than manufacturing managers. In general, they're 7.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The plant superintendent profession generally makes a lower amount of money when compared to the average salary of manufacturing managers. The difference in salaries is plant superintendents making $6,563 lower than manufacturing managers.

Using manufacturing managers and plant superintendents resumes, we found that both professions have similar skills such as "continuous improvement," "lean manufacturing," and "production schedules," but the other skills required are very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers are a few of the skills necessary to fulfill responsibilities. Some examples from manufacturing manager resumes include skills like "project management," "customer service," "lean six sigma," and "logistics," whereas a plant superintendent might be skilled in "plant safety," "asphalt," "production equipment," and "equipment maintenance. "

Plant superintendents make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $116,194. Whereas manufacturing managers are paid the highest salary in the retail industry with the average being $110,391.

Plant superintendents are known to earn similar educational levels when compared to manufacturing managers. Additionally, they're 4.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The fourth career we look at typically earns lower pay than manufacturing managers. On average, continuous improvement managers earn a difference of $2,068 lower per year.

While both manufacturing managers and continuous improvement managers complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like continuous improvement, lean manufacturing, and sigma, the two careers also vary in other skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a manufacturing manager might have more use for skills like "production schedules," "production supervisors," "safety program," and "quality standards." Meanwhile, some continuous improvement managers might include skills like "kaizen events," "lean tools," "dmaic," and "management system" on their resume.

In general, continuous improvement managers make a higher salary in the technology industry with an average of $95,413. The highest manufacturing manager annual salary stems from the retail industry.

The average resume of continuous improvement managers showed that they earn higher levels of education to manufacturing managers. So much so that the likelihood of them earning a Master's Degree is 6.1% more. Additionally, they're more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.4%.